#And then I met Aubrey and my plans almost immediately changed

[deepseamuse]

it's kind of funny how I'm aroace and generally avoid romance and sex in fiction, but the first time I really felt connected to a character in an IF he was the horniest I've seen an RO so far

[broadstbroskis]

take my hand, wreck my plans | william nylander

a/n: if you’ve been around this blog for a while, you’ve probably seen me talking about “willy fake dating fic” for quite a bit now...well here she is! settle in for a long read (the longest i’ve posted in one go before) and i hope you enjoy reading it as much as i enjoyed writing it! so so so much love to literally every single person who cheered me on while writing this, but extra special thanks to @denis-scorianov​ and @danglesnipecelly​ for all your love and support

also shoutout to my girl tswift for the title, evermore still slaps

word count: 21.5k

It’s right in the middle of the busiest hours of the day when Steph’s text comes in, which means Aubrey barely even reads the message. She sees the words dinner and Friday and responds that she’ll be there, and then goes back to trying to fix the clusterfuck of code that one of her coworkers messed up earlier in the morning before her project has to get sent off to a client at the end of the week.

By the time Friday comes around, she’s only just managed to fix the code but the project is finished enough to send off as a first draft, so Aubrey races over to Steph and Mitch’s place after work, knowing she looks frazzled as hell from the look on her best friend’s face the minute she enters their kitchen. “Sweetie.” Steph says, then bites her lip. 

The feeling is mutual to Aubrey, because she’s giving Steph the same once over that Steph’s giving her. She’d arrived from the office, which took casual Friday to the extreme, in her favorite leggings, denim jacket, and converse- still enjoying the last bit of summer before Toronto turned to fall. Meanwhile Steph was dressed up for the evening in jeans and a flowy top. Her hair was done, her makeup looked beautiful; nothing about her screamed casual dinner at home. Certainly not like the messy ponytail Aubrey was rocking, after running over from work.

“Wine?” Mitch offers, breaking the silence, and Aubrey nods immediately, forgetting entirely about...whatever is going on here in favor of the alcohol she’s been needing since she arrived at the office today.

Mitch pours a glass and offers it out, but honestly, fuck that; Aubrey reaches for the bottle instead and takes a sip. “Nope, listen, these motherfuckers-” And then, she cuts herself off abruptly as she catches sight of the single most beautiful man she has ever had the pleasure of even having in her field of vision, leaning against the counter.

“No, go ahead.” Blondie grins, and fuck that, of course, he’s got the most beautiful smile too. “These motherfuckers, what?”

“Fucked up a huge project at work this week.” Aubrey finishes, pretty lamely, compared to how heated she’d started that sentence. 

“Gonna start throwing that at Matts.” Blondie grins again. “Anytime he fucks up a pass to me. This motherfucker.”

“Heh.” She laughs, lifting the wine bottle in a cheers-esque manner, and then, not knowing what else to do, she takes another large sip.

Blondie is still grinning when Aubrey brings her bottle back down and Mitch is doing a very poor job of hiding a laugh, but it’s not hard to see that Steph’s making murder eyes that Aubrey pointedly ignores, so Steph turns her attention away with a sigh. “What’s up, Will?”

“Oh, uh, Matts and Alison nominated me to see if there was anything we could do to help.” Will says smoothly.

“We?” Mitch raises an eyebrow, at the distinct lack of we that arrived with Will.

“Well.” Will shrugs, like that should explain everything, and maybe it does, because Mitch only snorts.

“We’re okay.” Steph jumps in. “We’ll all be out soon.”

Will nods, and leaves Aubrey with one last grin, before he turns and heads out towards their back patio, which must be where dinner is taking place, but as soon as the door shuts behind him, Aubrey turns to round on Steph and Mitch. “What the fuck?”

“Me, what the fuck?” Steph, her best friend since grade school, knows exactly what she’s talking about. “You, what the fuck?”

“This was a setup?”

“You didn’t know?” Mitch cries, turning immediately to his girlfriend and looking incredibly offended.

“Yes she did!” Steph defends. “I literally texted you: Mitch has a single friend we think you’d get along with if you’re interested. Are you free friday for dinner? We were thinking of having you all over. And you said: sounds good I’ll be there.”

“Well, in my defense, work was a dumpster fire this week and I really only skim-read that text.”

“Well now I know why you showed up like that.” 

“Rude, Stephanie.” Aubrey sticks her tongue out at her best friend, grinning immediately afterwards, because Steph’s her best friend and she’s the only one she would let talk to her this way. “Just for that I’m not using a glass the entire night.”

“Not like your first impression could get any worse.” Steph deadpans.

“Meh.” Mitch shrugs. “It’s Willy. He’s done way worse.”

Steph sighs, pinches the bridge of her nose, and then looks over. “Could you use your one free hand then to take a second bottle of wine out then please? For the rest of us who’d like some, to share?”

Aubrey grins. “Gladly.”

That this was meant to be a setup couldn’t be more clear to her as the three of them make their way out to the porch with more drinks and some snacks. Mitch and Steph have dragged some of their comfier patio furniture around the firepit; there’s a couple curled into each other on one of the couches, an empty one with Mitch’s favorite type of beer on the table next to it, and one seat open on the couch that’s occupied by Will. 

Aubrey shoots Steph a look as Steph practically leaps back onto the empty couch, and then she slips herself into the empty seat next to Will. That level of distinct lack of chill is really her thing, thanks Steph.

Steph merely grins back, formally introducing her to everyone around them. And okay, their friends are cool- like Aubrey knows they are; she’s met more than a few of Mitch’s hockey friends before. She’s many-a-time fifth-wheeled dinner with Mitch and Steph and Matt and Syd. She, Mitch, and Steph still had a group chat going with a bunch of Mitch’s old teammates from the Knights. Hell, Strome and McDavid had joined Mitch in playing with her and Steph on their families’ summer softball team last summer.

But she just can’t seem to understand what they see in Will that they think he’d be good for her. Like sure he’s nice enough, and obviously good looking, and like, yeah she has a good time while she’s there, but like, sparks? Nothing. 

Regardless of the lack of sparks between them, it is a fun night, and she curls up in one of the guest rooms in Steph and Mitch’s that night, fully planning on laughing at them the next morning. 

Except, the next morning, Mitch is already gone for practice and Steph’s first question is, “So when are you going to see Will again?”

Aubrey frowns. “Uhh I don’t know. Probably whenever you have us both over for dinner again?”

Steph frowns back. “What?”

“What what?”

“You didn’t, like, give him your number? Make plans? Anything?”

“Why would we?”

“Because he’s perfect for you?”

Aubrey gives her a look. Was Steph even at the same dinner that she was? They, like, barely interacted; Will chatting more with Auston and what’s-her-name or Mitch and Auston, and her with Steph pretty much the entire night. “Perfect for me? Seriously? That’s the guy you think is perfect for me?”

She huffs. If Aubrey didn’t know her best friend better she’d think she was offended, but, well, she does. “Yes!”

“No!”

“I mean, at least give it a shot!” Steph needles.

Aubrey pulls a face. “Why? So we can break up and make things super awkward at anything you and Mitch throw for the rest of your lives? No thanks.”

“I’m telling you.” Steph says. “Perfect match.” But she drops it after that, suggesting brunch, an offer that Aubrey immediately agrees to.

-----

It’s a quick stop for Aubrey to pop home to change and pick up her roommate, Erin, before the three girls head over to what’s long been a favorite brunch spot, laughing as Aubrey and Erin watch Steph fire off a series of snapchats to Mitch featuring her bottomless mimosas- her favorite way of asking to be picked up on his way home from practice.

Erin laughs so hard she almost snorts mimosa out her nose as Aubrey and Steph recap dinner from the previous night, but once she recovers, she hits Steph with a look. “I am begging you to invite me to this next time, solely so I can watch the two of them interact.”

Aubrey gasps as Steph laughs. “Rude!”

Erin giggles, beginning to recount the date she’d gone on last night-her fourth with this guy from the gym she belongs to-and Aubrey finds herself nodding along with Steph in all the right places, as friends should, happy that Erin’s happy, especially after her shitty last boyfriend, and eager to meet this guy for more than the five minutes he’d shown up at their door. 

Her story is interrupted-for Aubrey, at least-by the vibration of her phone, and she checks the text from an unfamiliar number, rolling her eyes when she sees the message.

hey this is will, followed by an amount of emojis that could only actually be from Mitch. 

hi mitch. She sends back.

lol. Comes the response. sorry.

you don’t have to apologize for mitch. i’m familiar

Will reacts to that with a haha and then it’s a while before she checks her phone again, enjoying brunch with her girls and laughing at the look on Mitch’s face as he comes to pick Steph up and realizes he’ll be driving her and Erin back as well.

he’s really found his place between annoying and relentless. Will’s texted, when she checks again a little later, at home on the couch and pleasantly tipsy, deciding what to Netflix with Erin.

that’s his sweet spot. Aubrey sends, and then points halfheartedly at The Office on the screen, well on her way to a post-brunch nap.

-----

Aubrey knows Mitch and Steph well enough to know that’s not the end of it, and sure enough, the subtle (and not so subtle) hints keep coming. But luckily, training camp is about to begin, and so even if they do keep coming, Mitch, and by extension, Will, are both too busy for Mitch and Steph to push anything too crazy on her and Will.

Until suddenly the season begins, and even though things are still crazy for them, suddenly they’ve got days off or afternoons free and she finds that the subtleness of the hints becomes gradually less subtle.

jesus fuck. Will sends one afternoon and she laughs at it immediately, even as he continues typing. tell steph i’m sorry but mitch had to go.

She laughs loudly, which earns her a look from her nearest coworkers. right there with you.

considering just lying and telling him i already took you out last week to just get him off my back jfc. 

tried that already. knew i was lying right away. Aubrey sends back. She appreciates him trying, but come on. That was like, the first thing she tried.

well, Will sends, and then those annoying three dots appear and disappear about four times, before he finally finishes. let’s just go somewhere then and get them off our backs.

time and fucking place. She replies.

-----

Aubrey meets Will at a bar that’s close to her work, a couple days after that text exchange, just in time for the end of happy hour. He’s got a drink in front of him already, that he quickly finishes when the waiter comes to take her order, so he can order another one while she orders one of her favorite cocktails, before it becomes full price again at the start of the next hour.

“You know, I thought Mitchy would have been more…” Will trails off, looking thoughtful, but then continues after a moment. “Smug, when I told him we were going out tonight. What’d Steph say?”

“Oh don’t get me wrong. They’ll be smug to each other.” Aubrey tells him, confident that the two of them are at home right now boasting about the fact that they were right. “But if they think we’re actually on the same page now and they say anything that I hear, that would be the end. Downward tailspin, cut my hair six inches, new tattoo, you name it.” 

Will laughs. “So it’s like that?”

She nods. “A little lacking in some impulse control.” She holds her thumb and index finger up to him, with about 10cm of space between them, to show him just how poor it is, and Will laughs again. 

“Guess I’ll just have to wait for a nice, big I told you so tomorrow.” He says.

Aubrey snickers. “One a day for the next few weeks more like.”

Will shrugs. “Meh, I’ll figure something out to give him a taste of his own medicine.”

“We should.” Aubrey nods absentmindedly, as a comment she’d made to Steph right after the initial dinner comes back to her. 

“Should what?” Will frowns. 

“Give them a taste of their own medicine.”

“Where are you going with this?” Will asks curiously.

Aubrey grins, as the idea starts to form. “A tragic break up to make things so awkward for the two of them that they’ll regret setting us up in the first place.”

Will pauses for a long moment, but then he grins and leans toward her. “I’m listening.”

-----

Steph is bouncing when Aubrey walks into their weekly Thursday barre class. She’s sure she knows why, but Aubrey gives her a strange look anyway when she slides in next to her. “What?”

“What?” Steph repeats. “Seriously?”

Aubrey laughs. “Use your words, Stephanie.”

“Bitch, you know what I want.” Steph says, which makes the woman in front of them turn and give them a scandalized look.

Aubrey giggles. She’d really just wanted to annoy Steph a little but that was totally worth it all. “Yeah I know. It was good. Like whatever.”

“I hate you so much.”

“I’m going to see him again!”Aubrey protests. “What more do you want from me? I’m not going to like, profess my undying love for him after one date. I’m not Mitch.”

“It was like, our fifth date, and he didn’t profess his undying love for me! He just said he loved me!” Steph huffs as Aubrey snickers. She laughs about it now, they all do, a thing she teases both of her friends about, but she vividly remembers the panic Steph had been in coming home from that date. 

“Well.” She says, grinning. “I guess I’ve got four dates to go then. Or maybe Will does.”

“Will’s too chill to do anything like that.” Steph decides, just as their usual instructor enters. “Ridiculous shit is definitely more your move.”

Aub thinks back to her date with Will the other night, where they’d carefully crafted an entire narrative to start this fake relationship, and fights back a grin, because she’s pretty sure Will can be just as ridiculous. He just does a better job at hiding it. 

-----

Just after noon one day, a few weeks into her arrangement with Will, Aubrey’s phone buzzes and she more than welcomes the interruption from the current project she’s working on.

need a favor. Will’s sent, followed immediately by, please.

sure, what’s up?

His name pops up on her screen next and Aubrey frowns, swiping to accept the call. “Hey.”

“I’m downstairs.” Will says and she frowns, both at the skipped greeting, and at his words.

“Of my office?” She blurts.

“Yeah.” Will says, like it’s the most casual thing in the world, and Aubrey pushes her chair back abruptly.

“Uh ok. I’ll be right down.” She’s already pushing the button for the elevator, waving off the coworker calling after her, asking if everything’s okay. 

Will’s waiting outside, with two cups of coffee in hand, and even though he’d said that he was, Aubrey’s still kind of surprised to see him. He passes her one of the cups in his hand and she takes it, thanking him as she does. “So what’s up?”

“I need a favor.” Will says, starting to walk, and Aubrey follows easily, sipping on the latte he’d brought her. 

She laughs. “You said. What do you need?”

“The team’s got this thing on Friday.” Aubrey gives him a look, because she knows what the thing the team has on Friday is, Steph’s been talking about it for a few weeks now, and it is not as casual as Will is throwing it out to her right now. “And I think I need you to come with me.”

“Do you though?” Aubrey says. “Do you really?”

“I tried for you not to.” Will admits, shooting her a grin, which she appreciates. “But, well, it’s a thing I would have brought any other girlfriend to and then Mitchy opened his mouth too…” He trails off.

“So find a dress.” Aubrey sums up.

Will nods. “Please. I’ll pay for it.” He adds, but she brushes it off. 

“If we’re still stuck in this for Blue and White, you can buy me a dress then.” She grins, and Will returns the grin.

“Deal.” 

-----

Fixing her curls one last time in the mirror by the door, Aubrey grabs her clutch and runs downstairs to meet her Uber. She’s late, not like super late, but more so than she’d  hoped to be, even after texting Will that she was running behind with work and that she’d have to meet him at the venue probably, if he didn’t want to be late.

She shoots off a text to him when she gets in the car, letting him know she’s on her way, and makes polite chatter for a few minutes with her driver, leg bouncing anxiously until he pulls up to where she needs to be.

Will’s standing outside the door when she pulls up, like he’s waiting for her as if this was an actual date, looking at something on his phone in the meantime, which gives Aubrey a minute to take a peek at his suit. He looks good; she might not have any desire to actually date Will, but she can absolutely admit to both herself and anyone (including Steph) that he’s probably the most objectively attractive human she’s ever met, and the suit only ramps that up. It’s custom made, perfectly fitted, a navy blue that brings out his eyes, and maybe a little more casual than some others she’s seen but in a good way. 

His choice in suits makes her feel better about what she’s wearing. Aubrey’d been trying to work off what Steph was wearing, while making sure that what she'd picked out wasn’t overly fancy for the evening or too similar to what Steph had already chosen, ending up in a knee length dress with a sheer high neckline. 

“Hey!” She smiles, catching his attention, mildly disappointed that he doesn’t even flinch in surprise, only looks up as smooth as can be and returns her smile.

“Hey.” He slips his phone in his pocket, reaching out for her hand.

“Fuck, I’m sorry.” Aubrey says immediately, that terrible feeling of letting anyone down instantly relieved when Will waves her off. 

“You haven’t even missed the entire cocktail hour.” He says and she feels her eyes widen as he nods solemnly. “Yeah, it’s like that.”

“Our first stop better be to get me a glass of wine.”

Will laughs, pressing the button for the elevator. “Wouldn’t dream of it being anywhere else.”

Will refreshes his own drink as well, and selects a red wine for her after Aub hems and haws over the options for a minute, a choice that she almost can’t bring herself to take a sip of once the glass is in her hand, for fear that she’ll never be able to drink another Malbec again, guessing this one is well out of her price range based on name and bottle appearance alone. (She takes a sip anyway, it’s as delicious as she’d expected).

Will’s smiling, as if waiting for her reaction, like there’s not a wine she doesn’t like (well, chardonnay, but like, even that she’ll drink if it’s all that available). “Should we do this?” Aubrey asks him, ready to watch him be roasted by teammates for the evening, and he nods, hand moving to the small of her back, leading her deep into the crowd.

But for all the shit he claims to have taken recently about her, they must be on their best behavior, out in public. Everyone he introduces her to is nothing but friendly; the few people she’s met before this event greet her with smiles and open arms, welcoming her into the fold. 

“Are you sure these are the same teammates you warned me about?” She asks Will, when they have a minute to themselves, just finishing up a long and very nice conversation with Justin Holl, Jake Muzzin and their wives, and thinking of the series of texts he’d sent her this morning about “all these assholes.”

“They’re being nice, just for you.” He insists. His arm is still at her waist; it’s barely left there all night. 

“Ugh, so I grew up with seven siblings and I’m not even going to be able to use the skills I got from that to throw down?” She jokes. “What was the point?”

Will actually stops walking for a second, drawing her into him quickly when she stumbles, not expecting the abrupt stop in walking. “You have seven siblings?”

Aubrey nods, wondering if she should bother getting into her family dynamics right now, and settles for a short version. “On my mom’s side, yeah. My parents divorced when I was a baby, and they both remarried. My brother and I have more siblings from both of them; it’s just like a whole thing with my dad.” She winces.

Will’s grinning again, though, like he didn’t even catch it, and he points to himself. “One of six.”

“Oh my god!” She blurts out excitedly, before she can help herself. There’s not many people she knows with sibling counts even close to hers, step and half siblings including, let alone a family like Will’s. “See, you get it!”

“Get what?” She hadn’t even realized that Mitch and Steph had approached them, until Mitch pokes in nosily.

“That younger siblings are actual monsters.” 

“You talk to your sisters everyday!” Mitch frowns, because he doesn’t get it; he never has.

“Yeah, your point?” Aubrey gives him a look as the others laugh around them. “That’s literally what having younger siblings is, and you just don’t know it because you are one.”

“Shots fired.” Steph nudges him.

“You’re the younger sibling too!” he nudges her back.

“Mmm, traditionally, Aub and I count all our siblings together, soo.” She trails off, laughing at the look on Mitch’s face.

Aubrey’s nodding; their families had grown up so close that it wasn’t uncommon to see Steph and her sister hanging around with Aubrey and her brothers, from the time they were children, all the way until today. “That’s why when Cam starts driving me crazy when she’s here next weekend, I’m just dropping her at your place. Basically the same thing.”

“Ohh, so she’s definitely coming?” Steph asks, eyes wide.

Aubrey nods. “Confirmed it with my mom today, I’m going to meet her halfway.” She pauses for the briefest of seconds. “Want to come?”

“Yes! Coffee on the way?”

“Obviously!”

“Yeah, Will and I are definitely going to sit this one out.” Mitch nods firmly.

“You weren’t actually invited, but okay.” Steph pats his shoulder mock-comfortingly. “But we should all do dinner when we get back!”

It takes everything in Aubrey not to show the internal panic on her face. She’s insanely close with her sisters, despite the age gap- she’s close with all her siblings, the brothers that she’d grown up probably terrorizing their parents together and the younger ones that terrorize them all now. It was probably unrealistic to think she could make it through “dating” Will without him meeting any of them, especially knowing how close Steph is with them too. “Yeah, that would be fun.”

She feels Will squeeze her side gently, almost comfortingly, but before they can get much further with this conversation, someone’s coming around and asking them to find their seats for dinner, so they split off to their tables, with promises to make plans for the following Friday over the next few days.

-----

Will’s quiet on the drive home after dinner, in his very expensive car, which is fine because Aubrey spends that time marveling over it. Like, she knew he was boujie, but, wow. 

“Is your sister staying all next weekend?” Will asks, abruptly interrupting Aubrey’s caress of the soft leather of the seat beneath her legs.

“Hm? Oh yeah.” She nods. “Cam’s been a super pain since Kayls started high school this year since she’s still back in junior high, but worse since Kayls just got invited to her first high school party and it’s next weekend.” She sees Will’s wince out of the corner of her eye and laughs. “Oh my god, you don’t even know the half of it! When I texted Cam to invite her up next weekend, she was like why would I want to come hang out with a bunch of old people like you anyway?” 

Will’s laughing and Aubrey’s jaw drops until he shares, “When I was home last summer, my youngest sister made me drop her off at a friend’s house three doors away because I wasn’t cool enough to be seen with.”

She actually laughs at that- if Will, an actual professional hockey player, isn’t cool enough to be seen with, then who is?- but the attitude is so familiar.  “They’re super close, Kayls and Cam, and like I kinda get why Cam’s being super annoying about a lot of shit. Like, I know she feels like she’s being left behind. But god, does she have to take it out on the rest of us?” She shakes her head, clearing both the thoughts and a piece of hair out of her face. “It’s just the age, my mom and I talk about it all the time. They’ll be nice again in a few years.”

Will glances over at her briefly with a look of panic on his face, before flicking his eyes back to the road. “That’s not really a comforting statement. As someone with three younger sisters,” He clarifies. “Not someone meeting yours this weekend.” Aubrey giggles. “But actually, I was wondering what your plans were with her on Saturday night? If you wanted tickets to the game for you guys?”

“Oh!” Aubrey blinks in surprise. “That would...that would actually be really nice. She’d like that.”

“Yeah?” She can hear the smile in Will’s voice.

“Well, she’d like the flex on all her friends on Monday.” Aub admits, knowing that her sister could probably care less about actually seeing a Leafs game. “And on the boys, they’d be super jealous.” At his glance, she clarifies. “Cam’s a triplet.”

He mutters something under his breath and she giggles again; she’s pretty sure that was Swedish and she can guess what it was. “But they’re not coming?”

“Not this weekend.” She confirms. She is definitely not hosting all three of Cam, Tyler, and Danny for the entire weekend. No way, no how. “But once they find out you’re offering tickets? I’m sure my phone will be ringing.”

“You know where to find me.” Will shrugs, pulling up in front of her building. “Thanks for coming tonight.”

Aubrey grins at him. “Fooled Steph and Mitch no problems.”

It feels like it takes a second for the comment to register with Will, but when it does, he returns the grin. “Yeah, no problems.”

-----

Steph waits until they are well on the road to meet her mom and both sisters (because in a surprise twist that everyone saw coming, a high schooler got grounded and a party was cancelled) sitting in stop and go traffic, before bringing up what Aubrey knows she’s been dying to ask. “So how’s Will?”

“Fine?” She responds, before she remembers that she’s supposed to know these things and hastens to finish. “It’s been a busy week with like, work and this shit, but like, he’s good.”

Steph makes a noise, like she’s unsatisfied with that answer and Aubrey gives her a look after she’s braked with the masses, waiting for it to pick up again. “But, like, how are the two of you?”

Ah. Ok. So that’s what this is about. “We’re good.” She assures Steph, absolutely certain her best friend is going to see right through her. “Just like, figuring shit out, you know? It’s still new.”

Steph’s nodding. “I mean, it wouldn’t be if you’d just gone out when Mitch and I first brought you to dinner…”

“Stephanie.” Aubrey says warningly, picking up speed, probably with too much hope that the traffic has cleared.

“Fine!” Steph laughs. “I know, I can’t say I told you so to you or you’re going to panic and break up with him and probably dye your hair and get bangs or something, but like. I’m super happy for you guys. You were so cute last week.”

“What?” Aub says blankly, because she really doesn’t have much else to say, but it doesn’t seem to matter, because Steph’s on a roll now.

“Like, Will couldn’t take his eyes off you the entire night.” She continues. “It was super cute; he kept, like reaching for you, you kept finding him.” She taps Aubrey’s leg excitedly. “Ok, I know I said I wouldn’t, but I’m too fucking excited and I knew you’d be perfect for each other, I knew it.”

“Oh, look! There’s a tattoo place right at the next light.” Aub says loudly, even though she has no intention of getting a tattoo right now- all four of her tattoos were impulsive decisions and the three threats she’s made since she’s gotten in the car feel like far too much thought, not to mention the time crunch they’re on to get back for dinner-but it does serve as the threat she intends. Steph clearly has no desire to try and talk her out of getting one today and switches the topic to something she just saw on the Insta of one of their friends, which lasts them until they pull into the parking lot that’s serving as the meeting point.

“Aub!” For all that Cameron pretends she’s too cool for everything, just like every 14 year old Aubrey can remember, she throws herself at Aubrey the second that Aub and Steph get out of the car. 

Aub squeezes her back, wondering when she got so tall. “Hey Cammie.” Cam swats at her as she pulls back. She hates that nickname, the one that Aub and her three older brothers have called her basically her entire life, but they’ve never stopped, no matter how much their youngest sibling had begged. “Where’s Kayls?”

“Here!” Kaylee huffs from next to their mom, who’s chatting with Steph, has been since she hugged her the minute she got out of the car. 

Aubrey’s eyes narrow, taking in the sibling who looks most like her. “Is that my sweater?”

“No.” Kaylee says too quickly to be true. “Are we ready? We have dinner plans, right?”

“Meeting Aubrey's new boyyyyfriend.” Cam sings, and Aubrey shoves her hand in her sister's face. 

“Not if you’re going to act like that, we don’t.”

“Girls.” Their mom pauses, mid-reach for Aubrey, to give her youngest two daughters a full-on mom look. “Be nice.”

Aubrey laughs at the looks on their faces, before clutching at her mom. “Hi momma. Love you.”

“Love you too.” Her mom squeezes. “Thanks for this gift.” She whispers and winks because Aub knows that her mom loves all eight of them dearly, but these two in particular are driving her nuts right now. “See you Sunday, at Luke’s.”

“Bye, I’m sure I’ll call you ten times before tomorrow!” Aubrey waves at her mom as she gets in her car, sliding back into the driver’s seat of her own, where Steph, Kaylee, and Cam are chattering to each other as they buckle their seatbelts. 

It’s just as she’s pulling back onto the road that Kayls gasps. “Aub, I think I forgot to pack toothpaste.”

“Ohh, me too!” Cam realizes.

Aubrey exchanges a look with Steph quickly. It’s not looking promising that she won’t be making a call to her mom, to talk her off the ledge.

-----

“What do you mean, you didn’t bring pants?” Aubrey rubs her temples as she stares at her sister.

Kaylee shrugs. “I forgot to pack them.”

“I forgot shirts.” Cam calls from the bathroom, where she’d just showered. “Can I borrow one?”

“Did you bring anything?” Aubrey asks wearily. “Toothbrush? Underwear?”

“Of course I brought underwear.” Kaylee huffs, sounding legit offended, like she didn’t forget to pack pants on a weekend trip away.

“Well excuse me for thinking you might not have, since you didn’t bring anything else!”

Her phone buzzes on the nightstand again; it’s got to be the third or fourth time, but she’s honestly been so caught up in her sisters that she hasn’t had time to check. “Just, like, grab whatever from the closet. We’re already late.”

Sure enough, it’s Will texting, letting her know he’s downstairs. be down in a few, She responds, not bothering to go into the whole pants story. “Girls! Three minutes!” She grins at their shrieks, packing a couple things into her purse and laughing to herself as she listens to them get ready. “Kayls! Cam!”

“We’re ready!” They rush out together, Kayls dressed in a pair of her favorite jeans and Cam in one of her favorite sweaters-how they always manage to find her favorites is ridiculous-but they don’t have time for her to make them change. 

“Ugh.” Aubrey just says instead, ushering them out and locking it behind her. “Come on, Will’s been waiting.”

“Will’s here?”

“Yes?” She frowns at the two of them. “Where else would he be?” But Kaylee and Cam are already giggling to each other, enough for her to roll her eyes to herself as she leads them out to Will’s car, knowing it’s definitely too much to expect them to just be cool.

“Hey.” Will greets, as she slips into the passenger seat.

“Hi.” She returns, smiling at him.

“Uh, hi?” Cam says impatiently from the backseat. Will laughs, but Aub gives her a look.

“It’s been literally two seconds. Could you, like, chill?”

“Nope!”

Aub side-eyes her again, but turns back to Will. “These are my sisters, Cam and Kaylee.” They greet him eagerly, a sentiment he returns, and then spends the entire car ride to the restaurant where they’re meeting Steph and Mitch at answering every question they ask with absurd patience. 

“Oh, I smell garlic.” Kaylee says, once Will has dropped his car off with valet. 

“It smells delicious.” Aub corrects, because it’s definitely heavy on the garlic, but it smells heavenly. 

Will smiles over at both of them, though Aub’s not sure if he means it more for Kaylee or her. “This is one of my favorite restaurants.”

“Really?” She blurts out, before she can stop herself, and he nods, reaching for her hand. 

“Great food.” He confirms. “Come on; Mitch and Steph are already here.”

That certainly serves to get her sisters moving-all her younger siblings have stopped being impressed by Mitch but they still love seeing him just as much as they love seeing Steph- and they push their way into through the doors quickly enough that Aubrey rushes to catch up to them, not trusting them alone, and tugging Will along with her.

Cam and Kaylee have already found Mitch and Steph, already chatting away with the two of them, like they didn’t just see Steph two hours ago in the car, and Aubrey and Will slip into the last two seats at the table. 

“You good?” Will nudges her as they sit. 

Aubrey nods. “Yeah. Pretty good.”

He raises an eyebrow. “Pretty good.”

“Well, Frick and Frack may legitimately drive me crazy this weekend but.” She shrugs. “We’ll see.”

“What happened to dropping them off with Steph if they drove you too crazy?”

She laughs. “God, if only, Will. If only.”

“Will!” Kaylee interrupts, looking up briefly from her menu. “What’s good here?”

“Will! What’s this mean?” Cam adds and Aubrey takes a deep breath, even as Will looks like it’s his absolute pleasure to walk them through the names of some of the different dishes on the menu. 

“Wine, please.” Aubrey requests from the waiter, the second he arrives at the table. “Literally, anything you’ve got.”

But Will waves that off, ordering a bottle of red for the table, in perfect French. “Show off.” She grumbles at him quietly and he grins at her from over the top of Cam’s menu, before he goes back to helping her out.

From her other side, Steph’s hiding her own smile, or rather, doing a very poor job at hiding one. “What?” Aubrey presses.

“Nothing.” Steph says. “Just happy to be having dinner all together.”

“Well that’s bullshit.” Aubrey calls her out, at the very blatant lie; Mitch snorts into his hand to cover his laugh. “But always happy to be having dinner with you too.”

Steph beams, clinking her wine glass with Aubrey’s the second the waiter fills them both. “Again, tomorrow, pregame?”

Aub looks over at her sisters, who have moved away from asking Will menu questions and are, instead, asking him questions about the bun in his hair. “Assuming you aren’t bailing me out of jail instead? Sure.”

-----

Aubrey Dupont: we’re going to do apps with steph pregame but want to say thanks again for tix tonight! want to do dinner again with us after if you’re free? 

Will Nylander: i’m free dinner sounds good 😁 it’ll be late though once I get out

Aubrey Dupont: that’s fine! Id say breakfast but we’ve got to leave pretty early tomorrow to get to my brothers to knock a wall down!

Will Nylander: ….holy shit cam was serious

Aubrey Dupont: 😂😂lollll yeah they’re opening up the dining room and living room! We’re all going out to take the wall down, we’re supposed to meet Steph and Mitch and then head out

Will Nylander: lol does mitch know? he booked us a tee time Sunday 

Aubrey Dupont: stfu he did not😂 lol he probably just doesn’t want to get iced that early

Will Nylander: haha what??

Aubrey Dupont: hahaha the first time steph brought him home to meet our families, it was my parents Christmas Eve party, my brothers iced him like three times in the first hour. He was so trashed he couldn’t even walk back next door to Steph’s house. 

It’s just like a thing we do, all our siblings and he was not prepared for it at all 😂

Will Nylander: sooo if I left one in his locker this week, how much trouble would you be in?

Aubrey Dupont: lol a lot but it’d be worth it, you should 100% do that

Mitch Marner: we’re knocking down a wall tomorrow wtf why didn’t you tell me? I’ll brave a Smirnoff to knock down a fucking wall. What time are you and Will picking us up?

Will Nylander: i fucked up, sorry

-----

“That’s really cute!” Zach Hyman’s wife smiles as she hands Kaylee her phone back. 

“Thank you.” Aubrey mouths to her, as Cam and Kayls flock to the phone to check out the pictures she’s taken of them, and Alannah smiles at her knowingly. Aub’s sure she’s got sisters of her own. 

“I’ll see you soon.” Alannah promises. “We should do dinner soon, the three of us, next time the boys are out of town.” And then she’s pushing her way toward Zach before Aub can respond to anything.

“Not a word.” Aubrey says warningly to her sisters, as Steph snickers, thinking of how picky the two of them are about pictures almost always.

“These are actually really cute though.” Cam says, like she even means it.

“Yeah, she did good.” Kayls adds, sliding her phone back into her purse.

“So happy they meet your standards.” Steph says dryly.

“They are the ones to meet.” Kayls flips her hair and it’s all Aubrey can do to fight back a laugh. She honest to god forgets how funny they are sometimes, when they’re driving her as crazy as they are now. 

“You’re too much.” Aubrey tells her and Kaylee grins, looping her arms around Aub’s shoulders and squeezing tightly. “Okay, now you’re really too much. You’re suffocating me; get off! Look,” She nudges Kaylee away, noticing quickly that Mitch has appeared recently- without Will, but with Auston-and tries to draw her attention there instead. “Mitch is here, bother him instead.”

Kaylee peers over. “Honestly, who even cares about Mitch? I’d rather bother Will instead.”

Mitch’s jaw drops as Steph and Auston laugh, but Aubrey feels the tension immediately in her shoulders. “Jesus Christ, could you just say thank you to Will so he doesn’t think you’re a literal monster like the rest of the world does?”

“Thanks, Will!” Kaylee and Cam chorus, and she glares at them right up until she feels a presence at her side and realizes he’s actually right there. 

“It was great to have you guys here this weekend.” Will smiles at them, sounding absolutely sincere, not a hint of sarcasm. 

“We had so much fun.” Kayls is already gushing before Aub can even turn her death glare to her. 

“What’d you guys do today?” Will asks her and again, it’s the sincerity that gets Aub, like he actually cares to listen to her sisters tell him about the brunch place that she and Steph took them to this morning, the stores they hit afterwards, a few of their favorite spots, before they had to go home and get ready for the game. 

He’s sweet and attentive, asking all the questions that he should and nodding in all the right places. “You guys still want dinner?” He asks, probably as soon as he can find a time to interrupt. He’s got to be absolutely starving after that game.

“Yes.” Aubrey answers for them all; she doesn’t really care what her sisters actually have to say on the matter. If Will’s hungry, they’ll eat right now whether they want to or not.

“Can we go back to that bakery we went to earlier, first?” Cam asks, and Aubrey straight up glares at her, but before she can even say no, Cam’s already whining to her. “Oh my, god, seriously? Stop, Aubrey!”

“Ryan, like, swears you’re fun; I just don’t see it.” Kaylee adds, about their brother, the one just younger than Aub.

And like, Aubrey knows they’re just trying to get under her skin, but like, Jesus Christ. “That’s because Ryan’s an actual adult and whenever you two come up here I have to be your literal mom, because you forget to bring toothbrushes and pants and use manners!”

“Take like four deep breaths.” Will says, in that chill way he is about basically everything, and immediately Aubrey feels her glare swing over toward him. That’s basically being told to calm down and there’s literally nothing fucking worse than that, doesn’t he know that?

Probably not. He’s probably never been told to calm down in his life. Jesus, what was it again that made Steph think he was perfect for her?

Mitch, probably recognizing that Aubrey’s about to lose it, pulls Cam into his side for a one-armed hug, mentioning that he’s starving, which at least cues Kaylee into the fact that Will might be too. “Yeah, dinner does actually sound good.” Her eyes flicker over to Will first, before landing on Aubrey, and only when Aub sees the flicker of remorse in them does she actually take that breath that Will had mentioned. 

“What time are we meeting in the morning?’ Steph asks, and Aub knows she’s looking to smooth over any potential blow up.

“9:22.” She deadpans, laughing at Mitch’s face.

“It’s supposed to be a nice day!” He protests. “I wouldn’t have made a tee time if you two had told me we were knocking down a wall! I had to hear it from Willy! What’s this shit?”

“Kicked out of the group chat again.” Aub shrugs, even though she knows well and truly that he hasn’t been- and won’t be again until sometime early spring, when someone does it symbolically for a day as they do every year.

“I’ll kick you out of the group chat.” Mitch says childishly, as Steph tries to collect him, Auston already ready to leave, and promising Aub that they’ll make plans later that night about the next morning.

“Will, where do you want to take us tonight for food?” Kayls asks, as they part ways in the lot.

Will looks a little startled. “Oh! Uh, what-where do you guys want to go?”

“We want to go where you like to eat.” Cam says. “We’ll eat anything.”

Will looks at her for confirmation and Aubrey nods; none of them are picky eaters. “Sushi?” He suggests and both girls nod excitedly, racing off towards Will’s car. “See?” He nudges her as they walk to catch up. “They’re fine.”

She glares up at him; he bumps her again and then again, repeatedly until she smiles. “They’re not awful.” She agrees, especially now that they’ve reminded her just how nice they can really be, at times.

Will’s grinning, matching her own smile. “I know you love them.”

“Don’t call me out like that, William.” He mimes zipping his lips and she laughs. “Ugh, you dork. Let’s go eat.”

-----

Kayls and Cam are in peak hurricane form, only barely dressed and nowhere near packed and ready to go, when Will texts to announce that he’s arrived to pick them up in the morning, so Aub just responds with her apartment number and tells him to come up.

He arrives at her door a minute or two later, with a guest in tow. “Mitchy invited him.” Will explains sheepishly, as he and Auston make themselves at home at the breakfast bar in her kitchen.

“Sorry to just, like, crash.” Auston adds.

Aubrey blinks at them. She feels like Will, of all people, should know better. “There’s legit eight of us; we adopt strays all the time.” He cracks up at that; they both do actually, and she smiles, just as Kayls shouts something about Cam stealing her leggings, from where they’re still in her room gathering her stuff.

“They’re not even yours!” Cam shouts. “Aubrey, tell her I got them first.”

“Well I was planning on wearing them!”

“Well you didn’t say that!”

“It’s just like being at home.” Auston says, smiling fondly enough that Aub laughs. “Make sure you check the straightener before you leave or they’ll fight about who forgot to turn it off in the car.” And then she straight up cackles; that’s a fight she knows well.

Auston and Will are both laughing as well, even as she hears her sisters shout for her. She ignores it, running her hands over her temples and turns towards the cabinet. “Coffee?” She asks them, and they both laugh as a muffled shout can be heard.

“Please.” Will says and Auston agrees so she pours mugs for them both, making idle chit chat, interrupted occasionally as they wait for her sisters to finally appear and be ready to leave. 

They do, eventually, far later than Aubrey would have liked, and late enough that she’s grinding her teeth about it, loud enough that Will nudges her gently when she passes him to get her coat. He’s right though, it’s not like they’re in a rush to get out to her brother's house, but she’s anxious enough by that point to get moving that she doesn’t even realize what Kayls has taken from her closet to wear until they’re all climbing into Will’s backseat. “Oh my god, what are you wearing?”

“They’re literally yours!” Kayls snaps back and that’s not a lie, but it’s not what Aub’s got issue with either. It’s the absurdly clashing patterns in her leggings and oversized long-sleeve.

“I never wear them together.”

“That’s because your fashion sense is basic a-f.” Kayls pronounces each letter individually and Aub knows, she knows that Will and Auston are laughing at the look of disbelief on her face, even if she can’t see them. “You should take some tips from Will; his is on point.”

“Thanks, Kayls!” Will beams at her through the rearview mirror.

Aubrey ignores him. “Will’s homeless, that’s why he dresses like that.” She deadpans, which he protests immediately even as Auston cracks up.

“You’re not homeless.” Cam says to her, and it’s the fake innocent thing that does it for Aub. “Will could live with you.”

Aub pulls a face even as Auston just laughs even harder and Cam stares at her like she’s waiting for an actual answer. “Walked right into that one.” She mutters to herself, as Will meets her eyes in the mirror. He’s fighting back a grin; she can see the laughter in his eyes. “Will, coffee at the next Tim’s, please?” She’s going to need one to get through this.

Will’s full on grinning now, but he pulls off at the next exit in search of coffee and hands over his credit card before she can even object. The rest of the ride to her brother’s house feels like it passes in a flash, Kayls and Cam tumbling out of the car to greet Luke practically before Will’s even put it in park. 

The only thing that stops Aubrey from having a complete heart attack is the immediate sense of calm she feels from no longer calling herself in charge. Luke’s here; he can deal with this shit now.

She feels Will laughing at her as they exit the car. “I thought you’d be more nervous.” He says, as they walk toward her brother, side by side, with Auston.

She snickers. “For what?” And then leans herself into Luke for a hug. “Hi!”

“Jesus, what’d you give them before you brought them here?” Luke returns the hug. 

“Literally anything that would shut them up.” She says, dead serious, and then introduces Will, and Auston, almost as an afterthought. 

Luke is friendly and welcoming, like she knew he would be. They’ve never had the overprotective sibling relationship she hears about from people. They’re too close in age, only a year apart in school; or too close in general, sharing too much as they grew up shuffled to their dad and stepmom’s every other weekend for their court-mandated time. She’s never doubted that he has her back, but he lets her live her life, no matter how stupid the decisions she might make (though he’s certainly not shy about telling her when he thinks she making one).

“Fitz and Steph and Mitch here yet?” She wonders, as they walk inside, the chatter between her sisters and sister-in-law already evident.

“Running late.” Luke says. “But Ryan’s upstairs sleeping. He stayed last night.”

She grins at him, contemplating running up to wake him, but in the end decides against it, settling for following the sound of her sisters’ voices into the kitchen. Rachel’s standing at the counter, setting out snacks and listening patiently as Kayls and Cam detail their entire weekend to her.

“-Will got us tickets for Saturday’s game-”

“-we ate at this amazing sushi place-”

“Rach!” Aubrey interrupts, tugging her sister-in-law away from Kayls and Cam, who are talking over each other. “Come meet Will.”

Rachel sends her a grateful look and immediately turns her bright smile at Will and Auston, introducing herself to them both and offering them drinks. By the time that she, Luke, and Aub finish getting drinks for everyone, Ryan’s coming downstairs, rubbing a hand over his face sleepily, and the introductions begin all over again.

Then Aubrey and Steph’s parents come in with her two youngest brothers, which cues another round of that, and then finally, Steph, Mitch, and Fitz roll in, which has Aubrey cackling when Auston leans over and whispers. “You didn’t tell us your brother is Little Fred?”

“What the fuck are you on?” She frowns at him, but Will’s got the same look on his face.

Will nods over at Fitz, the stepbrother who’d been in the same grade as her growing up and one of her best friends for about as long as she could remember. Said brother is currently trying to mess up Cam’s hair with one hand, while fighting one of her triplets, Tye, for the last danish. “He’s come out with us a few times, I guess with Mitch? He looks like Fred.” She gives the two of them a look. Literally the only thing her brother and their goalie have in common is red hair. Will shrugs. “Little Fred.”

“That’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard.” She declares. “The bar is so low.”

“Must be.” Ryan nudges her side. She hadn’t even heard him come up beside her. “Dating you and all.” 

She flips him off and he grins; Ryan’s actually the sibling closest in age to her, with the way all their birthdays work out, but from Luke to Ryan, all four of them are close and when Steph and her sister were added in there as well…well, the group chat gets chaotic.

“Hey!” Her mom snaps her fingers at them. “I don’t want to see any of that today.” And Aub can feel it in her face, the look she’s giving back to her mom, like certain that she’s not serious, because, honestly, has she met any of them? She peeks over at Ryan; he’s fighting back a laugh and that’s all it takes for her mom to lose it, the seriousness on her face quickly turning into a laugh.

It’s enough to get them all moving though, toward the wall they’re going to be tackling today, where they’re divided into teams by her stepdad and Steph’s dad, the only two who competently know what they’re doing.

“Ohhh!” Cam says immediately drifting towards the power saw. “Can I use this?”

Will pulls it away from her hands before she has the chance to even touch it and Aubrey’s calling out to her stepdad. “Mike! Are we stuck with these people all day?”

“Yes.” Her stepdad calls back; he’s already showing Tye and Danny how to demo their end of the wall.

Aub looks at Will and immediately mouths, “I’m sorry,” but he’s already loudly laughing at her. She kinda hates that he’s laughing at her, but she hates even more how contagious his laughter is.

-----

It’s a little past dinner time and Aubrey’s exhausted, too tired even to take her empty pizza plate to the kitchen trash can from where she’s sitting on the family room floor. 

Around her, the rest of her family is in a similar state. Ryan’s actually asleep on one end of the couch, and on the other end, Auston’s half-heartedly grumbling at Derek Carr and the Raiders, while Steph’s lying across Mitch’s lap on the other side of the room. It’s about as quiet as they’ve all ever been, even Mitch and her sisters, which is how she knows they’re all exhausted.

Next to her, Will’s been quietly munching on a plate of fries since he finished his pizza a while ago. Aubrey reaches over and steals one from him. “Hey!” He protests.

“You’ve had the whole plate!” She thought she ate a lot; she honestly doesn’t know where he puts it all. “I just wanted a couple!”

“A couple?” Will repeats and Aubrey nods with a grin, reaching out and swiping another one from the plate. “Keep this up and we’re going to have to stop for second dinner on the way home.”

“I could probably eat again by then.” She rationalizes, stealing another. 

Will laughs, sliding the plate over a few inches toward her, and Aubrey grins triumphantly. It’s quiet for a minute, or mostly quiet, the only sound for the next minute Auston moaning about a fumble, and Kaylee and Cam asking a question about it and then giggling to each other about it before they even get a full answer to it. 

It’s Auston’s perplexed face that reminds her and she nudges Will as she goes in for another fry. “Hey.” She bumps him again, grabbing his attention. “Thanks.”

Will hums, sounding almost confused, and glances over at her. Every time Aubrey thinks it’s impossible for him to be more good looking, he proves her wrong; and always doing the most innocent things. He’s just looking at her, with this tiny little smile, but the light’s catching his eyes and they look impossibly blue and gentle, so soft like the rest of him does right now, in a way he almost never publicly is. “For what?”

“For putting up with my sisters all weekend and their increasingly ridiculous comments.”

Will laughs and he’s so close that she can feel the vibration. He’s leaning back against the wall again, but his head’s tilted a little, just barely leaning against hers, and Aub leans into it a little as he starts to talk. “My two youngest sisters play this game, every time we go to the airport, yeah? After we’ve said goodbye and everything. It’s like this competition between them, for who gets the last touch. And they’ll like chase me down as far as they can until I get to security, back and forth between the two of them…”

Aubrey’s already giggling, picturing the scene. “Same shit, different day,” She summarizes the weekend.

He flicks his finger across her nose and she giggles again. “Bingo.”

-----

It’s only when they’re back in the car and on the highway back toward Toronto after stopping for sushi for a second dinner that Auston says, sounding entirely too casual to actually be casual, “So, like, what’s really going on here with you two?”

Aub feels her stomach drop and it takes everything in her not to look at Will, who of fucking course, plays it enitrely cool. “What do you mean?”

Auston leans forward, from the middle seat in the back, which he’d generously offered to take so that she could sit up with Will even though she’d insisted he’d want the leg room up front; she’s starting to wonder if there was more to it than that. He gestures between the two of them. “It’s just, like, not how you usually are with girls.”

Will’s head whips back to look at him. “What’s that supposed to mean?” He demands.

“Will!” Aubrey hisses. “Eyes on the road.”

Auston’s cackling as Will turns his attention back to driving, but continues to eye him up through the rearview mirror. Aubrey twists in her seat; she can still stare him down. “So anyway,” He continues. “There’s that. And then, I mean, I was in the car with him when you literally texted him your apartment number. That was pretty sketch.”

Aub swings her gaze over to Will. “It came over Bluetooth.” He defends. 

She pats his thigh. “Stick with hockey, kay?”

He laughs, and when she looks back at Auston, he’s laughing too, but he’s also got this thoughtful look on his face. “So anyway, what’s going on?” He presses.

“Steph and Mitch.” She says finally, after exchanging another look with Will.

“Ah.”

“That’s it?” She frowns at him. “That’s all you have to say?”

“Well, I mean, I’m sure there’s more to it, but like, I have met them before.” Auston grins when she and Will both laugh. “So what’d they do now?”

“Do you have an hour?” Will drawls.

“I have beer upstairs.” Auston offers, since they’re basically pulling up to his apartment, and since Will looks over at her for confirmation, Aub barely even takes a second before agreeing.

“Any wine?”

-----

It’s actually kind of crazy how relieving it is for someone else to know about her and Will, outside of the two of them. Aubrey hadn’t even realized how much it was weighing on her until it’s not, until the three of them had spent three hours laughing about it, recapping the entire thing and then just laughing about nothing.

She notices right away that it's equally relieving to Will, that the two of them will drift over to Auston when the team does something together, or that she’ll get a snapchat from one of them from the road that features Will and Auston off doing something ridiculous.

Steph calls her out on it one day, when the two of them are at a game one night. “I did not introduce you to Will for the two of you to spend time with Auston.”

“You ditched me last night!” Aubrey protests, but really, Steph’s not wrong. That was one time, because Mitch’s brother wanted to introduce his new girlfriend to them, and she’s been out here avoiding invites like it’s her job.

Steph continues like she didn’t hear a thing. “I introduced you to Will so that we could have great couples’ friends and hang out all the time, so why aren’t we?”

“I thought you introduced me to Will because we’d be perfect together?” Aubrey bitches and Steph gives her a look, so Aubrey promises that she and Will will do dinner with her and Mitch again soon.

Dinner soon, to Steph, apparently means that weekend, and Aubrey finds herself in Will’s car again, with a bottle of wine and a plate of dessert, driving out to Etobicoke on Friday night. “I like that I’ve claimed this seat now.”

Will laughs. “What?”

“It’s always set where I want it to be!” She grins. “Perfect leg room!”

Her phone buzzes as Will laughs again, but it only takes a quick glance at the screen to click back out of it. “You okay?” Will asks.

“Huh?”

“You just got real quiet, real quick.” He says, turning onto Steph and Mitch’s street. “Everything alright?”

Aubrey huffs out an aggravated breath, trying to decide what, if anything, she wants to say. “My other dad is being...my other dad.”

“Oh?” Will parks in their driveway and she huffs out another annoyed sigh as her phone buzzes in her pocket, knowing it’s just her half-brother again with more shit about their dad. 

“He’s like…” She gathers her stuff and tries to find the words as they walk inside. “I don’t even know. Everybody’s been freaking out since some lady tagged him in a bunch of pictures on Facebook last week but my siblings are at dinner with him right now and they asked him about it and he told them he’s not seeing anyone.”

“Wait, seriously?” It’s the first thing Steph says to her; Aub’s been bitching to her about the whole thing for a week now and she’s more than familiar with her issues with her dad. 

“Yes!” She cries. “My sister asked if he was seeing anyone, he said no. I guess one of the boys asked if he’d taken any trips lately, because of the pictures, and he said no. So he’s just straight up lying and I don’t know why!”

“Maybe,” Will says. “He’s not actually lying.”

Aubrey pats his arms gently. “You’re new here, so I’ll let that terrible thought pass.”

Will looks taken aback but she can barely spare a thought for that as Mitch says, “Maybe he got secret-married again and is just waiting until you’re all there to tell you-OW!” Steph elbows him hard and he grins anyway. “What? I’m just saying!”

“I already went to therapy once this week, Mitchy.” Aub mock-glares at him. “I cried for three hours and only didn’t dye my hair blue because Steph came to pick me up for the game. I don’t need to go again. Keep that shit to yourself and get me some wine.”

Mitch laughs; he’s equally familiar with her post-therapy routine and her feelings for her dad. “Alright fine.” He says, but there must still be something on her face because Will’s hand comes to rest on her shoulder right after that and he rubs it gently for a minute before he comes to sit next to her.

Conversation turns lighter after that- to Mitch’s brother’s new girlfriend, who Steph liked and Mitch thought was only okay and then to Will’s sister’s new boyfriend, who he hates-before they’re all more focused on food and a game later in the evening. 

It’s easy to ignore her phone buzzing when Aubrey and Mitch are dominating Steph and Will at Codenames (or calling cheaters, because Will and Steph most definitely are), but much harder to ignore in the car when she and Will are alone again, and Aub barely even notices when Will doesn’t make the turn for her place, instead just driving straight to his place.

“Oh.” She says quietly when he finally parks and they’re in the garage, instead of just pulling up out front of her building, like he has been recently.

“Didn’t want you to dye your hair blue tonight.” Will deadpans and Aubrey laughs, surprised that it’s kind of watery. 

“Fair, it was definitely a risk.”

Will smiles at her gently. “I’ve been told my guest room is supremely comfortable.”

Aubrey raises her eyebrows; she can siphon out the source of that one. “I hear your brother has pretty shitty taste.” She says and he laughs, that loud one he’s got that she can’t help but smile at because it sounds so ridiculous, but Aubrey’s already getting out of the car, ready to follow him up before he can see.

Will’s condo is pretty much everything she expected- a lot of modern pieces, a lot of white, very Scandanavian- but there’s plenty of Will in it as well. A lot of family pictures. Some hockey stuff-both Leafs and Team Sweden-but not an overwhelming amount. 

She’s still looking at some of the pictures (he looks so much like his mom) when he returns with a couple glasses of wine, and she accepts hers with a gracious smile. “Thank you.”

“We’ve been at this long enough for me to know that wine’s your thing.” He jokes and she laughs.

“I meant for bringing me here.” She shoves at his shoulder; annoyingly enough he doesn’t even move. “I definitely would have done something stupid.”

“What are friends for?” Will smiles and there’s that annoyed feeling again, maybe even more so than just a minute ago, tugging at her stomach, for really no reason. They are friends now, in pretty much every sense of the word. They hang out, they text, they do all kinds of things. It’ll actually probably be hard for her, to not be friends with him, or at least pretend to be, when they have to “break up” for a bit to annoy Steph and Mitch. 

“Yeah.” Aubrey says and it just sounds off so she takes a sip of her wine right away so he can’t see whatever her face is doing. “If you were really my friend, you’d let me borrow some sweats to sleep in. You know. Since you kidnapped me to bring me here.”

“Ohh, I don’t know if we’re that close.” Will says, but he’s laughing as he walks toward his room so she knows he’s kidding.

It’s a pretty quiet night between the two of them once they make themselves comfortable, just chilling on the couch and watching Netflix, and Will’s not stingy with his pours so Aubrey pours herself into his guest room a little tipsy, and maybe that’s why she texts him from bed. You were right, your guest bed is pretty comfortable.

*Supremely* comfortable. Told you so 😜

-----

Aub’s still in Will’s absurdly comfortable guest bed when her daily FaceTime call with her sisters comes in and she answers it without thinking. “Hey.”

“Where are you?” Kaylee asks immediately. “That’s not your room-oh my god, are you at Will’s?” She blurts and Aubrey wants to smack herself.

“That’s Leafs stuff!” Cam exclaims, popping her head into the frame. “You never wear Leafs stuff! Oh my god, do you live there now?”

“Back up, calm the crazy.” She’s cutting off this spiral before they’ve got the story of her and Will eloping spread to her entire family. 

Kayls pouts. “You never let us have any fun.”

“I do not want a call from Grandma this afternoon asking me why I got married to the blond hippie from the Leafs because you two can’t keep your mouths shut and she saw one bad picture.” 

Cam’s jaw drops in outrage. “That’s so rude, we would at least send a good picture out! Like she’d know how hot he really is; there’d be no need to google and accidentally come across a picture of him in a Sugo hat.”

That’s it. She’s up for good now. Aubrey throws the blankets off herself and sits up off the edge of the bed, rubbing her temples in hopes it’ll make her tiny hangover headache go away. Limited success. “You googled him?”

“Of course we googled him!” Kayls says, like it’s the most obvious thing in the world. “Aub, oh my god, he’s got-”

“I’m leaving this room right now.” Aubrey warns; she’s already at the door. “Stop talking about him like he’s not here.”

Cam immediately launches into a story about a couple of the girls on her field hockey team and something that had happened at practice after school yesterday, a story that she’s still detailing when Aubrey walks into the kitchen to find Will also looking into his phone with a fond look on his face as a loud jumble of voices shout back to him in what she can only assume is Swedish.

“Coffee’s back there.” He points, greeting her with a smile. “And mugs above it.”

“Thank you.” She’s pretty sure, from the expression on his face, that he knows how much of a lifeline that’s about to be for her.

“Hi Will!” Kayls calls and Aub glares at her, but Will calls back a greeting in return before returning to Swedish, but definitely in an argumentative tone.

It’s a couple more minutes of that-listening to Will speaking in Swedish and going through her usual morning nonsense with her sisters-before Will lets out the smallest groan and then looks at her. “My sisters want to say hi.”

“Oh.” Aubrey says, surprised more than anything.

And before she can really say anything, Cam adds. “Yes! Then we can talk with Will!” Which is how she finds herself sitting next to Will with his dog curled in her lap, both their phones in front of them, speaking with her sisters and two of Will’s sisters.

It’s pretty much maximal chaos, but when they both end their calls a few minutes later, Aubrey’s still smiling as she runs her hand through the dog’s fur and Will’s laughing to himself. “Mmm, good luck to you.” Aub nudges him, easy enough to do since she’s still sitting flush up next to him. “When they’re in town next month. They’ve probably all followed each other on Instagram by now already. Best friends in no time.”

“Gonna be busy with games.” Will says weakly. “Practices, media things. Think it’s gonna be your problem.”

“Like hell.” She laughs, shaking her head when he joins in and doesn’t stop. “Oh my god, that was not that funny!”

“Just thinking of all the ways they’re going to torture us when they’re all together after they’ve spent the last month talking shit about us in a group chat.” Will says, somehow still laughing about that, because he’s literally the most chill person on the planet. Like of course he’s not even bothered by that.

“I don’t have enough food in me to deal with that thought.” Aubrey declares, laughing decidedly less at the thought of actually meeting Will’s family. In person. Where they’ll have to actually see her and see what a farce this is. “Feed me.”

Will shrugs. “Let me change and we’ll grab brunch.”

Aub looks down at the very large sweats she’s borrowed to sleep in. “We’ll stop first, yeah?”

“Depends on how hangry you are.” Will calls back, already walking away.

She pulls a face at his back at that one. She’s actually pretty hungry, but like, she’s not dumb enough to go out to brunch with him in a walk of shame. Not when there’s already a group chat forming about her on Instagram. She doesn’t need Leafs Twitter coming for her too.

-----

It’s easy to settle in a routine from there; meeting Mitch and Steph for dinner a few times, joining Steph for games and then leaving with Will for a second dinner after, and easily splitting off to spend time with her own family and friends or catching up with them when Will is off on road trips. 

It’s so easy to settle into a routine like that, a relationship routine, that she lets herself get lulled into a false sense of security, the message from her dad catching her off guard completely one day.

“What’s wrong?” Will asks, when they’re at dinner after a game. It’s their thing now; pick a restaurant and grab some food right afterwards before he drops her off at home. It’s a nice way to wind down actually; she usually looks forward to it.

Tonight though, Aub has been uncharacteristically quiet since they met up and she was a downright bitch earlier when she and Steph were fighting about something. Like, she knows they’ll forget all about it tomorrow, but still. She owes her best friend coffee at the least. “Hmm?” She looks up at him, barely hearing his question. 

“What’s wrong?” He repeats, giving her a look before she can fight him against answering.

She pushes her food around a little-very uncharacteristic for her, and she can tell even Will’s picked up on that. “My dad wants to meet us all for dinner this week, which means he probably did get secret-married again.”

“Oh.” Will makes a face and Aubrey returns it, laughing when he contorts his even worse. “And that’s-I mean-again?” He finally settles on and she nods, ready to drop this bomb.

“It’ll be wife number six, but secret wedding number three.” She says, delighting in the way his jaw drops. “This is just, like, what he does; he just announces he wants to have dinner with us and then shows up and is like and here’s my new wife, like it’s super casual, and then we all wonder why I need therapy when he’s out here hiding wives and families like it’s a fulltime job.” She finishes, only realizing how heated she is about it when she looks up to find Will staring at her with wide eyes.

“Um.” Will starts.

“Sorry.” Aub hastens, flushing.

“No!” Will says. “No, don’t apologize at all, you can, like, share whatever you want. I just...I got like half of what you just said.” He gives her an apologetic look. “Missing a big chunk of this story.”

“Right.” Aub nods, pretty proud of how calm she sounds. Dr. Seth is going to be so impressed with her next week. “Sorry. We haven’t talked about the two secret families he was hiding when I was growing up. Ok, I’ll back up.”

“He what?” Will cries, but Aub waves him off, diving into the whole history of her dad, her half-siblings, and her step-moms...as well as their various divorces. 

“...and that brings us to now.” She takes a sip of her wine thoughtfully; Will has long since drained his and refilled. She’s pretty sure she didn’t miss anything. “And dinner that’s going to be an absolute disaster.”

“Do you want me to come?” Will offers.

“No!” She says immediately. That’s like-god, that’s the worst idea ever. They do not need to get her greedy father involved in this, who’d take one look at Will and see dollar bills. She’s accepted that she can’t change the way her dad treats her (after many years of therapy); she’s got another dad who loves her and it’s not fine the way her dad doesn’t remember her birthday or what she does for work or pretty much anything important about her, but it is what it is. But like, she’s not going to subject Will to it. “It’ll be-fine.”

He raises an eyebrow. “You think so?”

“No.” She shakes her head. “But thanks anyway.”

Will purses his lips. It’s clear that he doesn’t love that answer, but he doesn’t say anything more on the subject, asking her instead if she wants to split a dessert, as if he doesn’t already know the answer to that question, and Aub, grateful for the change in topic, even agrees to let him pick this time.

It’s a rare gift.

-----

Aubrey knows she had a little too much to drink at dinner with her dad, but she’s not so drunk that she can’t recognize that this is Will’s door she’s standing in front of, knocking loudly and repeatedly. 

She has only a moment to contemplate that-that it’s here she chose to come to after yet another disaster dinner, instead of Steph’s or her brother’s or back home to her own place-before Will’s opening the door, the confusion passing quickly over his face when he realizes it’s her.

“Hey.” He beams and steps back, silently inviting her in, but Aub doesn’t want him to go further away from her. That’s why she came here. “Whoa, hey!” Will says, as Aub steps in the condo and presses herself against him. “Are you-” He lets out a strangled choke as she tiptoes up and loops her arms around the back of his neck. “-okay?”

“Peachy.” She says, pulling him down to kiss her.

It’s not really a great kiss; Will’s kissing her back for a moment, and then pulling back. “Wait-”

“No.” She whines, leaning in for another, and he does it again, caught up for a moment in kissing her, but then it’s like his thoughts catch up to him and he breaks it.

“Aub, we shouldn’t- we aren’t-”

And like why shouldn’t they? They’ve been doing this fake relationship for a while now and not able to hook up with anyone else because of it. He’s objectively the hottest person she’s ever seen. There’s no reason that’s coming to her right now that says she shouldn’t. “We’re friends now!” Aubrey says, running her palms over his shoulders. God, why weren’t they doing this the entire time? “Right?” And Will nods, slowly, but it’s a nod, “It’s fine, friends hook up all the time.” 

“You really want this?” His thumb brushes her cheek as she nods and only then does he pull her back in for a kiss.

-----

If Aubrey thought Will’s guest bed was comfortable, it’s really got nothing on his actual bed. She rolls over, curling into the pillow a little more and opens her eyes to see the sliver of sunlight coming through catch the edge of Will’s face, that one piece of hair that’s sticking up that should be unattractive, but is totally not.

It’s really just unfair.

The sound comes from behind her and Aub jumps when she realizes it’s Will’s alarm going off.  It seems like it barely even fazes him; he just reaches across her and silences it; his arm falling across her when he drags himself back.

“Hi.” She smiles.

“Hi.” Will laughs and it lights up his whole face; she can’t help the hand that comes up to trace over his features. “Come on, that’s not fair.

“What’s not fair?” Aubrey asks innocently, trailing her nails down his chest.

He groans. “I have to go. Skate.”

“You don’t have to go.” She pouts and he groans again.

“You’re making it really hard to have to.”

“Good.” Aubrey giggles, only stopping when Will shuts her up with a kiss.

“Really hard.” He repeats as she rolls her hips into his.

“Fine.” She sighs, flopping onto her back, and she knows the move does exactly as she’d intended when his eyes go right to her chest. “I guess I’ll just have to stay here in bed until you get back.”

“Please do.” He insists, leaning over to kiss her again. “Fastest skate ever.” Will promises.

“You can’t control that.” Aubrey reasons, even as Will’s shaking his head at her while he climbs out of bed.

“Fastest skate ever.” He repeats.

She can’t really confirm or deny that it is; but when he does return, pulling her out of a doze by jumping on top of her, there’s coffee on the table for her too. It’s cold by the time she gets to it.

-----

“You guys are being weird.” Steph comments one night, as Aub’s cheering after Will scores a tie-breaking goal. 

“What?” Aubrey gives her a look. “What do you mean?”

“You and Will.” Steph says, like it should be obvious. “You’re like-” She breaks off, making a noise of frustration.

“You’re in the honeymoon phase.” Alannah supplies helpfully and Steph lights up.

“Yes!” She cries and Aubrey glares over at Alannah but she merely smiles back. “But it’s like, you’re back in it? Like, you weren’t for a while and now...you can’t take your hands off each other again!”

Aubrey doesn’t really know what to say to that. She’s not denying that she and Will have been all over each other ever since that first night they slept together. She can’t even remember the last time she went to her apartment for anything more than to pack clothes and she’s lost track of the number of times she’s reached out for him only to find Will already reaching for her.

But before? She can’t think of any moment where they were ever like they are now. Like there’s too much space between them even when she’s right next to him. Or this pull that brings her toward him no matter where he’s at.

But she doesn’t...she doesn’t know what to say about that. Because it’s not like anything has changed between them. They’re still friends; they still laugh and joke as usual, still gossip about their friends together, are still just waiting to drop a big break up on Mitch and Steph. 

Nothing’s changed, even if maybe, she thinks, something has.

So she shrugs at Steph and says, “We’re just happy. Is that so bad?”

Steph beams and leans her head against Aubrey’s shoulder, and like, Aub knows that’s exactly what she’d been hoping for since she introduced her to Will, but Aubrey still feels like something wasn’t right about what she said.

-----

Aubrey tugs on the Nylander jersey that drapes over her frame as she and Will walk into the hospital conference room. “Are you sure about this?”

“It’s tradition.” He grins. “Stop playing with it.”

“That’s what she said.” She says as dryly as she can, managing to keep the face until he laughs, and then she cracks up with him. 

That’s how the two of them walk into the conference room where the team is meeting; laughing so loudly that everyone stops what they’re doing to turn and look, but she and Will only get a bunch of fond smiles before everyone turns back to their own conversations.

Steph gives her a knowing look when they approach hand in hand, which Aubrey ignores pointedly. “You didn’t warn me we’d have to actually go things wearing this dumb jersey when you plotted to get us together.”

“Oh I didn’t?” Steph says innocently as Mitch and Will sputter in protest. “Must have slipped my mind.”

“Dumb jersey?” Will nudges her.

Aub shrugs, looking up at him with a cheeky grin. “It’s a little big. Might have some trouble getting out of this thing.”

Will grins. “I’m sure some help can be arranged.”

Mitch feigns gagging. “There are children around.”

Wills hand drags up her side briefly-too briefly- as he grins at Mitch. “Where, Mitchell?” But he backs off and Aub does too, both of them catching up with teammates and wives and girlfriends around them.

Or they back off a little, but Aub still finds herself drawn int0 his orbit, especially once they start splitting off into groups to move through the hospital to go see the kids. His hand will brush against hers as they move between rooms; she’s bumping her shoulder against his arm comfortingly as they talk with parents.

It’s not very subtle, but they don’t need to be. Except…

“What is going on?” Auston hisses at her, in passing, as he’s about to step inside the room Will’s just about leaving.

“Nothing.” Aub says innocently, but Will reaches for her hand when he leaves, opting for a fist bump with Auston instead, and Auston’s eyes widen, but Aubrey tugs Will along before he can say anything. “Come on, let’s grab some water real quick!”

The diversion doesn’t last long; Auston catches up to her only two rooms later while Will’s in talking hockey with a little girl and she’s waiting outside, leaning against the wall. He joins her, looking in as well for a moment, before looking over at her. “This is a terrible idea.” Auston says flatly.

“You were on board with it!” Aubrey hisses, trying to keep a smile on her face.

“That was before I realized you guys were sleeping together. Now it’s going to backfire and go to shit.”

Aubrey frowns. “Why?”

“Why?” Auston repeats, like he can’t even help himself. “Oh my god, you don’t even-” He stops abruptly. 

“Don’t even what?” She prompts, when it’s clear he’s not going to continue.

But he doesn’t continue. He just rubs his temples for a minute and mutters under his breath. “Fuck me, how do I have to be the smart one here?”

“Hey!” Aubrey protests, offended. “I am always the smart one.”

“Not right now.” He says cryptically. “And it’s hard to tell who’s being dumber: you or Willy.”

“What is that supposed to mean?” Aubrey frowns, but Auston’s already walking away. “Auston!” He ignores her. “Auston!”

“Hey.” Will’s reaching for her arm gently. “What’s wrong?”

Auston’s out of sight now anyway. “Nothing.” She shakes her head, clearing her thoughts and then looks up at him. “Next room?”

-----

“What are you doing Friday?” Aubrey looks up from scrolling through her family’s group chat; Will’s peering at her from across the island.

“Nothing.” She says, after thinking about it for a minute. “What’s up?”

“We play my brother on Saturday.” He says and the shoe doesn’t drop until he adds, “So my parents and sisters are coming in for a bit. Watch the game. Do early Christmas. Hang out a bit.”

“Oh.” She bites her lip. It shouldn’t-it shouldn't be weird. He survived a whole weekend with her sisters, he’s met her entire family; they’ve gone out a few times with varying numbers of her brothers since then. It just...feels weird now.

Will eyes her carefully for a second but continues. “They come in early Friday morning and I made dinner reservations for that night, if you want to come with us.” 

He says it super casually, the way he is about pretty much everything, but she knows him well enough now. There’s a little hopeful tone at the end of it, almost like a question even though it’s not phrased as one. “Yeah.” She says, and even though she’s already nervous about this dinner that’s literally days away, it’s worth it to see the smile grow across his face. “I’d love to come with you guys.”

“They’ll be excited.” Will says, which really undersells just how excited his sisters actually are when they do roll into town later in the week.

Daniella throws herself at Aubrey the second she walks in the door, chattering excitedly about meeting her, and spending the weekend together, and dinner that night, all before Aubrey can even put her purse down. She doesn’t know what her face is doing but whatever it is is bad enough that Will says something to his sister in Swedish and follows it up with a glare when she giggles something back to him.

It works though; Daniella detaches herself, but she does stay close, almost bouncing along next to Aubrey as she steps further inside. “Come on.” Will nods toward the kitchen. “My parents are in here.”

Fuck, his parents. She takes a deep breath. “Cool.”

He grins. The panic must definitely be showing on her face, but his sister just keeps talking through it- Aubrey can relate- or Daniella just doesn’t notice it in her excitement. But Will does, still grinning at her, and she brushes against him purposefully with her shoulder as she goes to follow Daniella, only for him to grab her hand as she passes.

“You don’t have to be nervous.” He squeezes her hand and the only thing that stops her from frowning is his sister. It’s kind of a harsh reminder of the circumstances that she is meeting his family under, the details behind what’s happening here, and that someday-probably soon even- they’ll go back to...well, she hopes that they’ll at least still be friends. 

Even if they stop hooking up.

Danielle goes right up to Stephanie in the kitchen, the two of them whispering to each other in a way that immediately reminds Aub of Kaylee and Cam, enough that she has to fight back a laugh. But it’s Will’s parents that really draw her attention. Michael and Camilla are exactly how she’d pictured from every story Will’s ever told her, full attention on her as soon as she and Will enter the kitchen.

“This is Aubrey.” Will introduces.

“Hi!” She smiles, hoping it’s bright and warm enough to hide her nerves. 

And it works- or more likely, Will’s parents are as perceptive as he is- because they jump right into chatting easily with her. 

She loves them immediately.

They’re warm and friendly, like they’re welcoming her, even though they’re the ones who spent hours on a plane recently. Will’s mom- Camilla, she insists- draws her into a conversation about her family right away- “William told me you have many siblings as well.” “Mum!” “Mum, they’re the best!”- which keeps them going for a while until Michael reminds them they have a reservation to keep. 

“You can keep talking at the restaurant.” He teases Camilla, who’s glaring at him. “Some of us are hungry!”

She rolls her eyes at him- a look that is so similar to one Aubrey’s seen Will make a thousand times- but it serves to get all of them moving. They do keep talking at the restaurant, Camilla shoving her own son out of the way to pull Aubrey in the seat next to her, and Daniella sliding in the seat on her other side before Will can grab it, only for him to mutter something to her in Swedish, sending her quickly sliding over to the next one.

Dinner seems to fly by but it’s actually a few hours later that they’re returning home, pulling out a bottle of wine for a night cap. Aubrey’s just about preparing to go home to her own place before Will’s mom stands up and kisses the top of her head, right in line with all her own kids, promising to see her in the morning, and then the night wraps up and Will’s pulling her into his room, like it’s any normal night.

“Are you-” She trails off abruptly as Will walks right to the closet, like no strange thing. But, what did she even want to ask? Are you sure you want me to stay? It’s not going to be weird if I do?  

“What’s up?” Will pops his head out of the closet.

“Nothing.” Aubrey shakes her head, moving to brush her teeth. She’s not even sure she knows where that question was going; she can’t explain why tonight feels weirder than any other night that she’s climbed into his bed before.

It does though, and that’s made even more evident by the way she tosses and turns once they climb into bed and turn the lights off, settling in on what’s become her side of the bed, right after she brushes her teeth and runs through her nightly skin routine.

It feels like it shouldn’t be so hard to sleep- it’s been a long day, following a long week, preparing for Will’s family to arrive, but she can’t seem to get comfortable and her thoughts are racing.

She rolls over again, facing Will this time, only to find him looking at her with amusement. “You okay?”

“Can’t sleep.” She admit, biting her lip

Will grins, pulling her close. “I can fix that.”

“I’m not having sex with you while you’re parents are here!” Aubrey hisses.

“No?” Her breath hitches as his fingers dance lower down her stomach and then-

“Will!” She laughs, as he gently pinches a ticklish spot.

“Shh!” He’s grinning, she hates him so much. “My parents are-”

“Don’t say it.” She says, surging up to kiss him so he can’t finish that sentence. God, she hopes his walls are thick.

-----

“Stop.” Aubrey hears Will right outside the door. “Go away.”

She can hear one of his sister’s respond, but the actual words get lost in the chaos of her own sisters’ FaceTime, which she’s wrapping up as she lies in bed. It’s loud enough outside that she knows Will’s family is awake already, bright enough that she probably should get up, but she’s too comfortable to make herself move.

“Daniella!” She hears, followed by something in Swedish just as the door opens and a blonde head pokes in.

“See! She is awake!” And that’s all the warning she gets before Daniella is jumping up right next to her.

“Daniella!” Will snaps again, but Aubrey’s already sliding over to make room for her.

“She’s fine.” She assures him, wrapping her arm around Daniella’s shoulders as she cuddles in close.

“Yeah, I’m fine.” Daniella says to her brother, not bothering to pull herself away from Aubrey’s iPhone screen, where she’d barely wasted a minute before jumping into chatting with Kayls and Cam. 

Will’s leaning against the dresser and shaking his head in amusement, watching as Aubrey manages to finish up her call (a task much harder with Daniella in her ear, calling just as much nonsense back as her sisters do), but there’s a soft smile on his face that Aubrey almost can’t bring herself to look at, so she starts twirling her hand through the ends of Daniella’s hair. 

“I can’t believe you two.” Daniella huffs, and she’s so much like Will, just loving her hair played with; Aubrey tries to hide her grin because she knows he’d fight her on it if she had to say it out loud right now. “Not even inviting your sisters here for the weekend.”

“Why would we invite ourselves into that kind of roast?” Will says dryly. “The two of you are bad enough.”

“Like you’re not going to talk about us anyway,” Aubrey adds. “I’ve seen the receipts.” She teases. “I know you talk about us on instagram.” 

“You talk about us on instagram?” Will demands immediately.

“No.” Daniella says, unconvincingly.

“They talk with my sisters every day.” Aubrey whispers to him and laughs when he turns his outraged face toward his sister, who avoids his gaze completely.

“Seriously?” Will cries.

Daniella shrugs. “We have a lot to say.”

“I’ll give you a lot to say.” Will says, mock-threateningly, before throwing himself on the bed on her other side and poking his finger in her side until she’s laughing so hard that she’s begging for him to stop. He does, after one last poke, which Daniella returns with a pout. “Go get dressed.” Will nudges her. “Or Aubrey’s going to go to brunch without you.”

“Aubrey wouldn’t do that.” Daniella says confidently, standing to leave. “She’s nicer than you.” 

Will barks out a laugh. “Is she?”

Both Nylanders turn to look at her, just as she’s swinging her legs out of bed and Aubrey shrugs. “I wouldn’t leave your sister behind.” She says, grinning when Will laughs and Daniella’s got her phone out of her pocket before she even leaves the room.

-----

Will and Alex are close. Aubrey knows this. She knows they talk pretty much everyday whether it’s texting, Facetiming, or even actual phone calls. They’re brothers, sure, but more than that; they’re best friends.

And maybe that’s why it’s hard not to shrink under Alex’s gaze the second they meet. It’s not that he’s not friendly when Will introduces them, returning the smile she gives him.

It’s just that his gaze feels piercing in a way that none of the rest of his family did. It feels like Alex sees through all of her but more than that; he’s studying all of her and doesn’t like what he sees.

God, she doesn’t know what she’s going to do if Alex doesn’t like her.

She tries to be bubbly and bright, more listening than contributing to this conversation that’s mostly just brothers catching up. She knows that dinner later, and at their early Christmas celebration tomorrow, will really be when she gets to make her big impression on him. 

“Willy!” John Tavares calls, looking apologetic about the interruption. 

“Be right back.” Willy pats her arm gently before jogging down the hall and now Alex’s full attention is on her. Now she can’t help but shift her weight from foot to foot, even as Alex smiles at her. “So, Aubrey, huh?”

She fights back the urge to bite her lip. “Yup.”

“It’s exciting to finally meet you.” He grins and Aubrey’s jaw drops a little. “Will talks about you all the time.”

“He-he does?” She asks quietly. It’s about the most unexpected thing Alex could have said to her.

Alex bursts into laughter. “Uh yeah.” He says, like it’s the most obvious thing in the world, but before she can press anything further, Will’s back, slinging his arm around her shoulders and squeezing her into his side tightly. 

“Ready for second dinner?” Will presses a kiss to her temple.

“Always.” Aubrey leans into him, ignoring the knowing look that Alex is sporting currently and the feeling in her stomach that doesn’t quite feel like butterflies.

-----

Aubrey tries to give it a few days after the Nylander’s leave town, hoping the feeling in her stomach will calm itself, but when it’s been a week and it hasn’t settled, she’s forced to admit that she’s going to need outside help.

Can you let me in? She sends, when she’s sure she’s outside the right door.

Open. Come in. 

She frowns at the response, opening the door. “I don’t love that!” She calls as she walks deeper in the condo. “You should really-” She stops abruptly, as a blonde whips her head around to glare at her and Auston stares at her wide-eyed. “Oh!”

“Oh?” The blonde repeats, kind of mockingly, but also seething, and Aubrey doesn’t really know what to do, so she looks over at Auston, who’s pointedly avoiding both of their eyes. “Unbelievable.” She shakes her head, shoving past Aubrey and only when the front door slams does she hear Auston breathe.

“What the fuck?” She asks him immediately, “You could have just said no, it wasn’t a good time to come over!”

“I wanted her to leave!” He protests. “I tried everything! She even volunteered to come take Felix on a walk with me!”

Aubrey cackles, barely managing to compose herself at Auston’s glare. “Well, go and get his leash. We can walk and talk.”

She gets quickly distracted by Felix’s excitement for a walk, snapping like twenty pictures on her phone, before Auston finally prods her about the reason she even wanted to meet today. “So what’s up?”

She takes a deep breath. “Am I in love with Will?”

“Are you in love with...are you fucking kidding me?” Auston responds immediately, looking at her like he had that day they were at Sick Kids- like she’s completely missing something that everyone else knows.

“I’m gonna take that as a yes.” She says reasonably.

“Oh my fucking god.” He says, sounding distressed. “Don’t you have, like, a therapist for this shit? How did I get drafted for this?”

“I mean, yes, I do, but I haven’t gone into the details of it with Dr. Seth before this and I don’t think an hour would cover it.” She says; she’s thought about that already. Auston rubs his temples. “Stop that.” Aubrey chides. “Your hairline is bad enough.”

“Well you’re not helping!” Auston cries. “Jesus Christ, am I in love with Willy? Where the fuck have you been?”

“Egypt, I guess.” She says and he stares at her flatly until she explains. “Denial?”

“Fuck off, I hate you so much. Oh my god.” He groans. “Willy would have laughed so hard at that, fuck you.”

The worst thing is that she knows he would have. He’d have laughed and laughed and laughed, his eyes crinkling and his smile bright and warm, so loud that she couldn’t help but join in.

“Holy shit.” Auston says quietly, watching the smile on her face. “You’re really in deep.”

“Ugh, yes.” Aubrey groans, covering her face. “I hate it. I hate these feelings. I hate not knowing. I hate-”

Auston cuts her off, choking out a laugh. “Not knowing? Not knowing what?” And then he chokes again, once he looks over at her. “Not knowing if Will-” He stops abruptly looking like he’s got a secret that he shouldn’t be telling. “Come on, you aren’t this dumb.”

“You’re being serious?” She says quietly, looking over at Auston hopefully. 

He avoids her eyes, bending down for a minute to pet his dog, but Felix absolutely betrays him by trying to run towards a new smell on a nearby bush, giving him absolutely nothing to look at instead of her. “I mean, come on.” Auston gives her a look. “Don’t make me say it.”

“Did he say it?”

“No.” Auston shakes his head, tugging gently on Felix’s leash to turn around. “But Aub, really? He brought you to meet his whole family.”

“He met mine too.” She reminds him. “And so did you!”

Auston shakes his head. “You...you just don’t see how he looks at you.”

Aubrey bites her lip, but she can’t resist asking. “How does he look at me?”

Auston doesn’t even have to think before he responds. “Like the rest of us aren’t even in the room.” 

“Oh.” She says quietly, looking down at the ground. Felix is just trotting away happily, like Aubrey’s entire world hasn’t been flipped on its axis. 

Auston, at least, seems to recognize the effect of what he’s said. “Look, even if you’re not ready to talk with him, just, like, look at the guy. You’re not in this alone.”

She’s definitely not ready to say anything, but, well, she could give that a try. Just try and see what Auston sees.What everyone sees apparently. “Alright.” She agrees.

“I won’t say anything.” Auston adds. “You two can figure this mess out on your own.”

“You’re the best.” Aubrey declares, leaning up to kiss his cheek.

“I know.” Auston smirks, pulling Felix’s leash out from under her feet.

“Jerk.” Aubrey laughs, shoving his shoulder gently. “If you didn’t have the second best dog in the world right here, I’d push you harder.” She crouches down to scratch Felix’s ears, only for Auston to pull him out of her reach.

“Second best?” He cries, outraged. “Nuh-uh. You don’t get to pet my dog after that kind of disrespect.”

“I just ranked your dog above Zeus!” She protests. “But Pablo’s my boy.”

Auston releases his hold on the leash a little and Felix trots over toward her arms as he teases, “I thought we just agreed Willy was your boy.”

“Yeah, well,” Aubrey scratches behind Felix’s ears, smiling as his tongue lolls out. “Man’s best friend.”

-----

Will’s acting funny when Aubrey sees him the next day.

She only catches him for a few minutes before the game, when they briefly cross paths at his place when she goes to pick up a jacket she left there, and she doesn’t know how to explain it, but something just seems...off.

It’s like...he barely looks at her when she’s in there digging around what’s become her side of the bed and then he brushes past her, muttering something about how he needs to go and for her to just lock up whenever she’s done, which would be fine, except he usually waits for her if she’s around when he leaves so they can walk out together.

Something’s just off.

“Are you sure you didn’t fight about anything?” Steph frowns at her, later that night. “Even like a small, stupid thing that maybe you brushed off? Because you do that.”

“No!” Aubrey swears. “At first I thought he was just annoyed about the book, because the book I’m reading right now takes place in Sweden, so like every few pages I ask him if it’s real? Or what it’s like?”

“God, you must be the most annoying girlfriend.” Steph giggles.

“Don’t even, I know everything about you and Mitch.” Aubrey pokes her and Steph giggles again, admitting defeat. “But no! He wouldn’t even look at me! Something’s up!”

Steph purses her lips. “That is weird.” She admits. “It’s very...not Will.”

“No!” Aubrey cries. “Will doesn’t sit and let things stew! He doesn’t care enough about what people think about him for that.”

“So why is he acting like this then?” Steph asks and Aubrey blows out a frustrated breath.

“I don’t know!” She says. “And I just want him to tell me what’s going on.”

The rest of the game is fairly uneventful for the two of them, slipping quietly out of their seats after the win and chatting between themselves and a few other friends as they all wait. One by one, the boys all make their way out of the locker room, and Aubrey frowns as even Auston and John walk out, stopping briefly to chat with her, before even they go, until finally, finally, Will steps out, his face flickering when he sees her. 

“Hi?” She says, a little annoyed.

“Hi.” Will says, like nothing’s just happened, like he didn’t just do a double take of the worst kind at her mere presence.

“What’s wrong?” She frowns, reaching out for him and gently sliding her hand on his forearm.

“Nothing.” There’s no other word for it; Will flinches. 

“Will.” Aubrey breathes as he shrugs off her arm.

“It’s nothing.” He repeats. “I’m just tired.” Which is so clearly a lie and she frowns, ready to call him out, but he reaches for her hand and says, “Let’s go eat,” with such finality that she doesn’t really know how she’d bring it up.

All she knows is that his hand feels cold in a way it never has before and the silence they sit in at dinner is like nothing she’s ever felt with him, even before they started sleeping together.

-----

“Merry Christmas!” Cam throws open the front door dramatically before Aubrey, Will, Steph, and Mitch have barely even shut their car doors. “Come on, you’re late!”

“Oh boy.” Aubrey mutters and she hears Steph and Mitch laugh.

Will, however, is as quiet as he’s been all drive up to her parents for their annual Christmas Eve party- as quiet as he’s been all week, as he’s been since whatever happened- and it makes her wonder why he even came. She’d told him he didn’t have to come if he didn’t want to; he’d just given her this tiny smile and asked her what time they had to pick up Mitch and Steph.

“How are we late?” Steph asks, as all four of them start yanking off coats and scarves the second they walk in the door. “None of the neighbors are even here yet!” 

Cam huffs at that bit of logic and turns on her heel, walking away from them as they laugh, which cues Aubrey’s brothers into their arrival. Tye and Danny poke their heads around the corner of the wall, calling for Mitch immediately to show them how to do something on a new video game, but right away they’re thwarted by their mom. “Later.” Mitch whispers to them, as Tye and Danny grin, following the four of them into the kitchen. 

In the kitchen, they find Aubrey and Steph’s moms working in tandem- the way they always have on Christmas Eve- to finish the appetizers and set food out. They stop only briefly to greet their daughters and their daughters’ boyfriends, and to direct them on where to put the desserts they brought, before they’re shooing them all right back out.

“Dads in the basement?” Steph asks, like they all don’t know the answer already, and Danny nods, leading the way down the stairs, where Fitz and Ryan have already started a beer pong game against Mike and Tom.

“Shotty next.” Mitch calls, while he waits for Aubrey and Steph to say hi to their dads.

“You gonna be able to walk back next door?” Fitz snorts out a laugh.

“That was one time!” Mitch protests. “Nobody warned me how much drinking there was on Christmas Eve!”

“It’s like we hadn’t spent the last four months together before that.” Aubrey deadpans, focusing more on watching Will greet her stepdad with the same enthusiasm as he had her mom, and her brothers, and Cam.

But then, he comes back to her side, and when she goes to tangle their fingers together, his hand stays limp, just kind of letting her do what she wants, not returning the gesture at all, instead of pulling her closer like he used to.

“Guess I thought you two were the anomaly.” Mitch teases. “Then I learned I’d have to bring my A game all the time.” 

“Yeah buddy.” Tom says, looking over at his daughter’s boyfriend right after he sinks Fitz and Ryan’s last cup. “Who’s with you?”

-----

By the time Mitch and Will get demolished in beer pong, Aubrey and Steph are fighting back a laugh at their dads’ light buzz already going and the neighbors have started to arrive, which brings a temporary pause to pong play for more introductions.

The neighbors all love Will, which, of course they do. Aubrey’s not surprised at all. He’s funny and charming and personable, just has this air that draws people in, and every one of her mom’s friends finds her at some point after they meet Will to gush about how wonderful he is.

“Yeah.” Aubrey says, almost helplessly to Mrs. Jones and Mrs. Morris, as she watches Will with Kayls and Cam across the room. “He’s pretty great.” They smile knowingly at her, Mrs. Jones winking as she passes, leaving Aubrey to watch them with a fond smile on her face.

It’s Will who notices her staring first, because of course it is. Kayls and Cam are oblivious to everything around them. He catches her eye, still laughing about whatever they’re talking about, and there’s a second where his smile grows when he sees her, a second Aubrey feels a grin growing across her own face.

And then it all stops abruptly as something flashes over Will’s face, and as quick as the grin was there, it’s gone.

Aubrey frowns and watches as Will returns to talking with Kayls and Cam again, but notices the smile on his face seems forced now. She wants...well, she doesn’t know exactly what she wants, but she’s tired of not knowing what’s going on with him.

“Hey.” Fitz nudges her shoulder. “It’s too early for you to be sad about going to your dad’s tomorrow. Come take a shot with me.”

“I-” It’s not that. She starts to say, but stops herself. Today’s not the day to try and tease out whatever’s going on with Will. Whatever it is could wait until after Christmas. “Yeah, sure.”

Fitz grins, leading her over to the makeshift bar, corralling a few friends as they go, but by the time he starts pouring, the crowd around them has gotten bigger. Will’s standing next to her, but the space he’s left between them feels so purposeful, and it only makes Aubrey frown as she listens to Fitz’s Christmas toast, as he cheers to a Merry Christmas, a Happy New Year, to good friends and great family. “And a way too cool future brother-in-law.” He jokes. “Don’t fuck this up, Aub!”

“Yo!” Mitch protests loudly as Aubrey feels the breath get stuck in her chest. 

She can’t even look at Will, so tense she can hardly bring her shot glass up to her mouth. The alcohol barely even burns and she knows it’s not because she’s too drunk to taste it; the numbness of her brother’s comment still stinging, and it’s well after she’s deposited her shot glass on the counter that she realizes, “Where’s Will?”

Mitch frowns, looking behind them. “He was right here, wasn’t he?”

Aubrey nods slowly, trying to stand on her toes and search for him. “Can you just-” She starts.

Steph’s right on her wavelength. “You look up here; we’ll check downstairs.”

Will is nowhere to be found on the main floor, so she heads upstairs and finally finds him in the room they’d thrown their bags in earlier. “Hey.” She breathes out a sigh of relief. “There you are.”

“Here I am.” Will says quietly. He’s in front of the taller dresser, looking at the bulletin board covered in pictures from high school and college- one of the few relics left in the room from when it was hers before her mom refashioned it into a guest room. 

“I’m sorry about Fitz!” She blurts. “He didn’t mean any-”

“We should be wrapping up soon, right?” Will says abruptly, interrupting her.

“What?” Aubrey frowns, shocked. That is...not at all what she thought he’d say.

“This?” He gestures between the two of them. “Like, Mitch and Steph definitely think we're a thing. Can call this off soon?”

“Um.” Aubrey tries to breathe but something’s definitely restricting that ability. “We…what?”

“We can stop this pretending.” Will says, like it’s obvious, and Aubrey feels her stomach drop. This...this was all pretend to him. “Do that break up that’s going to crush them. The whole reason we did this.”

“Right.” She swallows the lump in her throat. “Uh yeah, we can do that.”

Will shrugs. “Cool.” He says, and then turns and walks away, leaving Aubrey standing there wondering where exactly she went wrong.

-----

“Ok.” Steph snaps her fingers and only then does Aubrey look up from the Leafs vs. Calgary game that her best friend invited her over to watch that she’s paying absolutely no attention to- and hasn’t actually been able to focus on all night. Her best friend is standing in front of her, holding a new bottle of wine, and looking concerned. “I’ve asked for your glass like four times now. What’s going on?”

Aubrey bites her lip and holds her glass out. If she’s going to do this, they’re both going to need refills. “I have to tell you something.”

Steph frowns immediately but fills Aubrey’s glass and then her own. “Uhh, ok? What’s up.”

Aubrey doesn’t know whether she needs a deep breath or a sip of wine to settle her nerves. She goes for both. “Will and I aren’t together.”

And maybe...maybe that was the wrong way to phrase it, because Steph’s face just falls. “I’m so sorry, babe.” She says, reaching out and rubbing Aubrey’s arm. “I really thought-” She shakes her head and Aubrey’s still trying to figure out what she said wrong, what she can say to make her see what she really means. “Are you okay?”

“No.” Aubrey says and Steph looks like she wants to reach for the wine bottle and pull her in for a hug at the same time, until she continues. “No, I mean; Will and I aren’t together now because we were never really together at all and no, I’m not okay either, actually, now that you mention it.”

Now Steph frowns uncertainly, like she doesn’t know what to say. And that look? The one on her face right there? If it didn’t feel like her heart was already breaking, she’d be cherishing that look.

Now she can’t even enjoy it.

“You’re going to have to explain this one to me.” Steph says, her voice carefully neutrally.

So Aubrey does- beginning with the night that Mitch and Steph had had them over and her and Will’s plan to get them to stop nagging, to when they’d started sleeping together, to how it felt like they were together for real and on the same page, right up until they weren’t.

“I wanna be so mad at you right now.” Steph says, after a long silence.

“You should be.” Aubrey admits. “I would be.

“Well, you’re making it really hard looking so sad.” Steph glares. “And being so dumb.” Aubrey’s jaw drops, even if the callout is probably well deserved. “Will looks at you like you are the center of the universe. He looks like his entire day has gotten better every time you walk into the room. For God’s sake, he willingly met your dad on Christmas last week! You cannot honestly tell me you think he doesn’t really want to be with you!”

“He told me he wanted to stop!” Aubrey cries. “He was the one who said we should do the breakup!”

“Well if you don’t want to, then tell him!” Steph dares.

“Stephanie.” Aubrey frowns. 

“What?”

“I can’t do that!” Aubrey hisses.

“Why not?” Steph pours another glass of wine for herself and then passes the bottle over. Aubrey accepts eagerly. “Did Will tell you why he wanted to stop this...dating thing?”

“...no.” Aubrey sighs. It’s another thing that’s been driving her crazy.

“So ask him.” Steph says plainly. “And tell him you don’t want to stop.”

Aubrey bites her lip nervously. “But what if he says no?”

“Honestly the worst thing that happens here is that you still break up.” Steph says gently. “But this really just sounds like a matter of you two actually needing to talk about where you stand. Will’s not a mind-reader, Aub; he can’t have known you didn’t want to stop things, especially if this was all your idea in the first place.”

Ugh, she’s right. “I hate everything about this.” Aubrey sing-songs. “Including the fact that you even introduced us.”

Now Steph grins. “You do not hate that we introduced you. You just hate feeling vulnerable.”

That’s too accurate to address, so Aubrey flips her off and reaches for the wine again.

-----

Will picks her up for the Leafs annual New Year’s Eve party and it’s unfair because no one should look that good dressed in black pants and a sweater, but there’s Will waiting by the car with a beanie on his head and a pea coat left open, for maximal torture is the only reason Aubrey can think of.

“Hi.” She breathes, running across the street to him as best she can in her heels. 

It takes him a second to respond. “Hi.” He says finally, opening the door for her. “You uh, planning on blinding us all tonight?” He teases, once he slides into the backseat of the uber with her.

Aubrey giggles at the lame joke as she looks down at her glittery skirt. It’s such a lame joke but she’s just so relieved he even made it. That they still have dumb things to laugh over. “Hmm, over-under on how many of us are wearing something sparkly tonight. 10?”

“Over.” Will answers immediately and she giggles again.

The ride doesn’t take long so it’s only a few minutes before they’re pulling up to the club, where they run into Travis Dermott and his girlfriend exiting their uber at the same time. “Nine more.” Will whispers in her ear, as Kat turns to greet them, and they both catch sight of a sparkly tank under her jacket.

“Hush.” Aubrey bites back a laugh, but only barely, before she pulls Kat in for a hug. Inside is about as loud as she’d expected but once they all step upstairs into the VIP section roped off for them, it’s easier to hear, easier to think, and easier to breathe.

Or at least, it is for a moment. She can feel Will’s eyes on her from across the room, where he’s at the bar ordering drinks for the two of them, and she and Kat have gone to say hi to more people.

“So, uh.” Steph says, in lieu of hello. “I don’t think Will’s being weird anymore.”

When Aubrey turns and follows Steph’s eyes, Will’s still looking at her, unashamed in his gaze or getting caught. He winks back at her, grinning when she smiles at him. “No.” She says slowly. “I guess not.” Steph just grins at that, kind of smugly, and Aubrey huffs at that, turning away to greet Morgan and Tessa behind her.

It’s not long before Will returns with drinks, still grinning as he pulls her immediately to the dance floor. He pulls out some of his most ridiculous moves and Aubrey laughs, harder and harder the more she drinks, and then finally falling against him after he and Mitch attempt the Toosie Slide together. 

“Why are you laughing?” Will demands, wrapping an arm around her waist and taking her hand, leading her into some weird kind of slow dance, even as the song changes into something by The Chainsmokers.

“I just like seeing you like this.” She grins.

His brow furrows. “Like what?”

“Just-” She doesn’t know how to explain it. How open he is right now, how loose and easy and warm he looks because he’s just able to be himself, and how happy she feels to be with him, especially when he’s like this. “Just happy, I guess.”

Will grins again and presses a loud kiss to her temple, that she barely has time to giggle at, because he says, “Always happy to be with you,” like it’s the most casual thing in the world. 

And Aubrey gasps in shock, but she doesn’t think Will even notices, because he’s dipping her back over his arm right after that and then she’s too busy laughing again.

-----

Steph flops down on the remaining couch seat and ignores the look that Auston sends her in favor of fanning herself with her hand. “Sure.” He says dryly. “I’ll move over a little.”

“Would you? Thanks.” She snickers and he shakes his head fondly at her.

“How about you?” He looks over at Aubrey. “Gonna squish me in the corner even more?”

Aubrey’s already settled herself on his other side, on the edge of the couch. “Nah, I’m good here.” She bumps her shoulder against his.

“Is it even possible to squish you in the corner?” Steph muses.

“Why are you squished in the corner?” Aubrey asks, confused. “What, you couldn’t find a date for New Year’s?”

“I make it a point to not bring dates to holiday parties.” Auston says and Aubrey’s jaw drops.

Steph’s snickering into her palm though, so it’s clear this particular brand of assholery isn’t unfamiliar. “Holidays and events.” She cackles. “Keep those expectations low.”

“Although now that I know that all it takes to make a girl leave is to just have you walk in my house the next morning…” Auston trails off thoughtfully.

Aubrey shoves at his head, ruffling his hair on purpose, but she can’t help but laugh along with him. “Don’t you fucking dare. I’ve got better things to do than that.”

“Like what?” Steph says, too innocently to be real. “Will?”

“I’m leaving.” Aubrey stands, as Steph and Auston both laugh. “I don’t have to listen to this.”

“Is noon good tomorrow?” She hears Auston call after her, while Steph cackles next to him. “How about 12:30?” She flips him off over her shoulder, without looking back, instead pushing her way around Fred and his new girl, to find Will where she’d left him at the bar with Mitch.

But at the bar, she finds only Mitch, who’s looking a little confused. “Where’s Will?” She asks.

“Um.” Is all Mitch says and Aubrey frowns immediately. 

“Mitch, what happened?” Aubrey says flatly and Mitch caves right away.

“I don’t know!” He says. “We were just ordering drinks, watching you guys, everything seemed fine, and next thing I know, he was walking away!”

“Well where did he go?” She asks impatiently, barely waiting for Mitch to point before she’s shoving her way through the crowd.

It feels like she circles the entire building before she finally finds Will, and it’s more like she happens to run into him than she actually finds him, which just annoys her even more, enough that she grabs his hand and pulls him outside to a spot far enough away that it’s quiet enough to talk.

It’s not quiet- it’s still New Year’s Eve and there’s people all around them going up and down the street- but it’s far enough from the door that they can’t feel the music anymore, at least. 

Will’s staring at their hands, still linked, but he’s not saying anything, and even though she’s the one who dragged them out into the cold, he’s the one who started acting weird in the first place, and she feels her annoyance grow. “I thought we were having a really good time tonight?”

Will sighs. “We were.” He pauses. “I was, at least.”

“Ok, I was too.” Aubrey says slowly. “So, what happened?”

Will sighs again. “Look, it’s fine, like this was never supposed to be a thing with us, yeah? I’m not mad at you. I’m mad at me. I’ll get over it.”

She’s so confused. “Get over what? Why are you mad?”

“I saw you,” Will says. “Coming out of Auston’s one morning. I was driving past, after practice on my way home.” He shrugs, almost casually, but she can see in his face how hurt he is. “And like, we were never supposed to be a thing.” He repeats and she frowns. Why does he keep saying that? “So I’m not mad at you and I can’t even be mad at him. But I saw you and Matts together and I knew I liked you more than you liked me.” He shrugs again, trying to play off his words as light as casual, but Aubrey’s trying to put the pieces together of what he said. “I know you’d rather be here with him tonight, but that’s why I can’t do this anymore.”

“Oh my god.” She breathes. “You’re so dumb.”

“Hey!” Will protests.

“We’re so dumb.” She corrects, because, really, it’s the truth. “I was at Auston’s that day because he was the only one who knew about us at the time and I needed to talk to someone about if I’m in love with you!”

Will doesn’t move for a second, the longest second of Aubrey’s entire life. “Where, uh, where’d you land on that one?” He asks, like he’s kind of nervous for the answer.

And Aubrey can relate; there are butterflies in her stomach, even though she’s positive she knows how this is going to end now. “Pretty strongly in favor for.” She says and Will beams, that bright smile that lights up his entire face. “I didn’t get to tell you earlier, but I’m always happy to be with you, too.”

“That’s good.” Will says mildly, and Aubrey grins, waiting for the rest. “Because I really love seeing you smile like that.”

Her jaw drops a little. She’s not upset about what he said at all; it’s just so not what she expected him to say. And in that moment of silence, Will grins down at her once more, before leaning down to kiss her.

-----

It’s late the next morning by the time Aubrey tumbles out of bed, yanking a t-shirt of Will’s over her head. Will’s been up for at least an hour already, and she kisses his cheek as she passes, giggling as he lightly pats her ass in return.

“Coffee’s still warm.” He says.

“I still love you.” She teases. “That’s not changing just because you kept the pot warm.” Will flips her off and returns back to the game he’s playing on his Switch. “Have you seen my phone?”

“Near the front door.”

Most of her stuff is still by the front door, thrown hastily down when they’d come in late last night. Her phone’s still got a little battery left, filled with messages from late last night and earlier this morning, but one in particular catches her eye.

Steph LaChance: i told you so 😉

[thiswasinevitableid]

Indruck hunt nsfw!!! I'm so excited you're doing fills again, they're always so good!

Thanks so much, and here you go! Duck’s form is based on a Green Wrasse, and Indrid’s is based on a Flamboyant Cuttlefish.

Go along the trenches they said. It’ll be easy they said. 

Duck’s been here for two hours, trawling the spot where the sea bed and reef give way to deeper water in search of black moon oysters. It’s courting season in Kepler, and if he can find a few he’s certain at least one of the two mers he has his eyes on will agree to a date. But at this rate, he’ll be bringing some of his model ships as his gifts for his first year of courting, and that’ll be embarrassing. No one wants to date a mer with such a boring hobby.

So here he is, far from where most reef mers would even think to come, searching for a shellfish notorious for it’s shadowy color. At least there aren’t any deep sea mers around to see him repeatedly get hissed at by the same eel because he keeps losing his bearings and checking crevasses he already searched. He’d rather not have an audience.

---------------------------------------------

Indrid cannot believe his luck. Weeks of hunting, of hunger, with barely any food to be found, and now a tantalizing, green tail dangles near his hide away. No mer in these parts has such coloration, so it must be a very big fish indeed.

His foresight is half-obliterated, so he must rely on skill to earn his prey. He camouflages as best he can along the rockface, creeping along beneath the ledge where the tail keeps disappearing and reappearing. If he lunges too soon, he’ll miss and scare off dinner. 

Almost...almost…

He pushes up in a burst of speed, grabs the tail, and propels back into his lair, his prey putting up a remarkable fight. He doesn’t notice his error until it punches him in the eye.

“OW!!”

“What the fuck?” The merman spins, lashing out again but missing him in the dark.

“I, I am so very sorry, I thought you were a fish!”

“I look like a damn fish?” His unwilling guest gestures angrily at his upper body. 

Because his eyes are adapted to dark water, Indrid can clearly see the muscles in his arms, the round belly and charming face. Now he wants to sink his teeth into him in an entirely new way.

Oh, right, he’s waiting for an answer.

“From down here you did. I assumed all reef mers stayed far away, and thus missed the obvious explanation for the size of your tail. I, ah, am not the sharpest when starving.”

The wary, annoyed expression softens, “Ain’t there food down here?”

“Yes, but it’s fast, poisonous, or fought over, and I’d like to keep all my tentacles attached to me.”

The merman points at the cave ceiling, “The reef is just up there. We got plenty to eat.”

“Oh no, I couldn’t, they’d recognize me as a deep water mer and be frightened.”

“I could vouch for you. Assumin you don’t plan on grabbin anyone else.”

“Of course not” He flicks all his tentacle tips, trying to hide how hurt he is by the suggestion.” 

“Then you can be my guest. There’s a festival tonight, so the grub oughta be good.” 

“You mean it?”

“Yep.” He nods, black hair swirling around his forehead. 

“Thank you so very much! I, is there something I can do to repay you?”

“Well…”

He mentally crosses all fingers and tentacles, hoping for an answer along the lines of “kiss me” or “hold my hand on the way there” and he flickers his lower body an appealing yellow to sweeten the deal.

“...you got any clue where to find black moon oysters?”

“Yes” he cocks his head, “why?”

“Wanna give ‘em as a present to some mers tonight.”

“Ohhhh” Indrid nods, understanding and trying to hide his disappointment, “a courtship gift. Of course, right this way…Duck.”

The mer starts, “How’d you-”

“-Know your name? Foresight, though it’s severely diminished right now. He smiles, holds out his hand, “I’m Indrid. Now, let us find you those oysters.”

---------------------------------------------------

Duck never expected a deep sea mer to be so chatty, but as they weave their way between rocks in search of their quarry, Indrid talks amicably about all manner of things, often swimming backwards so he can ask Duck questions about his life on the reef. Listens intently as Duck tells him about his time studying coral health, demanding details as they float across a deeper trench. 

Still, Duck feels like he’s not carrying his conversational weight, and when Indrid peers into another empty crag he asks, “hey Indrid, what kind of fish only comes out at night?”

The other mer blinks his glowing red eyes, “What kind?”

“A starfish.”

A slower blink, and then Indrid snickers, “I didn’t know we were in the pun timeline.”

“Sorry, know it’s silly-”

“Why was the shark worried after eating a clownfish?” Indrid wiggles his tentacles.

Duck smiles, “no idea.”

“Because it tasted funny!”

He giggles, “that was awful.”

“Precisely!” Indrid beams, then pulls Duck flush against the cliff-face. In the darkness beneath them, he can just make out something immense swimming along the trench. Indrid doesn’t release him until it’s out of sight. 

“Apologies, but there was a non-zero chance of that being an aggressive shark.”

“Glad you were here watchin my ba--holy fuck!”

Only Indrid’s eyes are the color they were a moment before. The rest of him, even his hair,  is the same speckled grey of the rocks.

“Indrid that’s, that’s incredible! I know mers who can color change a little, but nothin like this.”

“It’s mainly for survival purposes, but I am glad you, ah, you like it” Indrid returns to his usual color, save for his tentacles, which flash pink on their way back to silvery-blue. 

“Can you control it?”

“To a degree; some of it is subconscious expression of emotion, but much of the time I can manipulate it as I need. See?” He holds one tentacle out in front of Duck’s tail, matching it perfectly.

“That’s so fuckin cool.”

“I, ah, would be happy to show you some more” the pink flashes are back, “but first…” he pulses up to small ledge, slips three tentacles inside, and retracts them with a flourish a moment later, each hold a pitch black oyster, “let’s get you to your party.”

---------------------------------------------------

In spite of there being no timelines where Duck reneges on his end of the deal, Indrid remains nervous most of the way into town. Then the other mer stops, reaches into a stand of kelp and produces a scallop, “here, you were hungry when we met and you put off eatin to help me, seems only fair to get you a snack before you get there.”

Indrid grins, rips open the shell, and downs the mollusc in what he hopes isn’t a completely horrifying way. It’s been so long since someone shared a catch with him. 

“Do you still want to see more camouflage?”

“Hell yeah.”

They pass the rest of the journey to the town square with Indrid changing color, the two of them laughing as Duck comes up with increasingly ridiculous things for him to match. He adds in extra effects, hoping to dazzle Duck, and he’s having so much fun he’s almost sad to arrive at the party. 

Then he sees the buffet, and it’s difficult to be that upset. Better still, Duck doesn’t immediately leave him in search of his potential lovers. Instead he guides Indrid to a cluster of other mers his age. Juno, Aubrey, and Dani all welcome him into conversation and help him navigate some of the unfamiliar foods Duck gathers from the large stone tables. 

Deep sea mer courtship is very goal focused, but up here the custom seems to be unhurried, as much a chance to catch up with friends as find a mate. There’s even dancing, which he’s drawn into when Aubrey coaxes Duck onto the dance floor and the merman offers Indrid his hand. They spin and flit about each other, Indrid initially taking care not to brush him with his tentacles. When it happens on accident and Duck responds by thwacking Indrid back with the tip of his tail, Indrid takes to touching him whenever the dance allows. 

Since none of the reef mers swim screaming away from him, he and Duck even join in on the group dances. Indrid shows off, changing colors to match his partner because he catches Duck smiling whenever he does. 

The first of Duck’s crushes arrives, though Duck stays, dancing, with Indrid.

“Are you supposed to wait until a certain time to offer your gift?” 

“No. I, uh, I’m just a little nervous. I’ve never done the whole courtin thing before.”

“Understandable. Though if you ask me, I’d say you have a great deal to offer.” He nudges him with a tentacle. Duck takes a deep breath, then swims away after the other mer. Indrid hasn’t even made it to the table when Duck is once again beside him, saying they weren’t interested and would Indrid like to keep dancing?

He would, and they do, trading jokes and stories as they turn in slow circles around each other. They alternate between the dance and recharging with their friends until Duck’s other crush swims into view, having gotten to the party rather late. Duck’s approach is more confident, and Indrid encourages him along with the others. After ten or so minutes, Duck catches his eye and gives a thumbs up. Indrid returns the gesture and watches that stunning tail swim away. 

Indrid stays, continues talking and eating with his new friends. He’s even approached for courtship twice, demurring both times. It’s not long before he regrets this choice, because his foresight keeps showing him flashes of what Duck is getting up to with his new partner and getting his hands and mouth on another mer might be a welcome distraction. He finishes the last of his meal, waves goodbye to his friends with a promise to come see them again, and swims home alone. 

----------------------------------------------------

Duck hums as he swims over the edge of the trench, carved coral box in hand. Indrid left Dani directions for how to visit him, so Duck’s no longer concerned about swimming into the wrong cave and getting eaten. 

The front of the cave is empty, and the scant light still filtering in doesn’t show him much beyond it, so he floats further and calls, “Indrid? You home?”

Red eyes appear in the dark, followed by flashes of pink and yellow, “Duck?”

“Didn’t see me comin?” He grins, swimming up to greet the other mer. 

“There were only a few futures where you visited so soon after the party. Is something wrong? Does your new partner need more oysters?”

“Nope, came ‘cause I wanted to see you. Is, uh, is that okay?” Nerves creep up his tail; maybe Indrid was only interested in their exchange yesterday and not in him. 

“Of course. I, ah, my lair is rather messy but if you come this way I have some lights.” He motions for Duck to follow him. As they swim deeper into the cave, bioluminescent kelp and algae flicker to life, revealing walls covered in elegant, detailed carvings. They turn left, coming to a room filled with yet more carvings, a large, comfy looking hammock, and a floor scattered with shells. 

“You did all these?” Duck touches a lovingly rendered carving of a ray.

“Yes. They help me capture visions from time to time, or are simply images I enjoy.” That same light pink is coursing up through his tentacles and occasionally racing through his hair.

“Oh, that reminds me, here” Duck holds out the box, “seemed like these were your favorite last night, so figured you’d like some more.”

Indrid studies the crab rolls in their neat lines, “Oooh!” His tentacles wiggle, “thank you. That was very sweet of you.” He swims over to a small table, sets the box atop it, and then begins searching a rock shelf. “But I insist you share some of them with me, assuming you don’t have anywhere to be.”

“Uh-”

“Where are those blasted plates-”

Duck rubs the back of his neck, “Indrid?  Is, uh, is that a yes or a no?”

The other mer turns, flashing bright blue, “To...oh, oh my, really?”

“Future just tell you I’m courtin you?” 

“Yes. I, but I thought you made your choice last night?”

“That ain’t really how this works. I mean, I had a great time last night, might see her again, but I ain’t made any kind of choice about bein exclusive. Besides uh, I, uh, if I’m bein honest, mer I thought the most about last night and today was you.”

“Oh.” Indrid says much more softly as Duck swims to him and brushes his tail along a tentacle. 

“It’s okay if you ain’t interested, I can back off and we can have dinnerAHfuck” he laughs as Indrid uses all available limbs to pull him closer with a delighted chirp. 

“The answer is very much yes, Duck Newton.”

“Thank fuck” Duck leans in, kissing him eagerly as two tentacles tease up and down his tail. 

Then he can’t see a fucking thing and Indrid curses, “Of all the time for my kelpalabra to die. One moment, let me find something so you can see.” He pulls back, red eyes and kaleidoscopic lower half the only thing in Duck’s vision, achingly alluring even as he mutters around the room. 

“We, uh, we can keep it like this.”

“You’re certain? I thought you couldn’t see in these conditions.”

“Can see what matters.” Duck opens his arms and Indrid chuckles, swimming into them.

“I’m amazed you were not swarmed by admirers last night.”

“Flatterer” Duck kisses his cheek.

“I am being entirely truthful. You are so charming, and so very handsome…” Indrid strokes his face as his tentacles glide up his chest and down his tail, “mmmm, I’ve wanted to do this since the moment I saw you.”

“How, uh, sensitive are these?” Duck lets one tentacle curl around his fingers, brings it to his mouth for a kiss. 

“About the same as my hands, but far more flexible.” Two tease just below his hips, his scales beginning to ripple and part at the stimulation. The surrounding darkness heightens each grope and stroke, his body having little to no warning of where the next touch might come from. His world is nothing but Indrid’s hands and tentacles on his body, that little voice and moonlight smile illuminated by the colors of his affection. 

“Fuck, ‘Drid, this is so fuckin nice.”

Indrid hums, pulsing a warm yellow as he coaxes Duck open, kissing his neck and nibbling his ears. Duck winds his fingers into his silver hair, gives a testing tug and gets a moan in reply. 

“Again.”

He growls, pulls harder as his cock emerges, scrapes his teeth up Indrid’s neck and discovers that makes him practically scream in delight. 

“You wanna be in me, or should I fuck you?” 

“Ah, beg pardon?”

“Wait, fuck, do you not have-”

“I have this” smaller tendrils emerge from beneath a fold between his front tentacles, “there isn’t really room for anything to go in, and while I can get some shape from it” he demonstrates by twining three into something close to Duck’s dick, “it is unlikely to be the method you’re used to. My kind mate by sort of, hmm, mushing them together? My, that sounds deeply unattractive when I say it that way.”

Duck licks his lips, “They look pretty damn dexterous.”

Indrid’s eyes glow brighter, “The are.”

“Get over here and show me.”

The other mer comes to him so forcefully they’re propelled back into a wall. Duck barely registers the collision, too busy moaning as tendrils curl around his dick, stroking and sucking so elegantly he’s pretty sure he’s never going to be satisfied with a blowjob again.

Okay, except for one form the mouth currently devouring his own with kisses. Indrid moans and squirms in his arms, tentacle and fingertips caressing him from cheek to tail. 

“May, may I try something?” Indrid pants in his ear. 

“Long as you don’t stop what you’re already doin, ohfuck,” He bucks his hips as more tendrils push into the slit under his dick, Indrid purring as they do.

“Ohhhhhgoodness, you feel wonderful Duck, please, please say we can do this again?”

“Damn, ain’t even made you cum and you’re already beggin for a next time?” Duck teases, kissing the corner of his mouth. 

“Yes, pleaseplease” tentacles tighten around him, trapping him against Indrid as the other mer frantically fucks him, “I’ll can make you feel so good, I want to, please”

“Mission fuckin accomplished” Duck yanks on his hair and Indrid yelps with joy, cumming inside him and across his dick. The orgasm makes him lose control of both his colors and his tendrils, meaning he shimmers like the inside of an abalone as tugs and twitches along Duck’s dick. The touches draw his own climax from him with a groan, and he buries his face in Indrid’s neck, mouthing kisses along it as he spills into the water.

Slowly, all tentacles and tendrils relax and withdraw, leaving only Indrid’s arms around him.

“You asleep?” It’s only half a joke, as Indrid is going limp.

‘Mmmhmm. A perfectly wonderful mer just robbed me of all my energy in the best possible way.”

“Heh, funny, most stunnin mer in the ocean did the same to me.” He swims them over to the hammock, guiding them down onto their sides as Indrid looks sleepily up at him. 

“In that case, would the wonderful mer like to join me for dinner after we nap?”

Duck kisses his nose, nestles closer as Indrid’s tentacles shift to match his tail, “Yeah, he would.”

[missperfectlyfine13]

A Bandaid For Your Bullet Hole (8/?)

Read Below or on AO3

For the next couple days, Chloe floats through life lightly, happily. Blissfully content with the fact that Beca is going to break up with Jesse…sometime. There’s a nagging doubt in the back of her head, that crawls up like bile into the back of her throat every now and then. She’s choosing to look at the positive though. Beca will be hers soon. Beca is choosing her.

After the third day since their conversation, she starts to get antsy again. It’s only been three days though. Maybe Beca hasn’t had a chance to see him yet? She doesn’t know his schedule, she does know Beca’s though, and she’s had ample opportunity to take the leap. She chooses to stay blissfully unaware of the situation.

When it hits the week mark, Chloe finally is realizing that Beca might not actually do it. She has a hard time understanding why, when a week ago they sat on Beca’s bed, confessing that they both still have feelings for each other. Beca told her that she wanted to break up with Jesse. They almost kissed…again. So to say she’s a little confused would be an understatement. She has noticed that there’s been something a little off about Beca for the past couple weeks. There’s something wrong, something that she’s not telling Chloe.

She knows she’s pulling a cheap card by doing it this way, but it’s the only way she can think to get Beca alone for a few minutes, “Beca?” she calls out into the auditorium during Bella’s rehearsal.

Beca’s head snaps up from the conversation she was holding with Fat Amy.

“Can you stay after for a few minutes, I need to speak with you?” Chloe says it as professionally as she can, she doesn’t want to raise any suspicion amongst the girls that this is for something more personal.

“OOO, someone’s in trouble,” Amy immediately taunts and Beca’s face turns red.

“Shut up Amy,” the brunette quips before meeting Chloe’s eyes and responding, “yea, I can stay.”

Aubrey gives Chloe a suspicious side eye, obviously she’s the only Bella who knows what’s going on between the two. She wants this conversation to take place almost as much as Chloe does, “that was bold.”

“She’s still avoiding me,” Chloe explains herself quietly as she watches the girls fumble through their tired choreography for the 20th time today, “I had to.”

“I just hope she’s finally honest with you,” Aubrey says almost solemnly, “you need to move on.”

Chloe didn’t want to think it, but she’s right. She does need to move on if this “thing” she has with Beca isn’t going anywhere.

“You know, that little hobbit has done nothing but cause trouble since she showed up,” Aubrey huffs, crossing her arms over her chest, “she’s constantly trying to undermine me in practice and competitions and now she’s stringing you along like a sad, leashed puppy.”

Chloe tries her hardest not to say something she’ll regret to the blonde standing next to her, but there’s a hair of truth to what she’s saying , it does feel like she’s stringing her along, but Chloe finds herself standing up for the freshman anyways, “Don’t Bree. Beca has been SO good to me this year, she’s been there for me through it all.”

Aubrey spins to look at Chloe, and Chloe carefully meets her gaze.

She looks hurt and it makes Chloe instantly regret her words, “I would have been there for you if you let me. You chose her over and over again Chloe. You didn’t give me a chance to be there for you.”

“You’ve been out of your mind this year Aubrey!” Chloe does snap at that one, “You’re so obsessed with winning that I barely recognize you most days! Excuse me for thinking you wouldn’t be available.”

Chloe may have said it a little louder than she had intended, the two best friends have garnered the attention of all the girls, who are all standing with their mouths hanging open at the little display.

Aubrey brings a hand for her forehead, rubbing her temples vigorously, “Practice is over. Don’t expect me to give you another free pass like this,” she waves her hand dismissively at the girls, who are already starting to file out. Except for Beca.

Beca approaches the two older girls carefully, like she’s not sure if there will be a repeat explosion, “I know this is probably none of my business…”

Aubrey gives Beca a sharp look, “Actually Beca, this is your problem. You two need to fix your shit.”

The blonde grabs her bag and starts heading for the door.

“Wait Bree,” Chloe puts out a hand to stop her.

“We’ll talk later,” Aubrey doesn’t even stop for a second, she’s already halfway to the door.

Chloe’s eyes finally meet Beca’s. The younger girl looks confused, but at the same time, completely aware of what the problem is.

“I owe you an explanation,” Beca says softly.

Chloe shakes her head, “I can’t do this anymore Beca. I don’t need an explanation. When you are serious about this, come and find me, but don’t expect me to wait around for you.”

Now it’s Chloe’s turn to grab her things and leave. She can already feel hot tears stinging her eyes. That wasn’t what she was planning to say, but her little blow out with Aubrey changed her plan entirely. Chloe wants to be patient and kind and talk to Beca to figure out where the hesitation is coming from, but at the same time, she’s tired. A part of her regrets not sticking around to hear her out though.

She can hear Beca faintly behind her, “Chloe wait…”

It takes all her willpower to push the door open and leave, instead of staying and hearing the brunette out. When the cool air hits her face, she finally lets her emotions go. Angry tears stream down her cheeks. She’s mad at Aubrey, mad at Beca, mad that nothing has ever seemed to go her way. The only good thing that’s happened lately was her mom checking into rehab. That in itself is a whole other topic that she’s barely let herself think about…

************

When Chloe got back to the house she went right up to her room, hoping to avoid her angry best friend. They have their issues to work out but she’s too upset about Beca at the moment to think about it.

This whole situation is a mess. It makes her wish that she had just kept her mouth shut, just continued to quietly pine over Beca. Instead she had to tell the freshman and look at the mess it got her in.

Chloe’s currently in a large Barden hoodie and sweatpants, wrapped up in a blanket on her bed. She’s been trying to sleep but her mind just won’t shut off. At first she doesn’t hear it, but the second time there’s a faint knock at her door, her head pops out from under the covers.

Presuming it’s Aubrey, she sits up and quietly answers, “Come in.”

When the door opens, it’s definitely not Aubrey. The site of Beca in her doorway steals her breath out of her throat, she’s the last person she expected to be on the other side of that door.

“What are you doing here?” Chloe asks in disbelief, as she shoves the blankets completely away from herself and fully sits up.

“Aubrey let me in, she said you were up here,” Beca replies so softly Chloe can scarcely hear her.

That barely answered her question, “But why Beca? Why are you here?”

“I did it. I broke up with him,” she can tell now, from Beca’s face, that she has indeed been crying, her eyes puffy and cheeks red and blotchy.

“What?” she hardly believes it’s true, after all the time it’s taken.

“I broke up with Jesse,” Beca closes to door behind her and slowly makes her way into the room.

Chloe’s not quite sure what to say, she wasn’t expecting Beca to break up with her boyfriend any time soon. She wasn’t expecting her to do it at all.

“Do you really want to be with me Bec?” she’s not able to filter herself before the question is out, but she needs to know, with how hesitant the other girl has been and how upset she looks standing in Chloe’s room right now.

Beca’s eyes meet hers as she answers in a truly genuine tone, “Yes.”

“Then why did it take so long?” Chloe swings her legs over so her feet are dangling off the side of the bed.

Beca takes the move as her invitation and sits down next to the red head, “I guess I have some more explaining to do.”

Chloe nods, “Tell me what’s wrong Bec.”

Beca sighs deeply before talking, “When I came out to you, when you came home with me for Christmas, I wasn’t entirely truthful.”

“Ok…” Chloe can’t really tell where this conversation is going, but she assumes it will lead to some sort of an answer.

“I said I dated girls in high school,” Beca’s eyes fall to the floor and she takes another deep breath, “well, it was actually more like one girl and it was a mess. She was great…it was everyone else. We were public about it and the people in our school weren’t exactly accepting. We had mean notes slipped in our lockers, name calling through the hallways, anything you can think of that’s hateful, it probably happened to us. My mom and stepdad were supportive of us, but my dad wasn’t. He and the step-monster damn nearly disowned me. I’m still not sure if my dad was ever ok with it, or if she just brainwashed him.”

Chloe reaches a hand out to lay on top of Beca’s, she meets Beca’s glassy gaze with sympathy, “I’m so sorry that happened to you Bec.”

Beca nods slightly and continues with her story, “We broke up my senior year because I couldn’t do it anymore, I couldn’t take the judgement. When I started dating Jesse, it seemed like my redemption with my dad, not that I would ever do anything just to please him, but things felt a little less strained. When I graduated and started college, it was my chance to scrub everything clean. I would no longer be Beca the dyke.”

Beca takes a long, deep, shaky breath. She lets a few stray tears fall, they land on Chloe’s lavender blanket, leaving a dark, salty purple mark behind. Maybe Chloe shouldn’t have been so pushy…she hopes she hasn’t made Beca do anything that was uncomfortable for her.

“Then I met you,” Beca smiles slightly, at the mention of the red head sitting next to her, “and everything changed. I knew I liked you from the moment we started talking. I just wasn’t sure if I could do it again. Could I handle the name calling, the judgment and the strain on my relationship with my dad, especially because he’s the sole reason I’m at Barden.”

“I had no clue Beca,” Chloe mutters in disbelief.

Beca shakes her head, “I didn’t tell you anything, I should have. You deserved to know why I’ve hesitated.”

“This isn’t high school anymore though Bec,” Chloe’s not sure if it’s the right thing to say, but she has to let the younger girl know that she won’t face the same thing here at Barden, “no one is going to be slipping hateful notes in your locker. You are free to be yourself…all the Bellas have your back…our back, even Aubrey.”

“I know that, now. It took me a while to figure out if I could do it,” Beca seems to have perked up at Chloe’s encouraging words, “but I knew I had to, because I want to be with you Chlo, so much.”

“What about your dad?”

“Screw my dad,” she shakes her head, “our relationship is already bad right now, might as well put the icing on the cake. He hates that I want to be a music producer…plus he’s still pissed at me for shattering that window at the semis.”

Chloe can’t help but smirk, remembering the night Beca went to “jail”, “So this was a pretty big decision for you…you really do want this?”

“More than anything,” Beca replies simply, now a smile on her face, the remainder of her tears already dried on her cheeks.

“And Jesse is definitely no longer in the picture?” Chloe can’t help but ask one more time.

“Not at all.”

“Well in that case,” Chloe smirks and slides in closer to the brunette.

Beca meets her halfway, and their lips are on each other’s in a matter of seconds. Somehow this kiss is better than their first one. This time Chloe can feel how genuine it all is, the way Beca’s lips move so freely and passionately against hers. They pull away quicker than she’d like. Beca’s cheeks are a slight shade of red, but this time it’s not because she’s been crying.

“I really want to keep kissing you,” Beca says sweetly, but in a way that makes Chloe’s insides melt, “but I have to ask you this first…will you go out with me tonight?”

She’s not sure what she thought Beca was going to ask, but she wasn’t exactly expecting that question for some reason, “Yes, of course.”

“Ok cool,” Beca replies softly before leaning in again.

Chloe reconnects their lips quickly, and this time there’s a new feeling she can’t quite put her finger on. Maybe it’s desperation, neediness…dare she say love? All she knows right now is that she could spend the rest of her life kissing Beca Mitchell. The way the other girl is kissing her back, Chloe has a suspicion she feels the same way.

[aliciameade]

To See The Sun With My Eyes Closed

Title: To See The Sun With My Eyes Closed Author: aliciameade Rating: M some hot and heavy kissing Pairing: Beca/Chloe Summary: Beca can't shake one thought from her mind after she meets Chloe. That all she wants is her body on her mattress. 

Inspiration via “Mattress” (Valley Girl Remix) feat. Allie X by Leland

(I don’t think I’ve ever written a mid-PP1 fic before??)

Also on AO3

~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~

I know it's getting close / To when the party ends / And everybody's hooking up And I hate it when you say I'm such a good friend / And that you call me when you're up Why do I always do this to myself / I let you go with someone else When all I want's my body on your mattress / Why do I always do this to myself I let you go with someone else When all I want's my body on your mattress

~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~

“I’m soooo glad that I met you.” Chloe’s words, laden with alcohol, drift across Beca’s lips. She’s been pulled close—much too close for comfort—by this girl who, for a reason that Beca can’t quite ascertain, convinced her to audition for a lame singing group that she’s now a member of. “I think that we’re going to be really fast friends.”

“Well, you saw me naked, so…” she says with a wink. She’s still not sure what happened last week and why Chloe thought it was okay to burst into Beca’s shower, apparently lured by her voice like a siren. But, it had happened and while utterly mortified at the time, the encounter that remains seared on her brain is not one of embarrassment but intrigue smeared with lust.

After all, Chloe is an extremely attractive woman and the confidence she displayed (very literally) only added to her attractiveness.

They’re so close that she thinks Chloe might kiss her. It makes her heart race to imagine the possibility. She even considers being the one to initiate it. She struggles to keep her eyes off Chloe’s lips and she thinks she just might be bold enough to try it.

But before she musters enough courage, Chloe’s running her hands down Beca’s arms, declaring her need for a drink, slapping her own ass which she shakes at Beca, and is hopping down the stairs of the amphitheater to join her friends at a keg.

The exchange leaves Beca’s heart hammering in her chest just as it had a few days ago in the shower.

She spends the entirety of the event—“aca-initiation party” is a term she overhears more than once—avoiding socialization and nursing the beer that the annoying guy from her radio station internship pressed into her hand during a bout of uncomfortable flirtation. Her eyes (and thoughts) keep drifting to her new acquaintance, Chloe, and the company she was choosing to keep.

Chloe is a social butterfly; Beca isn’t surprised by that observation at all. She seems to flirt with almost everyone she crosses paths with; she’s not surprised by that either, though she’s maybe a touch disappointed that Chloe’s unprompted closeness isn’t unique to Beca.

A tall, handsome man becomes the final recipient of Chloe’s interest for the evening and Beca tries to not let her disdain be too apparent on her face when the pair begin making out a few rows away from her post. She thinks it might be the same guy who’d also joined her (and Chloe) in the shower, but it’s hard to tell.

She tries to ignore it and focus on the other embarrassing things happening at the party, but her eyes are repeatedly drawn to Chloe and the man attached to her face.

She walks back to her dorm as soon as she sees Chloe and her date sneak off, hand-in-hand, in the direction of the dorms.

When she crawls into bed, she can’t shake the singular thought rattling around in her brain: she wishes it was Chloe’s bed she was crawling into.

~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~

A cappella nerds, as it turns out, like to party.

While she’s not convinced they’re not nerds, Beca is, at least, impressed with their propensity for alcohol-fueled fun.

Not that she particularly likes fun. Or fun with these people. Well, maybe there is one specific person she’s okay with.

She finds herself at a party in the backyard of the house belonging to their rival group, the Treblemakers, on a Friday night in early October. It’s already decorated for Halloween despite it being three weeks away and it takes precisely ten minutes for Beca to become irritated by the scream of the motion-activated ghost decoration hanging in a high-traffic area. It has yet to shut up since she arrived and she’s in the middle of devising a plan to kill it when something slams into her from behind, causing her to spill most of her drink onto the grass.

“What the—” She’s about to curse out the drunk who body-slammed her when she recognizes the patterned blouse covering the arms that are wrapped around her waist. “Dude!”

“Whatcha doing?”

Beca hopes the shiver that ripples up her spine at the way Chloe’s words hum past her ear isn’t noticed. She shifts a bit in time to the music to cover it up. It’s not easy to do, given Chloe’s hold on her, and if she hadn’t been busy trying to hide the way her body reacted to Chloe’s sudden embrace, she would have thought about the consequences of doing so.

“Oh, you’re dancing!” Chloe answers for her and she changes her hold on Beca from arms wrapped around her waist to hands on Beca’s hips, though her chin remains resting on Beca’s right shoulder. “Dance with me. You never dance with me.”

“We dance every day,” she says with an irritated sigh, though she starts to relax into their position and allows Chloe to lead from behind. “Aubrey has us in rehearsal three hours a day; or do you try to block it from your memory like me?”

There’s a rumbling, restrained laugh in her ear. “You knew what you were signing up for.”

“Did I, though?” she teases, though no, she didn’t know.

She hears Chloe’s response, a noncommittal hum that makes Beca smile with its unspoken admission of agreement. She finishes what little of her drink remains and tosses the plastic cup to the ever-growing pile on the ground and puts her hands over Chloe’s for a moment before settling into their dance. 

Chloe isn’t wrong, Beca realizes. They really haven’t danced with each other, not like this. Not with Chloe’s hands tugging on Beca’s hips as if she’ll drift away and not with Beca’s ass pressing back against Chloe. 

Their conversation—spoken, at least—fades in favor of the physical, dancing to the music blasting from giant speakers adorning the back of the house. When the song ends, Beca expects Chloe to move on, to go find a guy to dance with, but instead, she urges Beca to turn around and keep dancing as the playlist mixes into the next track.

Chloe smiles at her when she does it and adds a wink when she drapes her arms over Beca’s shoulders. It prevents too much distance between them and it makes Beca smile in return. This isn’t how Beca would dance with the other Bellas; that would happen in a group, with plenty of space separating her from them, and with attention paid to people outside that group.

This, though. Chloe’s attention is acutely on Beca and Beca’s is on Chloe. There is little distance separating them. When a guy shows up behind Chloe in an attempt to get her to dance, she shifts away from him and further into Beca’s space.

Beca’s mind begins to swim, to slip toward the thoughts she’s guiltily had a few late nights alone in bed. Thoughts of what it would be like to kiss her friend, of what she looks like beneath her clothes (though the sports bras and leggings Chloe often favors do most of the work for Beca), of what she might sound like when she whimpers or moans with pleasure.

“You’re staring.”

Beca blinks quickly and pulls back a few inches. She didn’t realize how close they’d become until she could no longer focus on Chloe’s face. They’re still dancing and her mind races with what to do, how to respond to Chloe’s call-out, a look of curious amusement on her face, when she hears it:

“Becaw!”

She grimaces and feels the moment between them evaporate.

“He likes you,” Chloe whispers with a wink before she extracts herself from Beca and leaves with a wave.

“No, wait—” but she’s already gone, and instead she has— 

“Jesse.”

“Becaw!” he repeats again, proud of the unwelcome nickname he’s given her, as he moves into the space Chloe just vacated, a red solo cup in each hand.

Beca takes a noticeable step backward, though, and to his credit, he doesn’t follow and crowd her.

“It’s not enough that we spend nine hours a week together at the station; you always have to find me at these dumb aca-parties, huh?” She frowns as she says it, more at her casual use of “aca-” as a prefix than anything.

“You’re just so charming. How can I resist that face?” He smiles as he says it, pointing out her frown and, Beca thinks, he’s not a terrible person. Not by a long shot. He’s a teddy bear, really, and even a cute one with a good voice, but he just feels...vanilla. Boring. Predictable.

She immediately schools her face into as neutral of a look as she can. “Wish I could say the same.” She glances at the two cups he brought, her own hands feeling very empty with no Chloe to be touching. “Is one of those for me?”

He pulls the cups inward protectively, shooting her a look. “You literally just insulted me.”

“And you interrupted the conversation I was having.”

Something like a conversation, anyway.

“Fine,” he says with a sigh, giving in way too easily and handing a cup to her. It’s a behavior Beca knows all too well; it’s how she ended up knowing the people at this party. “I saw that guy spill your drink.”

She doesn’t comment on the fact that it was at least fifteen minutes ago that that had happened, if not longer. The beer is still cold, though, so it at least he hasn’t been holding it for fifteen-plus minutes waiting to make a move. Or whatever he’s doing. “Thanks.”

“You know, I don’t live in the house yet, because I’m a freshman, but I’m allowed to go inside.” His words are stilted.

She just stares at him.

“They have a hot tub. I mean, we. We have a hot tub. I can use it.”

“Cool,” she says with a nod. She takes another sip from her cup and glances around to find an excuse to exit this conversation.

“I could show you,” he says, pointing toward the house.

She lifts her eyebrows at that; she hadn’t expected him to be quite so bold. “I know what a hot tub looks like.”

The nerves that were already evident in his movements double and his pointing hand jerks back to run through his hair. “No? Yeah, no, of course you know what a hot tub looks like. I was just—”

Her roaming eyes finally spot Chloe, her intended excuse to exit this uncomfortable conversation, but the tall guy from her first aca-party is with her—it’s definitely the same guy that Chloe’d had with her in the shower, they’re close enough that she recognizes him—and with his hand on her waist and leaning down, it’s evident they’re about to kiss.

“Okay,” she says quickly, forcing a smile and her eyes off of that and onto Jesse.

His surprise is obvious, and she doesn’t blame him. She was shooting him down pretty directly “W—wait, really?”

She has to take a long drink of her beer, nearly half of it, to be able to respond. “Yeah, sure. Give me the grand tour.”

“Cool, yeah.” He reminds Beca of a puppy with his thinly veiled excitement. It’s flattering, at least. “Uh, shall we?” He gestures toward the house and takes a step toward her, awkwardly offering his hand like he’s not really offering it, just in case she rejects it.

She accepts it, though, and follows him across the yard and into the Treble house.

She does spare one thought toward Aubrey’s draconian rule about not hooking up with any Treblemaker, but most of her thoughts are on what’s happening between Chloe and Shower Guy behind her and how quickly she can get it out of her thoughts.

~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~

She doesn’t hook up with him.

Not for his not trying. 

By her count, Beca clocks him leaning in to try to kiss her three times during the tour of the house, each time happening in an empty bedroom (poor form on his part trying it while showing her the disgusting, smelly rooms belonging to college boys). He even made an attempt at suggesting there was no need for bathing suits to enjoy the hot tub situated oddly in the main room of the house.

She considers the proposition each time, but each time, she turns away or takes a step to put space between them. It just doesn’t feel right, even as a distraction or something out of spite.

She tells him she’s tired and needs rest before tomorrow’s seven-hour rehearsal after the hot tub invitation and to his credit, he doesn’t seem irritated. She knows most guys would have accused her of leading them on by now, and maybe she did at least a little bit. But instead of calling her a bitch or a tease when she glances back before stepping out of the house to go home, he waves at her wearing a dopey smile that makes Beca feel like he was happy just to spend time with her.

Her exit through the front door, so she can walk back to her dorm, doesn’t give her a final look at the party, but it’s still going strong. She doesn’t know if Chloe and Shower Guy are still there or still kissing, and she doesn’t really want to consider the possibility.

Or worse: that they’re not at the party because they went back to someone’s room.

Again.

She walks home alone (though not alone-alone; campus is crawling with students moving between parties and dorms) and is relieved that even Kimmy Jin seems to be out at an event of her own. It’s dark when she walks in and her roommate’s stark, clinically neat side of the room is empty.

“Thank God,” she says as she kicks off her shoes and strips down to her underwear to pull an old T-shirt over her head. She throws her bathrobe on and grabs her things to wash up before crawling into bed where she will definitely not be thinking about who might be in Chloe’s bed or whose bed Chloe might be in, and will definitely not be touching herself imagining it’s her, or her bed.

She hasn’t done that yet, crossed the line of fantasizing, but she’s just drunk, jealous, and irritated enough to do it.

Whatever energy that flowed between Chloe and her while they were dancing is also largely to blame.

So when she walks into the communal bathroom down the hall, she drops her toothpaste because Chloe’s at the sink washing her face.

It feels like the water Chloe’s splashing on her face is actually being dumped on Beca’s head and all her heat and annoyance rinse away to leave her feeling both ashamed and exposed.

Chloe glances her direction at the clatter of the tube of Colgate hitting the tile and then smiles in recognition. “Hey!” She turns off the faucet and reaches for the small towel draped over her shoulder to pat her face dry.

“Hey,” Beca says after clearing her throat while she stoops to grab her toothpaste. “Thought you’d still be at the party.” She hopes her tone is even and not betraying her earlier inappropriate thoughts or coming across as accusatory.

“And I thought you’d be doing the Walk of Shame tomorrow.” Chloe’s wearing a hint of a smirk as she says it and flips her towel back onto her shoulder. “I saw you sneak off into the house with Jesse.”

Beca huffs and walks to the sink next to Chloe’s to set down her things and start her pre-bedtime routine. “He wishes.”

“I bet he does.”

She glances sideways at Chloe to see her leaning against the sink casually, facing Beca. She hides the blush that she feels on her cheeks by ducking down to wash her face.

“You’re really trying to get under Aubrey’s skin, aren’t you?” Chloe continues. “She’s already texting me about it.”

“I’m not trying to do anything,” she says as she scrubs at her face before rinsing it. “And she’s not the boss of me. I can sleep with whoever I want.”

“So you slept with him?” Chloe’s question is spoken so quickly, Beca can barely register the words.

This time, her towel masks her reaction. “I’m here, aren’t I?”

“That doesn’t mean anything.”

“So you slept with Shower Guy?” She tosses her towel onto the back of the sink and waits for an answer. 

“Shower Guy?” Chloe’s surprisingly fidgety. “Do you mean Tom?”

“If Tom is the guy you brought naked into my shower, then yes.”

Chloe glances away for a few seconds. “I didn’t sleep with him. I mean, not tonight.”

“Right,” Beca says, busying herself with her toothbrush and toothpaste.

“What do you care?” Chloe’s words are clipped and get Beca’s attention.

“What do you care if I slept with Jesse?” she counters and shoves her toothbrush into her mouth.

Chloe pushes off the sink with a nudge of her hip and drops her arms to her sides. “Who says I care?”

Beca just rolls her eyes. Their conversation is devolving into bickering, though she doesn’t know why. She does know that she wants to stop talking about Chloe sleeping with Tom and Beca sleeping with Jesse. “Good night, Chloe.”

She sees Chloe set her jaw and press her lips into a thin line before nodding. “Good night. See you at rehearsal. 9:00 am, sharp.”

She shoos Chloe away with her free hand in irritation and watches in the mirror as she grabs her personal items and walks out the door, head held high.

Beca’s shoulders slump as soon as Chloe’s gone and she stares at herself in the mirror, wondering what the hell just happened.

~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~

She’s too irritated and confused by the tense words shared with Chloe to follow through with her nighttime plans.

~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~

Rehearsal is grueling. 

Aubrey is on her ass the moment she walks in not more than two minutes late about her “behavior” at the party. Beca refuses to say she didn’t sleep with Jesse, on pure principle. She owes Aubrey no explanation or information about her sex life. 

She doesn’t get kicked out, which is a surprise after what happened to Kori and Mary Elise. Instead, she and the entire group are subjected to an unfairly cruel marathon rehearsal and she’s certain she’s never sweat so much in her life. 

“We are a singing group, right?” she manages to snap as she runs past Aubrey. “Why are we training for a decathlon?”

All the comment earns her is five more laps around the rehearsal space.

Chloe seems like her normal self, being everyone’s cheerleader as they work. If she’s still bothered by the exchange she and Beca had the night before, she doesn’t show it, but Beca still makes it a point to catch her when they’re finally dismissed (fifteen minutes later than scheduled).

“That was brutal,” she starts, standing next to Chloe while they pack up their stuff. She only glances her direction briefly; Chloe was in her usual rehearsal garb of a sports bra and leggings, and she had sweat just as much as Beca had. It was highly distracting.

“I tried to warn you.”

Beca doesn’t think Chloe warned her; mostly she implied Beca was irritating Aubrey, not that Aubrey would inflict an entire day of physical torture upon her because she talked to a boy at a party. Instead of saying that, though, she zips her bag, puts it over her shoulder, and turns to face her. She studiously works to keep her eyes on neutral territory. “Wanna walk back to Baker together? Unless you have somewhere you need to be.”

Chloe looks up at her, wisps of curling red hair that escaped her bun with her exertion sticking up all over in a way that is unfairly pretty, and smiles. “Sure. I definitely need a shower.”

“No shit,” Beca says with a laugh, gesturing at herself to not imply that Chloe needs a shower. Chloe is perfect.

~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~

Beca’s really not surprised with herself that she’s dumping her gear and grabbing her shower stuff the second she gets back to her room after leaving Chloe at her own. Is she maybe affected by the idea that she and Chloe could possibly be showering at the same time, something that hasn’t [knowingly] occurred since the day they met?

Absolutely not.

To prove it to herself, she sits down and waits ten minutes before walking to the showers, but despite the attempt to wait it out, she hears Chloe’s voice singing a Britney Spears song (a cappella, of course) the moment she opens the door.

She irritatingly can’t help herself from claiming the stall right next to the one she knows Chloe’s in and once she’s settled under the steaming spray, she knocks on the divider between them to interrupt the new song that Beca hates that she knows.

She hears Chloe’s startled yelp and smiles. “Who sings that song?” she asks.

There’s a short laugh a few seconds later. “Taylor Swift, why?”

“Let’s keep it that way.”

There’s a gasp of offense that borders on being a shriek followed by a hard slap of a hand against the metal wall between them. “Beca Mitchell, you take that back!”

Beca laughs and grabs her shampoo. “You know I don’t mean it,” she says after a few more seconds, unable to leave Chloe in the lurch for too long.

“Meanie,” Chloe pouts.

Silence settles between them other than Chloe’s quiet humming and Beca’s nearing the end of her shower when she finally works up the nerve to bring up their tense conversation. “Um, about last night.” Chloe’s humming stops. “I’m sorry if I was weird.”

“‘Weird’ is one way of putting it.”

“This whole college thing is new to me, you know?” It’s a bad excuse, not to mention weak. Bringing up Shower Guy—Tom—had nothing to do with being new to college life and everything to do with...well, she doesn’t let herself think about that.

Chloe’s extended silence makes her think she’s not buying it, but if she doesn’t, she doesn’t push it. “Well, apology accepted. I’m sorry, too.”

“Cool.” She hears Chloe’s shower turn off and realizes she’s been so distracted with their conversation she’s failed to progress past working shampoo into her hair and hurries through the rest of it.

She’s not surprised when she finds Chloe waiting for her, sitting in a bathrobe on the bench where people wait for showers to free up when Beca exits her stall, wrapped in her own fluffy robe. Chloe looks fresh-faced and bright-eyed and Beca’s sure she looks like a drowned rat. It’s unfair, truly.

“What’s up?” Beca says as she tights the belt around her waist.

“Nothing,” Chloe shrugs. “Figured I’d wait for you.” She stands and joins Beca as they walk toward the bathroom exit.

“Doing anything fun tonight?” Beca asks, hoping her question comes across innocuous-enough after last night and their apologies.

“Yeah, I’m going out for a bit. What about you?”

Beca hums. “My roommate went home for the weekend so tonight’s agenda includes a Law & Order: SVU marathon and an entire bag of Doritos.”

They pause outside Chloe’s door. “Cool Ranch or nacho?” Chloe asks; she’s wearing a look of absolute seriousness as if Beca’s answer is of utmost importance and it stikes Beca with irrational fear.

“Uh, nacho?”

Chloe’s face screws into one of offense. “Terrible.”

“Nacho Doritos are not terrible!” Beca says, immediately on the defense of her favorite snack. “How dare you.”

“I only speak the truth,” Chloe says breezily as she reaches for her doorknob. “Enjoy your gross chips.”

“Yeah, well, enjoy your...night!” Beca’s comeback fails miserably and she can tell Chloe’s holding back laughter as she disappears into her room. “Whatever,” she grumbles to herself before turning to stalk down the hallway, mad about Chloe insulting her chips.

~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~

Beca’s on her third episode of SVU when there’s a knock on her door. She groans and slides off her bed, not in the mood for some kind of prank the other students on her floor find hilarious.

“What?” she barks as she swings it open, ready to berate immaturity only to be met with surprised, wide eyes. “Oh, hey. Sorry.”

“What was that for?” Chloe asks, still looking a bit shell-shocked.

“I thought it was the ding-dong-ditchers,” she says, knowing Chloe’s been a victim of it just as much as she has. “I thought you were going out tonight?”

Chloe shrugs and holds up the blue bag of Cool Ranch Doritos she’d been hiding behind her back. “It was going to be lame.”

Beca laughs and steps aside to let her into her room. “I can’t promise you that this will be any less lame.”

“I’m willing to take my chances.” Chloe winks as she says it and strolls into Beca’s room.

She’s never been there before, never past the door, and Beca can tell she’s trying to disguise the fact that she’s checking out her room which makes a smile tug at Beca’s lips. She’s climbing on to Beca’s bed moments later to get comfortable, right in the spot Beca had been occupying because it was the most comfortable.

“Make yourself at home,” she says as she closes the door. “Want anything to drink?”

“I’ll take a beer.”

“I’m 19; I can’t keep beer in my room.” She opens her mini-fridge to survey its meager contents. “Gotta keep my nose clean this year so I can get out of here and move to LA,” she explains. “I have Coke, Dr. Pepper, and water.”

“Sometimes I forget you’re a freshman. Dr. Pepper, please.”

Beca grabs two cans of soda and joins Chloe on the bed, having to rearrange bags of chips, blankets, and pillows so they can both sit comfortably.

They settle into their viewing party after that, quiet save for the TV and the periodic crunch of chips with an occasional debate about who the criminal is or isn’t.

It’s hard for Beca to ignore their physical closeness. There’s only so much room on her small twin-sized bed and though their marathon began with a good bit of space between them, Chloe has worked her way closer with each suspenseful, violent, or upsetting moment. It began with her grabbing Beca’s forearm at an unexpected twist. A tense hostage negotiation had her gripping Beca’s thigh for dear life (she’s not sure she won’t have bruises tomorrow). And, most recently, an unexpected gunshot made Chloe leap into Beca’s side to hide her face in Beca’s shoulder and beg to be told when it was over.

Chloe hadn’t moved back into her own spot after that. She’d stayed, her arm wrapped up with Beca’s and her head on her shoulder once Beca reassured her the gory part was over. 

It’s hard to ignore the way Chloe’s knee is hiked up a little, just enough so it can rest atop Beca’s with the way she’s curled into Beca’s side.

The closeness makes Beca’s heart race and she has to focus hard on the television screen in order to keep her breathing steady. It had been somewhat easy to ignore her crush on the woman to-date; their time together has, by and large, been spent with others: the Bellas, aca-nerds at parties, other students walking around campus. Rarely are they alone and secluded; not even in their moments in the communal showers.

The moment she lets the concept that they are, by the very definition, cuddling in her bed into her psyche she has to close her eyes and think about literally anything else. Sports. The Real Housewives. Her parents’ divorce.

She keeps them closed until she feels Chloe leaning against her more heavily, her breathing deep and even and Beca looks down to see Chloe’s fallen asleep.

It’s oddly calming even if it makes her heart pick up even more. She looks like an angel, long eyelashes resting against her cheeks, soft pink lips slightly parted, but most lovely of all is the way her hand is open, fingers slightly curved in a way that’s so inviting that Beca can’t resist fitting her own between them.

Chloe stirs at the touch though it’s little more than a brief squeeze of Beca’s hand and a shift of her head and then she’s once again still.

Beca’s at a loss as to what to do so she sits quietly, letting the television episode roll into the next though paying no attention to it. Chloe is warm against her and her slow, rhythmic breathing is so comforting that eventually, Beca’s nerves settle and she finds her own eyes growing heavy.

~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~

She’s disoriented when she wakes. Her room isn’t dark; a rerun of Everybody Loves Raymond is on the TV and it feels far too loud. She’s lying down and when she shifts, she’s met with resistance that for the briefest of moments strikes her with panic.

That is, until she discovers the resistance is caused by the arm draped over her waist and its owner who’s pressed closely against Beca’s back.

Then it’s panic of a different kind. The kind that makes her freeze and not move another muscle lest she wakes Chloe and bring to an end the embrace they somehow slipped into in their sleep.

~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~

When she wakes again it’s early morning and though the arm is gone from her waist, she can feel it pressing against her back. The TV is dark but she doesn’t remember turning it off. She longs to drag the morning out as much as she can but she can’t ignore the need to use the restroom.

She eases away as slowly as she can until she’s standing and she can turn around to see Chloe, sound asleep in her bed. 

She sneaks out the door and is quick to return, only sparing a few extra seconds to deal with her disheveled morning appearance and rinse with a cup of mouthwash from the courtesy bottle.

To her relief, Chloe’s still there when she returns, but her sleepy eyes are open. “Morning,” she says as soon as Beca’s eyes land on her.

“Hey, good morning,” she replies and starts to cross the room and then stops when she realizes Chloe’s not making a move to get up and crawling back into bed with her, especially at this early hour, feels so very intimate. “Guess we fell asleep.”

Chloe nods and then she’s yawning, her body growing taut as she stretches and Beca can’t help but glance at how Chloe’s shirt rides up a few inches with the movement. “Come back to bed,” she says at the end of her yawn, voice squeaking in a way Beca wishes she didn’t find so cute.

It feels too casual, too normal for Chloe to say those words for how new their friendship is, to scoot backward to make more room for Beca in her small bed to further extend her invitation.

It’s that sensation of normalcy that gets her moving until she’s settling on her side, her back to Chloe again as they both get comfortable on the pillow they’re sharing.

“You’re all minty,” Chloe says after a minute or two, followed by a pinch to Beca’s side, right in the tender part, that makes her jump.

“Morning breath,” she says after swallowing.

Fingertips scrabble up her back. “Thinking about kissing me awake?”

Beca’s entire self feels like it ignites, heat rushing through her in a full-body blush. She just wasn’t wanting to make a bad first-morning impression. Such a thought hadn’t even entered her mind at the time, but it’s now the only thing she can think about.

She scoffs when she realizes she’s taking too long to reply. “What? Dude, no.”

There’s a quiet hum behind her and Chloe’s arm settles over her once again. Beca’s awake for it this time and the feeling of Chloe reaching to pull her close, intentionally holding her while they lay in bed together following that question, makes butterflies stir in her chest.

~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~

Beca doesn’t understand why there are so many a cappella parties. She’d thought that after the winter break, the four groups would buckle down—whatever that means in a cappella terms—to focus on the impending semifinals, but no. It seems that as the stress of competition (not that she’s stressed about their dumb competition) increases, so does the need to release that stress.

To Beca, they’re an excuse to get free beer and hang out with Chloe in a safe (read: public), non-rehearsal environment.

By now, they’ve established a sort of routine at these parties. They arrive together. They part ways. One saves the other from an undesirable conversation when prompted with little more than a glance. They spend the rest of the night together, whether dancing, drinking, socializing, or once, swimming, until something brings the night to a close and they walk back to their dorm together.

Beca had taken notice as the weeks and months passed, that Chloe disappearing with Tom was occurring less and less frequently. It was a relief on multiple levels; not just because it meant Chloe wasn’t spending the night with Tom, but also because she wouldn’t have to spend time talking to Jesse until she found an excuse to leave. The boy had a special talent for finding Beca unaccompanied.

But above all, it meant that Beca and Chloe were spending the majority of their time together, whether rehearsing or not. And over the course of all those weeks, Beca’s noticed their dynamic changing, not by leaps and bounds daily but by tiny movements. Tiny movements that have added up to leaps and bounds, from Beca recoiling in horror the first time they met to Beca dropping everything to help, talk to, or otherwise spend time with Chloe.

And she’s noticed Chloe is quick to do just the same.

It’s confusing. She’s never connected with anyone so strongly before, and she continually finds herself wondering if what she feels is the kindred spirit of a best friend or if she wants something more.

Correction: she knows she wants Chloe; she doesn’t want to confess such a thing and lose a best friend. Not that she knows how to confess feelings anyway. She hates feelings. They’re gross. They make her feel vulnerable and weak.

Chloe makes her feel vulnerable, too. But it’s different. She maybe even feels strength in that vulnerability.

She just needs Chloe to make the first move if someone’s going to make one.

Beca thinks she’s given her ample opportunities to-date but nothing’s happened yet. It’s with that in mind that she resolves, at the pre-Spring Break bash, to open the metaphorical door so wide that if Chloe doesn’t cross its threshold, Beca will close it once and for all.

She’s terrified from the moment she makes the decision until she and Chloe are drinking shots of tequila in unison and everything melts away until the only thing that matters is simply being in Chloe’s orbit. 

Beca pulls Chloe by her hand onto the trampled grass of the Trebles’ backyard to dance, an action she knows thrills Chloe who always tells Beca how much she likes dancing with her. The liquid courage spurs Beca to pull Chloe close before they’ve even settled into the song.

“You’re in a mood,” Chloe says, the corner of her mouth turning upward.

Beca rests her arms around Chloe’s shoulders and makes eye contact with her. “You could say that.”

She sees Chloe arch an eyebrow but instead of pressing the matter, Chloe just falls into step and runs a hand through her hair in an unfairly sexy manner.

Beca considers the fact that what she’s doing could be considered throwing herself at Chloe, that is, if she didn’t hold on to that one last thread. Like letting her hands wander up and down Chloe’s back, but never below her waist. Like slipping her knee between Chloe’s thighs but not actually doing anything because, at face value, it just makes dancing close easier. Like having an extra button on her shirt undone and wearing her best bra that gives her amazing but natural-looking cleavage and her most flattering jeans.

It only takes a few seconds for Chloe’s hands to land where they always do: on Beca’s waist. 

Dancing with Chloe has come to be second nature to Beca, and she’s pretty sure Chloe would agree. She knows it helps that they work on actual choreography all the time for the Bellas, but they don’t choreograph the way they dance together at parties or in clubs. It feels like they have, though; it doesn’t require any conscious thought to know how Chloe is going to move and when. Beca doesn’t have to think about stepping to her left when Chloe is stepping to her right. 

It’s a cool evening but Beca’s warm. She’s warm from moving, warm from the way Chloe’s hands travel between her waist and her ribs, warm from the way Chloe’s eyes are on hers to stare with such intensity, she’s actually afraid to look away from them.

She’s warm from how close they are right now. She doesn’t know how many songs have passed, only that they’re so close and so aligned that she can feel Chloe’s thigh between her own, bumping her leg as they move which only makes her grow even warmer.

Chloe’s eyes slip for the quickest moment from Beca’s and she thinks maybe she glanced at her lips, or maybe even her cleavage. It was too quick to know and Beca doesn’t let on that she noticed. If Chloe wants to look, she wants her to look. She’s been inviting her to look all night. She does wet her lips after a few seconds; it’s a subconscious response but she’s aware of it happening and she catches Chloe’s gaze drift again. 

It’s difficult to be sure as Chloe’s amazingly long eyelashes are great at concealing where she’s looking when her eyes are cast down, so, running on instinct and adrenaline, Beca lets her teeth catch her bottom lip, just for a second or two.

Chloe’s eyes snap back to hers immediately and then she’s mirroring Beca, teeth pulling at her own bottom lip until it slips free and her tongue swipes over it.

Beca can’t keep her eyes off Chloe’s lips after that; she tries, glancing up now and then but Chloe’s eyes are no longer her focus. Chloe’s lips hold that now and she’s acutely aware and uncaring if Chloe notices. Maybe she wants her to notice.

She definitely wants her to notice.

She knows Chloe notices when she sees her teeth pull at her lip again the same moment her hands tighten around Beca’s waist.

They’re still dancing, but it’s an afterthought. There’s noise around them, and people, but it all sounds miles away. Her arms shift where they’ve been resting over Chloe’s shoulders; they push forward to loop around her neck. It also brings them even closer together.

Chloe’s head tilts, just a fraction, just enough for Beca to catch it. A tilt to the left. A slight lift of her chin. Enough to make Beca’s pulse start to race.

She mirrors the change and she sees Chloe’s lips twitch into the hint of a smile. It makes Beca’s hands unlock from holding her own wrists behind Chloe’s neck to push them into her hair. Chloe’s eyes flutter closed at the touch and after a few seconds of admiration, so do Beca’s.

“What are we doing?” Chloe says, little more than a mumble as Beca feels the heat of fingertips under the edge of her shirt, pressing into the bare skin of her lower back.

“Um…” Beca’s not sure she can answer that; their lips are so close that she felt the words.

“Bec?”

“Hmm?” She’s waiting for it, for the soft warmth of Chloe’s lips to follow the heat of her words when she senses Chloe pull back. Beca’s eyes flutter open to find Chloe watching her intently. It’s only then that she realizes they’ve stopped dancing.

When Chloe takes a step backward Beca feels the hot sting of rejection but Chloe’s hand catches hers before she’s out of reach and she has no choice but to follow. She doesn’t know where Chloe’s leading them; frankly, she doesn’t really care. She feels intoxicated but the tequila is long burned out of her system. This is something different, something that’s making her dizzy but not sick.

They’re walking along the hedge that runs next to the house when Chloe halts abruptly, causing Beca to stop just short of running into her. When Chloe turns, Beca expects her to say something, to explain why they’ve left the party, to repeat her question to Beca.

Instead, Chloe’s free hand plants itself in the center of Beca’s chest, against the bare skin of her boldly unbuttoned shirt, and pushes, making her stumble backward until her back hits the side of the house.

“Oh, my God,” escapes her mouth before she realizes the words could mean the action was unwelcome when it’s the exact opposite. She can’t figure out what words to use to clarify her outburst so instead, she squeezes the hand Chloe’s still holding and gives it a tug. If pulling Chloe closer now, here, after everything isn’t clear enough, then they’re both hopeless.

She pulls Chloe in until she’s so close, their chests grazing when either of them inhale and grabs Chloe’s hip with her free hand to keep her there. Even in the dark away from the lights of the party, she can see the color in Chloe’s cheeks, can see how heavy her eyes seem and Beca’s sure she must appear much the same. Her heart feels like it might pound right out of her body. She wonders if Chloe can hear it, or even feel it against her own chest.

Those dark eyes are on her own, their conversation unspoken and Beca knows Chloe finally understands what she’s been trying to make clear all night. Maybe what she’s been trying—with less conviction or confidence than tonight—to make clear for months.

The hand that had pushed her up against the house shifts down for the briefest of moments, the heel of Chloe’s hand dipping into the beginning of the valley between her breasts to make Beca’s breath catch before it moves north, fingertips dancing along Beca’s throat until they’re on the back of her neck, sneaking up into her hair.

She whimpers. Or she thinks she does; maybe it was Chloe. It could have been; her lips are parted when Beca glances down at them.

That’s when it happens.

Chloe surges forward, her lips finding Beca’s.

Beca knows for certain it’s herself she hears whimper then. The desperate force actually knocks her head back against the side of the house but there’s no pain. Nothing hurts now. Not as Chloe’s lips move against her own in a kiss Beca’s been waiting for since the day they met.

She shakes her hand loose from Chloe’s so she can use it, so she can bring it up to frame Chloe’s face. The knowledge that Chloe has wanted this—or at least wants it now—emboldens her to find a better angle and let her tongue brush Chloe’s bottom lip.

Chloe invites her in immediately and Beca shivers when Chloe’s tongue meets hers. Fingers slide further into her hair and Beca does the same, pushing through soft cinnamon curls as their kiss grows in intensity. 

Chloe’s hips press against her and it makes her shift her stance so their legs fit together like when they dance. Her fingers pull at Chloe’s waist as if she could possibly get any closer until, on sheer instinct, her hand slides down over the curve of Chloe’s ass to grab it unabashedly and pull just as she bends her knee to lift and press her thigh against Chloe.

A sharp gasp breaks the relative silence as Chloe’s mouth twists away from Beca’s. Their eyes meet and for a moment, Beca thinks she may have done something wrong until Chloe’s fingers twist so harshly into Beca’s hair that she winces as Chloe pulls her head to the side. It exposes more of her neck and Beca lets her eyes close again as Chloe’s mouth drops to it. Lips and tongue and gentle teeth move along her skin and Beca can hear herself breathing, quick and shallow breaths that match Chloe’s as Chloe accepts the rhythm of Beca’s hand against her. The thought that Chloe likes it, is basically riding her thigh, makes her already damp underwear soak through. It makes her hips move, too, and Chloe’s leg isn’t nestled closely enough to give her anything but the barest of contact.

It’s maddening but she doesn’t want to do anything that will take away the pleasure she knows she’s giving Chloe. Instead, the hand not tangled in her hair doing little more than cradling her head as she attacks Beca’s neck travels up Chloe’s side until she feels the band of a bra through the fabric of her shirt. It’s too tempting and too easy to follow it until the backs of her fingers are grazing the edge of a curve. She hesitates there, soaking in the warmth she feels and letting a moan escape her lips when Chloe’s tongue is particularly gentle and teasing against her skin.

“Touch me.” The words are whispered but they ring in Beca’s ears loudly. Chloe’s hand finds Beca’s where it’s hesitating and guides it higher until it’s pressing Beca’s hand against her breast.

This time, it’s Chloe who moans but Beca echoes it. She wonders just how far this is going to go here, now, out in the open as Chloe’s mouth is on hers again. It’s more a curiosity than a concern; she really doesn’t care who sees them. But as the palm of her hand feels the stiff peak of Chloe’s breast, she has a desperate need to migrate elsewhere. It’s a need that grows exponentially when Chloe, with none of the hesitation Beca had shown, finds Beca’s left breast to squeeze it with urgency. Most of her fingertips are on bare skin where Beca’s shirt has shifted; heat follows everywhere her those fingertips go, from the swell of Beca’s breast to her throat, to the valley of her cleavage and to her other breast.

Chloe’s mouth leaves hers again and moves right to her ear, lips on her earlobe and tongue tracing the shell and over the piercings. “God, you’re so hot,” she breathes just as she presses her thigh forward against Beca.

So desperate for the contact, it almost makes Beca’s knees buckle which settles her more heavily astride Chloe, leg pressing the thick seam of Beca’s jeans against her in a way that makes her hips buck.

Chloe’s assault of her senses stops abruptly; she doesn’t pull back, she just...stops and it takes Beca several seconds until she can open her eyes.

Once she can focus, she sees that Chloe is staring at her, eyes wild, hair mussed, lips a dark pink and shining in the dim lighting.

“Are you okay?” Chloe asks, eyes searching Beca’s for something.

The question confuses her; why wouldn’t she be okay? “Yeah,” she says after swallowing. “Are you?” she adds, enough clarity seeping in to register Chloe’s checking on her and maybe she should do the same.

Chloe nods and leans in to kiss her again but this time it’s slow, and soft, and gentle and she pulls back too soon for Beca’s liking, but she forgives her quickly.

“Do you maybe want to go?” are Chloe’s next words and Beca feels dizzy again. Thankfully, Chloe still has her pinned against the house to keep her upright.

“Go where?” she asks; she wants Chloe to mean what she hopes she means and that she’s not suggesting they go back to the party.

Chloe’s hands are back on her waist, warm where they rest beneath Beca’s shirt. “Is your roommate home?” Chloe asks. 

Beca feels the back of her head connect with the house again, falling back to look down her nose at Chloe who’s waiting for her answer with as much anticipation as Beca feels. “I don’t know,” she says after searching her memory for any conversation that she may have had about her roommate’s plans tonight and finding nothing. “Is yours?”

“I don’t know,” Chloe answers, a whine entering her voice and the fact that Chloe is perhaps as desperate as she is rattles Beca. Her mind races, thinking of possibilities like the bedrooms in the Trebles’ house (gross), staying where they are (uncomfortable and not private), or going to Chloe’s car in the dorm parking lot.

It’s not the worst solution, all things considered.

“Okay,” she says, still working on catching her breath. “Okay, let’s just go see if they’re home or not.”

Her suggestion makes Chloe melt into her for another long, deep kiss until they’re detangling from each other. Beca has to tug at the legs of her jeans to bring them down from where they’ve ridden up and she watches Chloe do the same. It makes her crack up for some reason and Chloe’s quick to follow, both of them dissolving into fits of giggles of nervous excitement.

They start walking back toward Baker Hall, Beca’s arm around Chloe’s waist, and Beca notices Chloe tugging her phone out of her pocket and open up a new text.

“Why don’t you text Kimmy Jin and ask if she’s there,” Chloe says when she notices Beca’s curiosity.

“I don’t have her number.”

Chloe tsks at her and shoots off a text to, Beca assumes, her roommate.

A minute or two pass in silence until it becomes too heavy between them and Chloe breaks it. “Nothing has to happen, you know.”

Beca turns her head to look at her, though Chloe’s facing forward. Why Chloe thinks Beca might feel like she’s being pressured into something is beyond her, especially since Beca was the one laying the physical flirtation on thick all night. “I’m here, aren’t I?” she says, as if it should be obvious.

“I know,” Chloe says. Beca notices they’re only a few blocks from their dorm and her anticipation starts to grow again. “But we’ve been drinking.”

That’s a fair consideration. People do things they regret when they’ve been drinking, things they would never do sober. And that could be true, except that in Beca’s case, “I’ve been thinking about it for a while.”

It’s Chloe’s turn to look over, and she’s wearing a bit of a smirk. “You have?”

Beca shrugs and tucks her fingertips into the front pocket of Chloe’s jeans, as though she’s making a point, though the prospect of having to talk about it in detail makes her self-conscious. “Shut up.”

“Beca.” Chloe’s voice is teasing and slow, like syrup.

“Don’t,” she says with a groan because she knows Chloe’s gearing up to tease her. “Can we just...can you just accept it and let it go?”

“Oh, I’ll happily accept it,” Chloe says with a proud toss of her hair. Then she’s rounding on Beca to stop right in front of her. “But I’m not going to let it go,” she finishes as she leans in to kiss her and Beca meets her halfway.

Beca pulls back when things are edging toward too hot and heavy for the sidewalk. “C’mon, let’s go.” She takes Chloe’s hand and leads for a few steps before catches up. “Did your roommate text you back?”

Chloe checks her phone while Beca opens the door to the lobby to let her pass first. Chloe makes a sound of excitement, a borderline squeal, and her pace picks up considerably as they stride toward the elevator. “She’s spending the night at her boyfriend’s.”

“Oh, thank God,” Beca exhales and follows Chloe into the elevator where she punches the button for their floor before turning right into the kiss she knows Chloe’s anticipating. “Mine’s probably home,” she says between kisses.

“We’d have found a place,” Chloe says, breath already quickening as their kisses grow in urgency.

“Thought about your car,” Beca says as her hands find Chloe’s ass again to tug her closer.

Chloe hums and then says, “I thought about the shower.”

Beca had somehow overlooked that particular option but the possibility, the very concept of it, moves through her like fire. “Fuck,” she says before kissing Chloe harder.

“Mmm, noted,” Chloe says with an evil smirk as she pulls away, grabbing Beca’s hand to yank her out of the elevator and down the hall toward Chloe’s room. “But I want you in my bed first.”

The End

[justwritethatdown]

Chapter3

I apologise for taking so long to post chapter 3, but this story is pretty personal to me and I didn't think it would have been so hard for me to write it honestly.

→ MASTERPOST

During the two weeks’ vacation in Florida, Beca and Chloe really meet each other and get a lot closer. Beca has to deal with Aubrey and some other known faces, along with new ones, which causes her a lot of social anxiety. This chapter is accompanied by various old songs so it’s a bit of a throwback (:

Words Count: 8.9K

Rating: T

Warnings: Underage smoking, drinking and mention of sex

Read it on AO3 or under the cut ↓

Summer after high school (When we first met)

1st of July 2010

As soon as they arrived to the hotel Beca wanted to go back home. Aubrey was already getting on her nerves, bitching about how much she hated the place. Like if Aubrey wasn’t enough already, Chloe had brought with her Tom and Stacie, so the group was now formed by four people other than her and Chloe – way too many for Beca’s liking – and on top of everything, the other guy of their group was super creepy and started hitting on her in the most disgusting way.

“Bumper leave her alone, she’s off limits” intimated to him Chloe and Beca smiled at her thankfully.

“This place sucks! There’s literally nothing here!” kept dramatically complaining the blonde.

“Why didn’t we go to Miami as always?” wined Stacie.

“Apparently this shithole is the only place Sheila’s new husband could afford" answered Aubrey with disgust “oh- sorry" she fake-apologized to Beca, Chloe glared at her but didn’t say anything.

Beca wasn’t quick enough to think about a comeback that Bumper added “It’s incredible how they could find the only place in Florida with nothing to do! Why do they hate us so much?”

Beca was actually glad there wasn’t much to do and, even if she planned to stay in her room the whole time, avoiding as much as possible socializing, she had to admit the place was nice; the beach looked amazing and it was right in front of their hotel, which had a swimming pool and a spa too, so she didn’t really know what the others were complaining about.

“I hope I will find some chicks anyway" she heard Bumper say.

“As if anyone would date you” dismissed him Aubrey.

“Who talked about dating?” he retorted.

“You’re so gross" hissed the blonde.

“Aw Aubrey, I know you only say that because you’re jealous” he lamented “but you know I see you as a sister... unless...” he trailed off and Aubrey almost gagged at that.

“in your dreams".

 __Sometimes I get so weird, I even freak myself out

 After leaving their things in the respective rooms and freshening up Beca was forced to go to the beach with her father and Sheila.

“Once we’ve figured out the place, you will be allowed to go around on your own" he explained.

“Dad, the beach is literally on the other side of the street" she complained.

Beca didn’t bother to put on a swimming suit since she was sure she would have been back in her hotel room right away to work on her mix – she was wrong.

They got on the beach and walked to their assigned spot, where they had two sunbeds and a sunshade.

“okay, can I go now?” she asked impatiently

“Honey, why don’t you stay here for a while? It’s so nice" suggested Sheila and Beca just rolled her eyes at her, sitting on the hot sand besides one of their chairs and putting her headphones on.

 Beca noticed Chloe playing volleyball in the water with the others and found herself hypnotized by her; the way her arms and body moved swiftly to hit the ball, the way she smiled. Beca was sure, if she were to remove her headphones, she would have been able to hear her melodic laugh.

The teenager froze when she saw Chloe noticing her. She quickly lowered her eyes and fixated them on the sand but was still enough aware of Chloe to know she was getting out of the water and walking her way. When she was close enough, Beca looked up again lowering her headphones. Chloe didn’t bother to get a towel and Beca's eyes couldn’t help but follow the droplets of water running down Chloe’s body.

“Aren’t you getting hot?" Chloe asked making Beca’s face go bright red.

“no... I-what?” babbled Beca shaking her head. Chloe chuckled at that and sat down on the sand next to her.

“why are you still fully dressed?” she questioned, and Beca released the breath she was holding in.  

“I don’t want to swim” she simply said, without giving the redhead much to continue a conversation.

“The others wanted to go explore this place, to see if we can find something to do, you wanna come with us?” she offered gently.

“Nah, I’m good" declined Beca.

“Okay".

Chloe got up and started walking towards her friends when she suddenly turned around “I’ll see you tonight then" she said smiling and Beca’s heart felt warm.

The brunette was still looking at Chloe when she saw Tom reach out with a hand and shamelessly clean the sand from her toned ass, making it bounce a little. Beca had to look away.

“Okay I’m gonna go back to the hotel" she announced, leaving before her dad could answer anything. She spent the rest of the day working on her mix.

 “So... Beca, right?” asked Stacie not waiting for an answer “we’re going out tonight and you’re coming with us" she ordered. Beca instinctively looked at Chloe, who smiled brightly at her “it’s gonna be fun, I promise” added the tall brunette with a wink. Beca found herself walking to the beach with the rest of the group, Chloe never dropped Tom’s hand – not that she was paying attention to that.

Beca froze when she noticed a bigger group of people waiting for them. She really wasn’t good at dealing with many people at once.

“Hey guys, this is Beca" introduced her Chloe “Beca, these are Jessica and Ashley. They come here every year, so they know every corner of this place" explained the redhead “She’s Flo...”

Beca zoned out while Chloe was introducing her to everyone, she knew she wouldn’t remember any of their names anyway, and which one was Ashley again?

“...and he-" continued Chloe, gesturing towards someone attached to Stacie face. Beca reconnected to the situation just in time to see Luke grinning at Chloe “is Luke. You should know him, he goes to our school” before Beca could decide if she wanted to say that yes, she knew him, Luke smiled at her.

“Of course! I gave her a fake ID. Becky, right?” Beca faked a smile awkwardly.

“it’s Beca actually” corrected him Chloe.

The brunette barely said a word through the whole night. Ashley and Jessica took them to an old forsaken pier, where they stood chatting and drinking beer. Beca thought it was pretty dangerous to drink in the dark on a tiny strike of cement in the sea, but whatever.

“At the end of this pier there is an old dismissed firehouse, everything is dark around it" said Ashley.

“it’s the best place to watch shooting stars" added Jessica.

“that’s amazing, we must go one night!” gasped Chloe excited.

Beca was desperately trying to find something to say, but the more she tried the more her brain got stuck on every little thought, without being able to express any of them. She felt weird, it was like nothing she came up with was good enough to say it aloud; everything sounded too stupid or too lame to interest all those people.

“Oh my god, Beca would you shut up for a second? You’re filling my head with words” complained ironically – and over dramatically – Aubrey, making almost everybody laugh.

“Aubrey!” scolded her Chloe.

“what? It was a joke, she didn’t say a word all night, that’s weird" complained the blonde grinning.

Beca was spiraling and she even considered to tell the group she was tired and run away from the situation when Luke suddenly took out a joint “does someone smoke?” he asked to the group before lighting it up.

“Sure” she answered, glad to have something to calm her nerves just a little.

“You smoke?” gasped Chloe, making Beca’s anxiety hit a new high.

“I… no, I mean yes- just sometimes. Is that a problem?” she found herself babble, as if she had to give some kind of explanation to anyone about that.

“She hates when I smoke” cut in Tom blowing the smoke out of his mouth, before passing her the joint.

Beca took a deep puff thinking that she would never smoke in front of Chloe after she told her it bothered her – if she were her girlfriend, of course – but Tom didn’t seem to have a problem with that.

“It not a problem” softly giggled the redhead “I just don’t like the smell”.    

 On their way back to the hotel, all Beca could think about was what a waste of time it had been to go out instead of working on her mix. The night was somehow even worse than she had expected, and she was feeling rather nauseous for all the anxiety it changed her with. Socializing is the fucking worst.

Suddenly she felt Chloe’s hand slide into hers, so she looked up at her – she had slowed down to walk next to Beca at the end of the group.

“So, fake ID, smoking pot… maybe I should stay away from you?” joked the redhead.

“Oh yes, I’m such a bad influence” scoffed Beca immediately cringing at her own words.

“How are you?” Chloe gently asked in a way more serious tone.

Beca swallowed hard “I’m good" she lied.

“You know, Aubrey isn’t as mean as she seems, she’s just really insecure and thinks to look stronger taking others down" she explained – that’s not an excuse thought Beca – “she does that with Bumper too" added the redhead squeezing her hand.

“Yeah, it’s okay, I don’t mind" assured her Beca trying her best to smile.

 __

 The next day Beca put on some shorts and her bikini top, but still sat the whole morning under her sunshade with her iPod, watching the others play.

The group seemed to have begun official, since they were all having fun together, even Luke was there. He and Stacie seemed to be very intimate, the guy didn’t waste any opportunity to playfully swipe her up in his arms and every time Stacie made sure to let her hands linger on his muscular arms or his toned abs.

The brunette took her phone to message Amy, who texted her the night before asking how the situation was, but Beca was too socially exhausted to answer at the time.

Beca:

Your Luke is here too. The guy is RIPPED!

 Amy:

:Q_______ don’t make me jealous T_T

TALK TO HIM ABOUT ME!

 Beca:

You know I don’t talk to people.

I think he’s hooking up with Stacie btw :/

 Amy:

Aw fuck! <\3

 Beca:

Anyway, the situation is balls! I hate everything about this fucking vacation!

 She also got an SMS by Jesse that made her roll her eyes, but smile nonetheless.

 Jesse:

I miss you too btw <3

 Beca:

Shut up.

 “Who are you texting?” asked Chloe peering over her shoulder “Jesse..." she answered herself “is he your boyfriend?” Beca instinctively locked her phone and put it away.

“What? No. Absolutely not, he’s not" she hurried.

“okay...” answered Chloe in amusement “boys only send me hearts when they want to date me though" she insinuated “and you told him you missed him"

“I didn’t, that’s the point” gasped Beca “he just assumed on his own" she complained.

“I think you like him" teased the redhead.

“I so do not” stated Beca blushing.

“Whatever, your face says otherwise. Come play now, you’ve sat here long enough" ordered Chloe and Beca found herself obliging.

“I don’t like him!” she repeated letting Chloe drag her towards their friends.

 __Please take me away from here ‘Cause I feel like such an insomniac

 On the 4th of July they organized this big bonfire on the beach, to see the fireworks and then spend the night there with lots of alcohol, drinking games and a stupid midnight swim – totally recommended to get eaten by a shark.

 Beca was particularly grumpy the whole day, she couldn’t believe she was really going to spend the night with all those people she barely knew, after having spent the whole day with them already. She allowed herself to stay in the hotel for a little longer that morning, telling her father and Sheila she had a headache and would have reached them soon.

 Beca was chilling under her sunshade when she noticed Chloe approaching her and lowered her headphones around her neck.

“Sheila told me you weren’t feeling good this morning, how are you now?” she asked and Beca could sense she really cared, for some reason.

“Yeah I’m feeling better now" assured her Beca with a small smile.

“Awes! So you’ll still gonna be with us tonight, right?”

The brunette rolled her eyes at that, she really couldn’t understand why Chloe cared so much about her going with them at this stupid party. “Yes, Chloe I’ll be there" she promised hating herself for not being able to say no to the redhead.

“Now come, we’re playing beach volley” added Chloe dragging her by the arm.

Beca could barely leave her iPod and headphones inside her sun bag, that was thrown in a match with Flo and Bumper against Chloe, Tom and Aubrey.

The brunette hated any kind of physical activity, but there was something about beating Aubrey – and Tom – that sparked a fire in her. She still found herself rooting for Chloe somehow, so she couldn’t find it in herself to strike the winning point and let the ball pass her. They won anyway because Flo saved it and Bumper finished the action crushing it at Tom’s feet. The look on Aubrey’s face was priceless.

“Did you miss that on propose?” joyfully accused her Chloe when she went to congratulate them for the win – she was the only one of her team to do that, since Aubrey was still yelling at Tom how big of a delusion he was.

“What? No!" she lied “now can I go listen to my mus-"

“Nope" interrupted her Chloe “now we’re swimming!” Chloe said taking her hand and Beca let the redhead drag her in the water, where Ashley, Jessica and other guys Beca couldn’t remember the names of, were waiting for them.

Shortly after Stacie and Luke reached them informing the group everything was set for the night.

  After watching the fireworks Beca was ready to head home – she was ready to head home way before that – but Chloe convinced her to stay, offering her a solo cup with vodka mixed with something super sweet. It was gross but Beca drank it anyway – liquid confidence.

She was on her second drink when Stacie suggested to play ‘spin the bottle’ and everyone eagerly agreed. Beca didn’t, but she didn’t want to draw attention on her, being the only one who didn’t want to play.

“Okay the rules are simple" started Bumper with a serious voice, once they all sat around the fire “on your turn you spin the bottle and kiss whoever it points to. No exceptions or you must pay a pledge” he uselessly explained, since everybody knew the game. Beca hated this game.

“Girls don’t hold back. Specially if you’re kissing another girl, we all want to see that!” he added with a perverted smile on his stupid face.

Beca started feeling sick, she started to think about what she would have done if she had to kiss Tom or, even worse, what if she had to kiss Chloe? She didn’t want that to make things awkward and ruin what could become a good friendship between them.

The first one to spin the bottle was Flo – Bumper’s victim for the day apparently.

Bumper groaned loudly in disappointment when the bottle landed on Luke and the two shared a short kiss without losing too much time.

Beca’s heart was beating way to hard in her chest.

“This game is stupid, I’m out of here" she blurred out before getting up.

“Oh, come on! Worried your nerdy boyfriend would be jealous about it?” teased her Aubrey. Beca straight up wanted to tell her to go fuck herself, but she didn’t – for Chloe, obviously.

“He's not my boyfriend” she said leaving.

 “Beca hey, wait” called after her Chloe following her. When Beca was positive they were far enough from the group, she slowed down and let Chloe reach her.

“What happened?” asked the redhead with those soft eyes Beca could clearly see, even in the dim light.

“Nothing happened. It’s a stupid game" she repeated “and I don’t want to kiss most of the people sitting there anyway so what’s the point?” “so there’s someone you do want to kiss!” pointed out Chloe. Beca’s stomach twisted at that “who is it?”

“Is it Luke?” she hazarded when Beca didn’t answer to her.

“That’s none of your business” growled the brunette, starting to walk away again “don’t follow me" she demanded.

Beca couldn’t sleep that night and she couldn’t even work on her mix as she used to most nights, she was too preoccupied obsessing over the fact that she was rude to Chloe for no reason. She just really wanted to go back home.

 __

 The next day Beca didn’t want to go to the beach. She was sure Chloe hated her and didn’t have the guts to face her. She knew she had to, she needed to apologize to her, just like she did with Jesse before leaving for this hellscape.

 “Dude, can we talk for a moment?” asked Beca before their chemistry class started. “What for?” asked Jesse. Beca guessed she deserved that.

“Look, I’ve been an ass okay? I was stressed out and took it out on you" she tried, but she knew the guy wouldn’t give in so easily “I like having you around, you’re like the only one I actually like having around. I miss you dude, I’m not good at this but school is not the same without you being my friend"

Jesse sighed loudly “okay weirdo, I’m gonna let this one go, but next time you pull something like that we’re done.” He threatened “now, what did you say about missing me?” he teased with a smug smile.

 __Thinking to myself, hey isn't this easy? And you've got a smile that could light up this whole town

 When Beca finally found the courage to go to the beach she even forgot to bring her headphones, busy rehearsing the speech she had prepared to apologize to Chloe.

She totally didn’t expect to find Chloe sat on the sunbed next to Sheila’s, waiting for her. Beca gulped and slowed down, her heart started racing and her hands were sweaty.

“Hey, Chloe... uhm" she cleared her throat, her speech suddenly disappeared from her memory. Chloe looked at her using a hand as a shield against the sun, that still passed through, forcing her to close one eye.

“Hey! You finally decided to join us huh?” she beamed at her and for a moment Beca thought her smile was brighter than the sun. Chloe wasn’t mad at her apparently, so Beca sighed sitting down next to her.

“What are you doing here?” she asked.

“I was waiting for you" simply said the redhead.

“What about the others?” “they went surfing". Beca furrowed her brows at that so Chloe added “I’m on my period" “oh" was all the brunette could answer.

“I was thinking we could listen to one of your playlists, but I see you don’t have your iPod” said Chloe pouting a little.

“I- I actually have it. I just forgot the headphones”.

“Oh, you girls can use mine" offered Sheila smiling at them and Beca felt very confused at that.

“No, don’t worry, there’s no need to" tried Beca but the woman insisted, so Chloe took the white wire she was offering.

“I’m going to put my feet in the water" excused herself Sheila.

Beca plugged the earphones in and gave one to Chloe, who adjusted herself on the lounger she was sharing with Beca – even if there was an empty one next to them now. Beca pressed play to her ’09 – ’10 playlist. It didn’t take long for Chloe to take charge of the device and start go through the tracks.

“Oh my God, can you listen to one whole song?” groaned Beca, Chloe kept constantly skipping through songs.

“Sorry" chuckled the redhead “okay, I promise I won’t skip this one" she said when ‘When Love Takes Over’ started playing.

“I didn’t think you listened to this stuff” Chloe quoted her and Beca smiled biting her bottom lip “it’s so different from your other playlists”

“I’m trying new things recently. I like the beat; David Guetta is really talented” she explained.

It was so easy to be with Chloe without all those annoying people around them, Beca loved the way Chloe went through her playlists and the smile she had while they discussed music made Beca feel all warm inside, or maybe it was the fact that they were basically laying on top of each other in the small sunbed, both wearing nothing but their swimming suits, with so much skin on skin contact. Beca was just actively not thinking about that.

Beca tried not to read too much into it when Chloe declined Tom's invitation to sunbathe together – that totally meant “come make out with me for a while” – telling him she’d rather stay there with Beca, but when the redhead turned even Aubrey down, a small pleased smile made its way on her lips.

“Ugh Chloe, you’re really boring when you’re on your period” complained the blonde in front of everyone and Beca furrowed at her “dude, what’s your problem?” she asked and felt Chloe grab her arm “don’t” she whispered before getting up “I’m coming” she sung following Aubrey.

 __Oh, her eyes, her eyes, make the stars look like they’re not shining

 That night they decided to go to the abandoned lighthouse. The path was so dark they had to use their phone screens or lighters to see where they were placing their feet.

“You could have told us to bring some flashlight or something” commented Stacie. “Yeah, you’re right… sorry” apologized Ashley.

“Okay, what now?” asked Aubrey crossing her arms around her middle, when they reached the end of the pier. “We… lay down and watch the stars” answered Jessica, trying her best to maintain her smile in place – she was clearly struggling with Aubrey’s attitude – so Beca decided to back her up.

“Sounds great to me” she said laying down.

Chloe was the first one to follow her and decided to use Beca stomach as a pillow, making her gulp. Beca didn’t even notice how much Jessica appreciated her gesture, because she was focused on not breathing too much and bother Chloe someway.

One at a time, all the guys laid down beside them, in a Tetris way; each of them was using a part of someone’s body as a pillow – except for Beca, who only put her crumpled hoody under her head – The brunette noticed Tom resting his head on Chloe’s tights, just where her short summer dress ended – they totally had sex already – something about that, incredibly bothered her.

“You guys aren’t going to do it while I’m your pillow, right?” she joked awkwardly and Chloe giggled looking up at her “Don’t worry, we’ll behave” she assured her with a wink that made Beca’s insides melt.

The starry sky was beautiful, the stars shined so brightly in the dark surrounding them that they could spot several shooting stars. Beca was finally enjoying herself; no interactions, no Aubrey – she was somewhere far from Beca and was finally shutting up – if Beca focused hard enough she could pretend it was only her, the stars and Chloe. It felt so good to have the redhead lying comfortably against her, she let her right hand gaze Chloe’s arm, it wasn’t Beca’s fault, it was just their position.

What she didn’t expect was for Chloe to reach out to take that hand and hold it on her own stomach, Beca froze for a moment at the feeling of Chloe’s fingers intertwined with hers, even if that wasn’t the first time.

“Ugh! I’m so bored” wined Aubrey, making Beca almost groan while she rolled her eyes.

“Yeah me, too” agreed Stacie “if we don’t do something now, I’m gonna fall asleep”.

“We could sing something!” suggested Chloe, but the others completely ignored her suggestion.

“Isn’t there a club or something?” asked Tom sitting up.

“Yeah, I wanna dance with some hot girls” exclaimed Bumper getting on his feet.

“Well, there’s a crappy disco club, but there are mostly old creepy men there” hesitantly admitted Ashley.

“Anything would be better than doing nothing here” stated Aubrey getting up.

Beca noticed Chloe huffing and she spoke without thinking “I’m cool staying here, if you want to stay” she whispered to Chloe. The girl suddenly started to sweat, her heart racing.

“Would you do that?” asked the redhead in disbelieve and Beca smiled at her.

“Of course, dude”.

Chloe turned to the others, now all on their feet, waiting for them “You guys go, we’re staying here” she informed them. Tom crouched down to hover over Chloe’s face “you gonna be okay?” he asked and she nodded smiling at him. The guy gave Chloe a quick kiss goodbye before leaving with the others.

Beca was in her head. She thought she had to say something, not to make things awkward, but for some reason she couldn’t stop thinking about Tom; about the fact that, if Chloe were her girlfriend, she would have never left her to go clubbing – if it was up to her she would have stayed there with Chloe stargazing her whole life.

Chloe shivering brought Beca back to reality, she quickly reached for the hoody under her head and offered it to her “cold?”

“Oh, don’t worry, I don’t want to take it from you” declined it Chloe shivering again.

“Shut up, you’re shivering!” stated Beca putting the hoodie on Chloe as a blanket.

“What if you get cold too?”

“You are my blanket” Beca heard herself saying and she widened her eyes.

“Fair enough, but if you get cold, you’re getting it back” intimated the redhead, and squeezed Beca’s hand, she was still holding under the hoodie.

“Okay” agreed Beca – there was no way she would take that hoodie back from her.

 “So… your parents let you sleep with Tom?” Beca asked out of the blue.

“Absolutely not” laughed Chloe “officially, I share my hotel room with Stacie. But he has his own room”. Beca bit her tongue for asking – yup, they were definitely doing it.

“Have you ever been with someone?” asked Chloe as if she could read Beca’s mind, it made Beca choke on air and it took her a few coughs to blur a simple “no”.

“What about Jesse?”

Beca rolled her eyes at that “I told you, he’s not my boyfriend” she repeated annoyed

“Stacie says the same about Luke” informed her Chloe and Beca snorted.

“I don’t l-”

“you don’t like him, okay” sighed Chloe “but I think he likes you”.

 Beca fell silent for a moment, contemplating that. “It is possible, yes. But does it really matter if I don’t like him back anyway?”

They weren’t staring at the stars anymore; Chloe had turned on her side to look at Beca more comfortably and Beca felt like she was drowning in those ocean blue eyes.

  “No” said softly Chloe “but you could like him and not knowing. If Aubrey wouldn’t have told me Tom was into me, making me consider the fact of dating him, we wouldn’t have been together for almost two years now” she added. Beca frowned, could she really feel something for Jesse without knowing it? – she had to admit, she was rather clueless regarding her own feelings. “But maybe that’s not your case” shrugged Chloe.

 “You’re different” blurred out Beca and Chloe gave her a questioning look “from the girl I met at dinner” she clarified looking away, suddenly looking at Chloe was too much for her.

“Yeah, about that” sighed the redhead “I owe you an apology, I was kind of a bitch” she said screwing up her face.

“I think you made up for that” Beca chuckled “why did you act like that though?” she asked.

“it’s just that… my parents, they are…” she railed off, so Beca looked at her again “I don’t really like them, or their friends- sorry”.

“Oh no, trust me, no one likes Sheila less than me” scoffed Beca.

“But she seems nice to you, I think being with your father changed her”

“I think she’s just faking it for him” answered Beca, feeling rather uncomfortable talking about her.

“Trust me, I would notice that. I’ve known her my whole life” assured Chloe.

 “Why don’t you like your parents?” Beca asked, desperately trying to change the subject.

“They’re just two selfish snobs, who only care about the appearances. Everything must look perfect on the outside, when the truth is that they don’t care about me at all-”

“How can that be true?” interrupted her Beca, genuinely finding it impossible for someone not to care about Chloe.

“They only care that I don’t embarrass them. So I put up with their façade in public, but I ignore them at home.”

Beca found herself squeezing Chloe’s hand in empathy, sensing the deep sadness behind her words.

“I’m sorry I ignored you too, to me you were only Sheila’s new kid” apologized Chloe “and I always ignored her too”

“I’m not her kid” clarified Beca, feeling uneasy “and you said that like if I was a new pair of shoes” she scoffed.

“No oh my god, of course. I- sorry, I didn’t mean it like that” rushed out Chloe “you’re so much more than that, Becs”.

Beca didn’t know if she blushed at that, but she knew for sure that her heart started racing again, so she cleared her throat to dissimulate it “why are you so kind to me all the times?” she asked, genuinely curious about that.

“why not?” asked Chloe smiling and Beca just laughed shaking her head.

“Why are you Aubrey’s friend then?” inquired the brunette. Chloe huffed loudly and Beca feared she overstepped – Aubrey was her best friend after all.

“We grew up together…” she started unsure “I don’t have memories of a time when I didn’t know her”.

Beca could understand that, even if she and Amy had opposite personalities, she grew to love her through time, so she figured it was the same thing for Chloe – Amy was way better than Aubrey though.

“I know she seems awful, but her parents are way worse than mine” continued Chloe “they put on her so many expectations, it’s so much pressure that I don’t know how she doesn’t crack under it” Chloe stopped to clear her throat “if she doesn’t reach their standards they call her a failure, she’s just a teenager!”

 The girls talked until 2am before Chloe declared she was tired, so they went back to the hotel.

“Thank you” said Chloe taking off Beca’s hoodie and giving it back to her

“No problem” answered the brunette smiling gently “goodnight”

Her hoodie smell like Chloe now and Beca didn’t stop to wonder why she liked it so much, but she did. She made a mental note to always bring it along, just in case Chloe might need it again.

   __My heart it pounds, yeah you got me

 Beca wasn’t surprised when the next day Chloe spent more time with Tom, what surprised her was that she joined the group willingly and spent the day with them without hating it. She was pleased to notice that after a few days of knowing these people the effort she had to put in to socialize wasn’t that big anymore, things were starting to feel natural.

They decided – Aubrey decided – to go back to the club that night and Beca really hated the idea. She didn’t dance, no matter how hard Amy had tried, Beca decided that dancing just wasn’t for her.

“That place sucks so bad” said Aubrey for the millionth time and Beca was bold enough to ask her “why are we going then?”

“Because there’s nothing else to do in this fucking place” spat out the blonde rolling her eyes.

 Beca found herself isolating again when they started a singing game where one player started singing a song and, on your turn, you had to sing another song starting by one word of the song the other player was singing. If you don’t sing on your turn, you lost.

Beca was close enough to hear them and had a song ready for each turn, she couldn’t help her smile when Chloe started to sing the same song she thought of. When Bumper interrupted her to keep the game going, Beca found herself missing Chloe’s voice for a moment and decided to distract herself not to think about that.

“Why don’t you come playing with us?” asked Chloe, making her jump; the brunette didn’t notice Chloe approaching her.

“I don’t sing” she blurred out.

“This is not a singing contest, it’s just a game. I know you would be very good at-”

“Chloe would you come play? Forget about her” scoffed Aubrey “she’s just being a weirdo as usual”.

Beca sensed Chloe tensing up, she knew the girl was ready to fight Aubrey about that, but she stopped her hushing out a quickly “don’t worry” before getting up from her beach towel “it’s not worth it” she added leaving.

 It was shortly after dinner when Chloe showed up at her hotel room “You forgot this on the beach today” she said gently handing her the towel.

“Oh, thanks” answered Beca taking it with a smile and starting to close the door.

“Wait” stopped her the redhead pushing against the wooden surface “can I come in?”

“Sure” said Beca moving out of the way “if this is about what Aubrey said, I’m okay” she assured.

“It isn’t” said Chloe “I mean, yes that too, but mostly I came here to get you ready” she beamed out showing her the beauty case she brought along.

Beca arched an eyebrow “what for?” she asked slightly scared.

“for tonight”

“I’m not coming” scoffed Beca.

“Yes, you are! Beca please, we’re gonna have fun! Do it for me?”

 So Beca found herself sitting on a chair in front of the mirror, with Cloe fixing her hair with a curling iron.

“Why do you care so much if I come to this stupid club anyway?” asked Beca struggling to stay still with the burning hot weapon so close to her head.

“I just enjoy your company” Chloe said casually “is it that hard to believe?”

“No, I guess” lied Beca – it was the most impossible think to believe for her, that someone like Chloe wanted to waste her time with her. She was obviously just being nice to the weird kid because she was a nice person.

 Beca spent most of the night sitting on a short wall next to the dancefloor, if one could call it that; the ‘club’ was more a bar stand with a large space – probably a dismissed caravan parking site – they put a console, some speakers and stroboscopic lights in. the only good aspect was that they served alcohol without asking for an ID, but the place was depressing and the Dj sucked.

Next to Beca there was Lily – a girl of their group Beca never heard speaking, but who still interacted more than her – who didn’t feel like dancing either apparently. Beca didn’t talk to her, she kept sipping at her Rum and Coke in silence. Beca was definitely not watching Chloe dance against Tom, the way she dipped low and grind against him after rising back up, he was slowly moving behind her, eventually grabbing her hips or bending over to kiss her cheek, neck or anything he could find.

If you ask her, Beca couldn’t tell how, but when she saw the group come back from the dancefloor, she knew Aubrey was about to tell her something stupid, convinced to be extremely funny. “Wow Beca, you’re really having fun tonight huh?” she teased and the brunette just snorted at her, more bothered by the terrible work the ‘Dj’ was doing than by the cheap comments Aubrey could come up with.

She vaguely noticed Just Dance started playing. The mix she just finished making was ten times better than what they were listening to. For a moment she fantasized about taking control of the dj boot and play it, she had it in her iPod after all. Chloe taking her hand brought her back to reality.

“Let’s go dancing!” screamed Chloe, probably because she’d been dancing too close to one of the speakers, tugging at her arm.

“I don’t dance”

“Of course, you don’t” chuckled Chloe “come onnnnn” she whined.

“I don’t even like this song” tried Beca, putting down the empty solo cup she was still holding.

“Liar, I know you love this song, it’s in your playlist!” called her out Chloe “come dance with me, please”

Beca couldn’t resist that smile, her heart started racing; the brunette knew in that moment that she was doomed – she would have done anything Chloe had asked her.

Beca let Chloe drag her in the middle of the dancefloor and felt a shiver when the girl didn’t drop her hand when she started dancing. Beca was frozen, she had no idea what to do, she was the only idiot standing still, but couldn’t convince her body to start moving.

“Dance!” laughed Chloe, gently shaking her by the hand.

“I don’t know how to” she confessed.

Chloe moved impossibly close to her face and Beca’s breath got caught in her throat. “I’m gonna tell you a secret” whispered the redhead “nobody does” she said winking “just move with me”

Beca thought she was going to pass out when Chloe reached out to gently place her hands on Beca’s hips, bringing their bodies together, to rhythmically move against each other. Having the other girl so close made her heart beat unsafely fast. Eventually she started moving on her own to dance with Chloe; the way Chloe pushed her head up, sometimes running her fingers through auburn hair, was unfairly sexy. For the first time Beca didn’t second-guess what was going on; she just kept on dancing, resting her forearms on Chloe’s shoulders. The way Chloe’s looked oat her took her breath away; she blamed it on the alcohol and the loud beat, on the endorphins formed in her system because of all the dancing – probably everybody felt this intoxicated while dancing with someone – everything was normal.

 __ She is like a melody in my head That I can't keep out

 The rest of the vacation was a blur to Beca. Maybe it’s true what they say about time running faster when you’re having a good time. Beca wouldn’t say she was actually having a good time, she still hated hanging out with people she barely knew and had pretty much nothing in common with – and most of all she still hated Aubrey – but the small moments she got to spend with Chloe were enough to get her by.

Those times Chloe choose to sit on her lap instead of the empty seat that was too far from her, or when she randomly took her hand or started lightly brushing her fingertips on her harm in that relaxing way – that did everything but relax Beca, if she was honest – or even the casual touches, those Beca wasn’t even sure Chloe did on purpose. Those moments were all Beca could think about. Chloe was all Beca could think about.

It wasn’t unusual for them to listen to Beca’s iPod together while eating lunch or while the others went jumping from the riff; something that Beca found very funny, but that Chloe hated, so Beca decided to pass on that too, just to spend more time alone with the redhead.

“What is this?” Asked the redhead scrolling through the songs “Beca-mix_1"

Beca’s eyes widened and she jumped to take the iPod from Chloe, but she was too slow, and swallowed hard hearing the first notes of it playing in her ear.

“Did you make this?” asked Chloe in shock.

“Yeah...” shyly admitted the brunette.

“Beca this is amazing!”

“You like it?” asked Beca in disbelief.

“I love it!” gasped Chloe in awe “Beca, you’re so talented!”

“I- thank yo-"

“Did you make others?”

“No, I mean yes, but they’re crap. This is the first one I liked enough to save it" explained Beca scratching at the back of her head.

She had never let anyone listen to her mixes – not even Amy – and she’d never thought Chloe of all people would have been the first one to hear it. For some reason Chloe’s opinion meant the world to her, and the fact that she liked something she made, gave her a weird kind of high she’d never experienced before.

 __Feels like I’ve waited so long for this, I wonder if it shows

 One night, after they said goodbye to the others, the  core group decided to stay up until dawn instead of going to sleep, so they sneaked Luke – who always walked Stacie to the hotel to steal one last kiss – in and went on the roof of the hotel, that was full equipped with chairs, sofas and sunbeds. Beca opted for a hammock, while the others were gathering their seats in a circle-like form next to her.

“Scoot" intimated her Chloe wanting to fit on the hammock with her, but Beca didn’t move. “fine, I’m just gonna lay on top of you then" threatened the redhead trying to climb on the hammock and risking flipping it.

“Okay, okay. Jesus!” laughed Beca making room for Chloe next to her.

“Do you two need a room?” joked Stacie.

“I’m totally on board with that babe!” added Tom laughing.

“Who told you you’re invited?” teased Chloe with a smug smile.

Beca knew they were all kidding, but she couldn’t stop her face to turn bright red and her heart to beat so fast she was afraid Chloe could feel it hammer against her chest.

“Beca you wanna smoke?” asked her Luke lighting up yet another joint.

“No thanks, I’m gonna pass" she declined, for Chloe obviously; she didn’t want to bother the redhead, since she knew the girl couldn’t stand the smell of it. Beca didn’t know if she was hoping that Chloe noticed she was doing it for her or not, but when Chloe turned to whisper to her “it’s okay if you wanna smoke, it doesn’t bother me" she felt her stomach flip.

“Aw Beca, your alt girl days are ending already?” mocked her Aubrey.

“Aubrey why don’t you try smoking a little? It will relax you! And while you’re at it you can also try getting off my case for once?” she spat out.

“Woooooah" cheered Bumper and everyone – except for Aubrey, obviously – started laughing.

 It didn’t take long for Chloe to fall asleep, Beca had put her hoodie on the both of them as a blanket and made sure not to raise her voice too much while laughing and chatting with the others. After a while the group started to run out of energy; Tom was checking his phone, Stacie and Luke were just making out and Aubrey was busy convincing Bumper that nothing would ever happen between the two of them.

Beca took the opportunity to lose herself in her thoughts; in the fact that, even if she’d always hated physical contact, to have Chloe sleeping cuddled up on her felt so nice. She didn’t want to elaborate the feeling, nice was enough for now, it was too soon to let her mind analyse the way her body felt warmer every time Chloe as much as looked her way, or the way her heart beat out of time. It was too dangerous to get an answer to why that happened to her every time Chloe was around.

She noticed the guys decided to go to give up, too tired to wait for the sunrise, and she decided to pretend she was asleep, not ready to give up laying there with Chloe yet.

“Chlo, come on, we’re going to sleep" tried Tom, but the redhead didn’t give him any response, other than a soft snore.

After a few minutes of trying, Aubrey got annoyed “let’s just leave them" she said, “I’m going to bed" and left.

Beca heard Tom standing there pondering the situation for a moment, before deciding to leave too.

 The morning after Beca was awakened by the sun burning hot on her face; that and the hoodie worked together to generate an uncomfortable heat, making them both sweat. A soft groan escaped her, she didn’t mean to really fall asleep, she just wanted a few more minutes before waking Chloe up and going to their respective hotel rooms.

They had shifted during the night and Beca soon found out that she couldn’t move without waking Chloe up some way; the redhead was half on top of her, using her shoulder as a pillow and their limbs were intertwined. Beca’s left arm – the one laying under Chloe’s body – was numb, but somehow Beca didn’t hate any of that.

Chloe’s smell surrounding her and the weight of the girl on her made Beca feel things she’d never felt before. If it was anyone else, Beca would have rung for the hills, but there was something different about this girl, something special, that didn’t scare her. If anything, it made her feel brave.

Beca didn’t realise her hand was on Chloe’s hip, until the girl shifted beneath it while turning around, she turned too much and Beca had to catch her before she fell down the hammock. The brunette knew it would have given away the fact that she was awake, but she figured that falling down the hammock wouldn’t have been a really nice way to wake up.

“Nice catch" mumbled Chloe rubbing her eyes, still a little shook for her almost fall “were you awake?”

“Yeah I just woke up" confessed Beca “I couldn’t move though”.

“Why didn’t you wake me up?” asked the redhead still half asleep – she looked adorable.

“I don’t know, it seemed rude" laughed Beca.

 __ I'll hold on to it, don't you let it pass you by

 The last day of vacation came way too soon. Beca spent the day with a heavy feeling on her stomach, due to the awareness that everything was ending. Back in Atlanta things won’t be the same as they were now, they were going back to reality, a reality where Beca can’t spend every day with Chloe listening to music and just being.

It was bittersweet to see her same gloom mirrored in Chloe’s behavior; it felt nice to know that Chloe was sad about giving up what they had now, but that only confirmed Beca’s conviction that everything was about to change for them.

The evening went by in the blink of an eye and the group was finishing dinner in the big hotel’s dining room.

“Are we going to stay up tonight? For real I mean" asked Tom chewing the last bite of his steak.

“Of course we are, that’s our last night" answered Bumper “but we have to sneak in everyone this time, I know Florencia will give in tonight" he added making the others roll their eyes.

“Leave that poor girl alone, she doesn’t know how to tell you anymore, she’s not interested” spat out Stacie.

“That’s the point, she doesn’t know how to say no anymore, so she might say yes" he explained wiggling his eyebrows.

“Ugh, dude that’s fucked up!” groaned Beca pushing her plate away.

“Are we going to sneak in some booze too or we gonna behave?” asked Chloe biting her lip.

“We’re obviously sneaking some alcohol in, Chloe. I can’t stand those idiots when I’m sober" scolded her Aubrey.

“Ugh true” laughed Stacie, igniting a general laugh.

This was one of the things Beca couldn’t stand about this group, they were always talking shit about people behind their backs and pretend to like them when they were around. It wasn’t even true that they didn’t like them, they just needed to be assholes sometimes and make fun of other people. Even Chloe let herself get involved in their behavior – something she had to do to adapt to the group, for sure – and that was probably the only thing Beca didn’t like about her. Beca was sure they did the same thing with her too and the thought made her feel sick.

 That night there was an unspoken agreement between the girls, to keep Flo away from Bumper for as long as they could; he was harmless, but all of them knew how annoying he could get and they didn’t want Flo to give in just to make him stop – even Aubrey seemed to care about that and did her part.

As soon as they got to the roof, they rushed to find a seat.

“Becs, come sit with me?” suggested Chloe gesturing towards the hammock and Beca felt her stomach do that flip she was used to by now.

“No way!” shouted Bumper “the hammock is mine tonight! Miss Fuentes, care to join me?” he said all charming after occupying the hammock.

“She won’t. She’s sitting next to me" ordered Aubrey patting the empty chair next to her sofa, as if she was calling a dog.

Flo sat down next to her whispering a hushed “thank you".

Chloe ended up sitting on Tom’s lap and Beca curled up in a sofa a couple of seats from them.

They decided to play ‘never have I ever’ and Beca thought she was winning when she realized she hadn’t done most of the things they were mentioning; she only drank once when Chloe said “Never have I ever smoked pot".

She learned a lot of things she didn’t care about but that Amy would have loved to know; she learned that Aubrey got blackout drunk and spent the night with her face in the water, that Luke was actually pretty good in school and that Stacie – and Bumper apparently, but no one really believed him – was in a threesome once.

When it came her turn, she smirked devilishly, convinced that what she was about to say would have made everyone drink – something nobody succeeded with yet – “Never have I ever… kissed someone” she proudly declared.

The group fell silent for a moment.

“What?” spat out Aubrey suddenly, unable to keep her laugh in anymore.

“You can’t be serious” added Stacie shocked.

“I mean we can make up for that if you want, we have Bumper who would kiss anything as long as it moves" chuckled Aubrey.

Beca stood there while everyone was laughing at her, she didn’t know what the hell made her think it was something to brag about – to be 16 and haven’t kissed anyone yet – she felt her eyes sting, she knew she was about to tear up, but was trying to hold back with everything she had, she couldn’t give them any more reasons to laugh at her.

“I don’t think it’s funny" said Chloe.

“Come on babe, you have to admit it is a little funny" said Tom still giggling.

It made Chloe stand up from his lap and turn around to glare at him “okay, whatever, it’s not funny" he agreed, trying to get her to sit back on his lap, Chloe angrily freed her hand from his grasp and walked away from him, towards Beca.

“Can I sit with you?” she asked gently.

“Sure" quickly answered the brunette trying to make as much room as she could for Chloe to sit next to her.

“I don’t wanna play this game anymore” she declared.

“Babe I’m cold, come back here" complained Tom.

“You know I can’t stand you when you act like an asshole”.

It didn’t take long for Chloe to curl up into Beca while they were listening to one of Flo’s weird stories. Beca wasn’t listening to her at all, she was focused on the feeling of having Chloe curled up on her for the last time in who knows how long.

 When the sun started rising, Beca felt there was something final about it. Her last sunrise with Chloe. It was like time was slipping from her hands and there was nothing to do about it.

“Shouldn’t we clean up this mess?” asked Chloe when the guys started to say goodbye to each other.

“People are paid to do it, Chloe” told her Aubrey in her usual smartass tone.

 Beca had an earlier flight than the rest of the group because her father had to be back in Atlanta sooner, so she had to say goodbye to Chloe at the hotel, while the others got to take her same plane. Beca awkwardly waved the group goodbye before pushing her suitcase in the back of the taxi and when she turned around Chloe crushed into her, hugging her tight.

“Have a safe flight" she whispered in Beca’s ear.

“Yeah you too" told her the brunette pulling back from the hug with a soft smile.

When she climbed into the taxi Sheila was looking at her proudly “I told you, you were gonna become friends" she all but beamed.

“Whatever” huffed Beca before putting her headphones on. She felt bad about being rude to Sheila – that’s a first, she thought – but it lasted for almost five seconds, before she turned around to see Chloe waving her goodbye from the sidewalk.

[pocminiseries]

Girl With The Tattoos|3

Broken.

♦️

Na'imah was only seven when she went to live with her mothers estrange sister, Hazel, after her parent's untimely death.

In the beginning, everything was fine. Hazel had taken Na'imah in, including her as a part of her family which consisted of her two daughters, Aubrey and Eva, and her police chief husband Nico.

During her grieving period, they all were there for her, comforting her, showing her the love that she had once felt when her parents were alive. Her cousins who she felt like were more like her older sisters always found a way to cheer her up, doing everything together. Something that Na'imah was looking forward to being herself until the day of the accident.

Not only did she lose her parents but also her little sister who was only three months away from being born.

And although Her Aunt Hazel and Uncle Nico weren't her mother and father, they temporarily filled the void inside her heart for a while.

It wasn't until she turned ten that things begin to change though.

The love that she once had felt around her new family started to fade. Na'imah being as intelligent as she is picked up on it immediately. Her cousins had become distant and rude, her aunt was less caring, leaving Na'imah to literally take care of herself. It was almost as if she had become invisible in a place she called home.

But it was her uncle who was by far the worst.

When Na'imah first moved in, she never questioned the loving hugs and kisses she would receive from her uncle because of how he presented himself. However, she did notice the older she got, he started to look at her differently. Especially after she hit puberty and her appearance and body begin to change. His touches would linger as well as his lips that seemed to move a little closer to her mouth than her cheek each time.

Na'imah's eleventh birthday was the day her life turned into the nightmare she had dealt with for over seven years.

She still remembered the day so vividly. How happy she was to be turning eleven. Her aunt who hadn't been the best had seemed to make a turnaround, promising her a day filled with shopping for new clothes and shoes, as well taking her out for manis and pedis and to end her day with going to her favorite restaurant to eat.

But it was all a lie.

Since she had gone to sleep late the night before, she had woken up pretty late, missing out on the birthday breakfast her aunt had promised her. Disappointed, she had gotten out of bed, only to realize that her aunt and cousins had left without her, leaving her alone with her uncle and men she remembered seeing a few times.

At first, Na'imah didn't think too much about it, still seeing no reason to fear them.

Of course, that quickly changed.

On a day that was supposed to be filled with laughter and happy memories were replaced with screams of fear and heartbreak.

She still recalled what her uncle had said when they corned her in his man cave that was located in the basement. How they were only allowed to touch her wherever they pleased but "Her virginity belonged to him."

He allowed them to do things to her that no one should ever do to someone so young. Forcing her to touch them in a manner that made her want to throw up.

And once they were finished, she was warned to keep her pretty little mouth closed because "who would believe her" he said.

Na'imah felt utterly disgusting, even after she cleaned herself. She wanted so badly to tell her aunt once she came home but quickly realized that she was set up with a simple look she received from the woman she thought loved her.

When she was thirteen, her uncle words had come true as he stole something so precious that she could never get back.

All while her aunt knew, as well as her daughters.

Every day she woke up in that house, she wished that she was dead. The pain she experienced always threatened to break her down but she never allowed it to, she couldn't.

When Na'imah left, she made sure to leave no trace behind, making sure they wouldn't know where she was going which was hard to do since her uncle had eyes everywhere.

Still, she managed to escape, breaking free from the consistent torment that her "family" gave her.

Sadly, her past still haunts her on a daily but it was always worse whenever she closed her eyes to sleep. No matter how hard she tried, she could never escape it.

Because of what happened, she never had a regular relationship with people. Trust being something she felt no one really deserved, always keeping the wall made of steel up around everyone she met....until JB.

She rarely let anyone get close to her and here she was allowing someone she could never have, slowly tear down something she had strongly built up for her protection. A man she felt like was too pure to deal with her fucked up thing called life.

She had convinced herself that she was too broken to be fixed but she quickly realized that JB was someone who never gives up.

"Na'imah!"

Jumping at the sudden sharp voice, Na'imah snapped back into reality, eyeing the man who stood smiling in front of her. "Yes?" Jinsung was always the quiet and reserved type, so this was the first time she had ever heard him raise his voice since she first met him. He was a sweet but stern older gentleman who happens to own the 7/11 she works at.

"I would ask what's on your mind but I doubt you would tell me," He said with a raised eyebrow, tucking the magazine he had under his arm. "There's someone waiting outside for you." He added, shifting his gaze towards the entrance which she followed.

Na'imah did a double take before leaning a bit over the counter to see if her eyes were playing tricks on her. "H-how do you know it's for me?"

"He asked," Jinsung stated simply, making his way around to the back of the counter to stand next to her. "I can handle things from here. Go and enjoy the rest of your day with your boyfriend."

"He's not my boyfriend." She quickly rushed out.

Jinsung made a face, chuckling lowly. "I'm not sure other girls would deny an idol being called their boyfriend."

At hearing this, Na'imah stared at him with wide eyes. It wasn't as if one could tell who JB was, especially with his face being covered by had a hat and a mask. Maybe he looked a bit suspicious standing by a van, looking into the store but nothing screamed idol.

"H-he's no-"

"Sure he isn't," Jinsung said dismissively, cutting her denial short. "I'm thirty-six Na'imah, I know an idol when I see one."

With the slight roll of his eyes, he undid her apron an slightly pushed her to the side. "He's been standing there for a while, don't want to keep him waiting too long. Go."

Side-eyeing Jinsung, Na'imah grabbed her things and made her way towards the exit, her heart beating rapidly inside her chest with every step. She had hung out with JB a few times since that night in the studio, so she didn't understand why she still was so nervous around him.

Maybe it was because those times they have been together, it was usually late and no one was around. Now it was early in the morning when everyone was out and about, starting their day.

"And don't worry about coming in tonight, take the night off," Jinsung added just as Na'imah reached for the door handle.

Shooting him a look, she pushed the door open, taking a few steps to stand in front of JB in his all-black attire, his familiar scent hitting her senses. "What are you doing here?" She asked softly, still surprised that he was here in front of her.

She hadn't been able to see him for two weeks because of his scheduling, so for him to pop up so unexpectedly made her both happy and nervous.

Since his hat was so low, she couldn't see that he had been drinking in her appearance the moment she walked out. The way those white jeans hugged her thighs and hips, took his mind to a place it's traveled to often because of her. Sometimes he wondered if she knew how beautiful she was, both inside and out.

"JB?"

Lifting his gaze higher until his eyes landed on her smirking face, he reached for hands, pulling her in for a hug, ignoring the curious looks of people passing by. Her warmth engulfed him as he squeezed her, placing his lips against her neck much to her dismay. He was aware of how it affected her when he did it, earning that soft moan she always let out when he teased her.

"I missed you." He softly told her, allowing his lips to brush across her ear. What he really wanted to do was kiss her but he couldn't risk his face being exposed which he understood but still nonetheless hated.

"I missed you too." She said sincerely, still not believing that he was actually here.

"Come with me." He invited, pulling the door to the van back so she could get in. Seeing no point in asking questions, she slid in with him following behind her, closing the door behind him. "You don't have anything planned today do you?"

She gave him a knowing look. "You know I don't have much of a life outside of work."

If she wasn't working, then she was home, snuggled up on her couch, watching tv or movies. Occasionally she'd wander around the city to get more familiar with it but other than that, Na'imah was pretty much the definition of a homebody.

"You weren't joking when you said you didn't have many friends were you?"

Shaking her head, she shrugged her shoulders nonchalantly. "Not really. I still keep in contact with a few good people I've met during my military service but I'm not all that close to anyone like that. Never have been." She knew that it wasn't good to be as isolated as she was but she couldn't help it. Her past made her that way.

JB hummed lowly. "I think that's starting to change." He acknowledged, shedding light on how close they both have gotten since they exchanged numbers. Though she was still holding back things, JB still knew quite a bit about her. He found that she was easier to read than he thought, having the habit of wearing her emotions on her face for the world to see.

More than anything he wanted to know who or what hurt her for her to be so hesitant and distant. She had revealed that she has never been in a real relationship before but has dated around a few times. That made him curious as to why nothing serious ever came from them but didn't surprise him after he's gotten a feel of who she was.

"Maybe." She smiled at him softly, playing with the rings on his fingers. "Where are we going?"

"My place." He said, sitting back against his seat as the driver moved into traffic. "If you don't mind of course." He added once he took in her facial experience.

Clearing her throat, she shook her head. "No, it's fine. I wasn't doing anything today anyway." She had been alone with him before, so this shouldn't be any different.

"You sure?" He questioned, placing his hand on her thigh, feeling her shiver from his touch. It was interesting to him how she reacted whenever he touched her. He remembered a few weeks back the fear in her eyes when things got intensely heated between them, that made him quickly pull back. She reassured him that it wasn't him and that she simply wasn't ready which he understood but her reaction scared him and also arose many questions.

She enjoyed his touch, that much he knew but she had boundaries which he respected but he knew something terrible happened to her.

"Yes, as long as food is involved." She half-joked, hungry after her eight-hour shift. She'd eat a few snacks throughout her shift but what she wanted more than anything was real food.

JB laughed, linking their fingers together. "Already two steps ahead of you." He made a mental note to thank Jinyoung once again for suggesting a restaurant he's never heard of for food they both felt like she would enjoy.

It was the small things he did that made her feelings for him grow every day. Always leaving her gifts of her favorite things from food to flowers. She appreciated how he paid attention to everything she's revealed about herself, even the little detail about her favorite Digimon character, Patamon, in which he gave her a plush toy of, along with other characters.

"What?" He spoke up. Tilting his head to the side as he eyed Na'imah staring him at him with this soft look on her face.

"I...thank you." She muttered, not knowing what else to say after being caught.

"For what?"

Laying her head against his shoulder, she sighed deeply, enjoying his presence. "For being you."

A comfortable silence fell between them after that, with JB smiling and Na'imah drifting in and out of sleep until the car came to a stop. Refusing to let her walk in her sleepy state, he carried her to the front door of his dorm. Knowing that Jinyoung and Yugyeom were home, he chose to knock, hoping at least one of the members were awake to answer.

A few seconds later, a tired looking Yugyeom opened the door, rubbing his eyes. "Hyung, you have a key, wh-"

Realizing that JB wasn't alone, Yugyeom's sentence cut short after noticing the sleeping woman in his arms. "Yeojachingu?" He mouthed, not wanting to wake her as he stood to the side to let them in.

JB rolled his eyes, not bothering to answer the youngest members question. If he was being honest, he didn't know what they were and he wasn't going to put a title on it until he knows if her feelings are mutual.

He debated if he should wake her but thought against it since he didn't want to disturb her. Walking towards his room with Yugyeom close behind him, he placed her on his bed, removing her jacket as Yugyeom removed her boots. Once she was laid comfortably underneath his covers, JB had to practically drag Yugyeom out of his room, cracking the door behind him.

"She's pretty." Yugyeom grinned, ignoring the dark look JB was sending his way. "I always wondered where that sweet scent on your clothes comes from when you come home from the studio. Now I see where who it belongs to." The maknae stated, loving how irritated his hyung was looking at the moment.

"I would suggest you leave him alone unless you want to revisit the same headlock from a few nights ago," Jinyoung spoke up, stepping from the kitchen with a glass of water in hand.

Yugyeom pouted, sneaking a glance at JB who busied himself with the food on their kitchen table. "I'll have to order something else once she wakes up." He told them. "Let's eat."

He chewed on a piece of sausage while his members joined him, eating the Americanized breakfast that he gotten specifically for Na'imah, figured she would love to eat food from the US. He knew first hand what it was like to miss certain food when away from home.

"So, will we get to meet her once she gets up?" Jinyoung asked, slapping Yugyeom's hand from taking all of the bacon.

"If she doesn't mind." He was more than ready to introduce her to the people he loved. He knew that around them, he wouldn't have to hide the woman he wanted to call his own. And in time, hopefully, he could show off to the world one day.

Maybe he was thinking too far ahead but he didn't care. He was finding it hard to keep his feelings in check, even constantly telling himself that they were simply just friends, though he wanted to be more. This was more than just a simple crush.

"Have you at least spoken to JYP before you take things further?"

JB shook his head. He knew that he was allowed to date, however, he was afraid of the feedback he'd receive when he told management about her ethnicity. He didn't want to lose someone he considers to be so special to him.

Yugyeom and Jinyoung shared a look before staring at JB. "Your secret is safe with us."

"And we'll have your back no matter what." Yugyeom nodded.

A small smile pulled at JB's lips at their comforting words but he knew that soon, especially if something more blooms between him and Na'imah, that he will have to let his company know the truth.

And if things don't go as he hopes, he will refuse to let her go no matter of their wishes.

[lawdtl]

Two Ghosts

AO3 Link

summary: 

5 years after pushing Chloe away, Beca tries to gain Chloe's trust back at a Bella's reunion.

------------

It’s been five years since they were all together in the same room, five years since all of them were complete and in short, five years since beca actually agreed to see them. Chloe didn’t really know anything about beca anymore, after Europe they tried to keep in touch with each other but somewhere along the way beca started to drift further and further away from her. She wasn’t sure what happened between them, she remembers the feeling she had when she realized that things with beca aren’t the same anymore and it hurt her a lot.

Chloe didn’t stop reaching out to beca but when the time came where beca’s voicemail or beca’s assistant was the only one answering her, she got the message; she wasn’t dense. That was 3 years ago when she decided to stop trying, she almost called her again a year after that when her engagement with chicago was called off, she needed beca with her, to hear her voice or maybe just have her beside her but she figured nothing would happen out of it, so she stopped herself, she didn’t need another rejection from beca.

Aubrey told her it was going to be a big bella reunion set up and funded by the bellas before them but when she walked inside the venue, she was still caught off guard by how huge of a party it was, she felt sort of nervous but at the same time excited. She needed this, her life was stuck on replay, work, eat, sleep then repeat. She wanted to have fun for a change and even though this night can go about in many ways, she's still happy she gets to see her old friends and have a good time with them.

She was ushered to the table that had her name on it, to the right of it was Aubrey's and to the left, was beca's. Her name card also had "co-captain" printed on it, so is the years that she was in barden. She looked down the long table and saw the names of the bellas she shared many years with.

"I had them put me in the same table as you"

She knew that voice from anywhere, she turned around to see aubrey, with a big smile on her face "well i would've dragged you back here either way"

The two friends hugged tightly and before she knew it, a couple of girls were running towards their way to join them. Unlike with beca, she remained close with the others, sure they didn't see each other quite often but there were always video calls and group chats that kept them updated with each other and she's thankful for that.

"Damn red, looking good tonight" amy tells her

"Yeah well, i don't go out too often nowadays so this was a perfect excuse to finally dress up"

"Oh i know that, having a kid is great and all but bella is really handful these days, i needed this" stacie interjects

They took their designated seats to wait for the program to start and when the lights dimmed, two bellas appeared on stage to say a couple of words, she turned to look at amy to ask her if beca was still going to attend like she said but before she could speak up the name beca mitchell was said aloud and there she was, on stage with a mic on her hand wearing a suit that was clearly tailored only for her.

"I didn't know she was one of the people who funded this" chloe hears aubrey whisper. Her mind was going all over the place, she knew beca would be there and she planned everything, just say hi and that's it but right now as beca gives the mic back to the older bellas and starts to walk towards their table she feels unable to speak or move, she looks down to her hands that had somehow gripped the tablecloth "chloe you okay?" She hears stacie asked who is in front of her, she's frozen in her place and jumps when she hears amy shout "stranger danger!"

Beca's hands were sweaty, even before she left the car, her nerves were in turmoil and her heart was beating too loud and too fast. A small voice in her head was shouting "5 years" to her, reminding her of how awful of a friend she has been to every single one of them.

She didn't want things to turn like this, never did she wish for her and chloe to go back to being strangers. She doesn't remember when exactly she started to avoid chloe, she has no clear idea why either. Maybe because chloe meant a great deal to her, something along the lines of more than just a friend, and being away from each other, beca knew they were bound to go their separate lives and that thought scared her. To her it was better to end it earlier than wait longer and have it hurt even more, maybe it's that, and if it is that, then she knows how selfish of a jerk she is because of it.

She arrives at the place early, as she enters she sees the people who have reached out to her, asking if she could attend and say a few words to start the evening, she approaches them walking ever so slowly and when they saw her, she was engulfed in a hug, the next thing she knew she was being brought backstage

She uses the free time to prepare her speech and while reading it aloud, she can't help but feel guilty, it kicks her inside and out. She never would've been in the bellas without chloe and yet, the person she pushed away the most was her. She imagines what chloe looks like now, she imagines the blue eyes that always kept her grounded.

She felt like shit and she felt like throwing up. However this night may end, she hopes that she can apologize to chloe. A couple of months ago while she was about to move into her new place she saw a dusty old box that had "bellas" written on it, allowing herself to be emotional for once - she opened the box and saw so much of her memories.

Pictures of her with the bellas, every performance they did, the scarf and letters that were left unopened. Most of them were from chloe, she picks one that was sent years ago, she couldn't stop herself from opening it and when she read the letter, tears began to leave her eyes.

"I'm not sure if you're even going to read this, but I just want you to know that I'm so proud of you beca. You're finally out there showing people your amazing talent and when I see you on the news I can't help but smile. I'm always going to be thankful that I met you and that I had you in my life……..."

That day, where she cried on the floor of her old apartment she decided to do some changes in her life, she decided to own up to her mistakes and finally talk to chloe, she has no idea how and when and as if the aca-gods were hearing her, on that same week the older bellas reached out to her about the reunion.

She decided to take a break from her work- to relax, she also needed time to think through some things and to be able to reflect on all the stuff that is happening around her. She's been planning everything she'll say to the bellas when she sees them again, throw a couple of sarcastic remarks here and there, then apologize for being a dick, yup it's a solid plan she thinks - very old beca.

But the thing is she knows she's changed a lot ever since they were all together, she wonders if chole has too, she wonders if they would still accept her apologies even if she pushed them away. She hopes they do but in case they don't, she promises herself to try again and again until she proves to them that she really is sorry - very new beca.

After a couple of minutes the venue started to fill with more people, she can hear it, she didn't want to see it though because she's scared to see some of the old people she spent her bella days with

Delivering the speech was easy, walking towards the table filled with people she betrayed was hard. Her eyes immediately went to chloe, who wasn't moving, she sees her stare at her though and it made her nervous because Chloe's eyes never looked at her that way before, eyes that looked at her with questioning and disappointment. In just a few more steps she'll be able to reach the table with chloe still looking straight at her. She is pretty sure chloe knows about her attending, she messaged amy last week and she's certain amy told everyone about it too so it makes her wonder why it still feels like chloe has no clue about her being there.

The shout amy did startled her back to life, it was a joke. A joke that made everyone look very uncomfortable. Before sitting down, she decided to go for it, all or nothing right? She takes a deep breath and prepares herself for whatever may happen

"Before anything else, I want to say something, to all of you. I'm sorry. I'm sorry for pushing all of you away, for avoiding the calls and texts. I'm sorry for not being a good friend. It could take forever for you guys to forgive me but i can wait because you guys mean a lot to me and when i realized that all over again, i know now that i can't go on with life without having you guys with me along the way...so uhm yeah, that's all"

There was just pure silence, the venue was loud but it's as if they have created a little bubble in their area and it cancelled all the other noise from outside. "Look beca we get it, it's hard to keep things balanced especially with your life now. But just so you know we were really hurt by you. I can't speak for everyone but i forgive you, because like my father always said  "forgive others, or else you wouldn't be able to sleep at night" beca feels a smile creep into her face, of all the people to talk first, aubrey posen does "thank you aubrey, thank you". Cynthia rose stands up and looks at her with stern eyes for a few seconds, then proceeds to hug her tight, beca sinks in into the hug, wrapping her arms around CR "we missed you beca" she feels tears building in her eyes as other bellas stood up to give her a hug as well and when she had a chance to hug them all back she take a moment to smile at them and say thank you once again

"go on then, sit down shawshank" she hears amy tell her, eyes pointing to the seat beside chloe who remained seated through it all, she sees amy give her a little nod heading towards chloe, giving her the saddest frown and apologetic smile

She goes to take her seat beside chloe, her heart beats fast and breathing suddenly feels like a difficult job to do. She turns to look at chloe who was avoiding her eyes while taking a sip of water "hi chlo" beca says in the softest way possible, "hi beca" chloe replies dryly with a forced smile as she turns to finally face her and in a few awkward seconds the whole table began to laugh, quietly giggling amongst themselves. Beca felt her face boil in embarrassment and judging by the color red on Chloe's face, she felt the same thing

Thankfully it wasn't as awkward as she thought it would be, the girls asks her how she's been so she tells them some of the good stuff she did the past years but mostly she's been very interested in hearing how everyone's been, to just keep up with their lives now, she listens to them as they tell her about their jobs and families. "You do know that you're going to have to do better than a speech for chloe right?" Aubrey tells her when chloe went to the toilet "i know and I'm going to do everything i can to get her to forgive me" beca replies to her, eyes filled with determination

"you better, you really hurt her you know"

"Yeah..i just... she's important to me bree, I'll do whatever it takes"

The food was served, and everyone kept quiet for a little while but once food was finished there were programs lined up, one of the performing groups were Emily's generation of bellas, she waved hi to beca before taking the stage, beca mouths the words "I'm sorry" to her and emily looks at her with sad eyes mouthing "i know"

Chloe has been through many things in her life, she had the nodes things, her engagement being called off, her problems with school and many other things, so she knows her heart is strong but right now, being seated next to beca felt like a weird movie scene that will make her cry anytime soon. She can feel beca looking at her often, thinking twice in starting a conversation with her and as much as chloe hates that beca pushed her away she can't help but feel bad because it's beca, and somehow no matter how long they haven't seen each other, beca still has a hold on her like no one else.

All of a sudden she feels a hand on her shoulder, a feeling that has been lost for so long, suddenly creeping its way back "chloe, I'm.. I'm sorry" she turns to look at beca

"it's all good, i get it and it's nothing"

"It's not nothing chloe, not to me"

"It sure seemed like nothing for the past five year’s beca, now if you excuse me i will try to enjoy this night"

She was walking towards the bar when she sees beca follow her, in all honesty, she wants to talk to beca, she just doesn't know what to say, she's also scared that when they finally talk, her emotions will burst out to flames and it will just turn things into a mess

"Chloe, I don't exactly know what to tell you but I know that I've disappointed you, that I've hurt you. I will understand if you never want to see me again but please hear me out"

"Dance with me"

"What?"

"Now, let's dance"

"Like right now?" Beca hears slow music playing and it seems slow dance is what Chloe's asking her to join with

"Yes, you wanna talk? Fine dance with me"

"Okay"

Chloe goes to the dance floor and waits for beca, she has no idea what came out of her mouth when she suggested dancing but there's nowhere else to go now except here. She feels beca's hand hold her as they sway slowly with the music, she sees the bellas look at them with curiosity but leaves them be

"Chloe"

"I hate you"

"That's a strong word"

"It is, i hated the way you made me feel beca, you acted as if i never mattered to you and it was torture. You made me doubt all our years together"

"I'm sorry chloe"

"Is that all you have to say?, You wanted to talk, then talk"

"I got scared, that us, that you and I will eventually grow apart, so I did what I thought was best, thinking that it would've hurt less if I just pushed you away"

"Do you know how selfish that is? Just because of that? You threw me away"

"I know chlo, and there are no words, no sentences strong enough to tell you how sorry i am but believe me when i say that i regret it all, that i missed you, that every day for the past five years i wished i tried harder"

"Then why didn't you?"

"Because i was a coward"

“you meant so much to me, and as those years passed, as those rejected calls, as those messages, those moments that i needed you, as they all pass by…i felt so small as you drifted away"

"There's no excuse for what I did chloe, I hate myself for it too. You were my best friend and you...you didn't deserve any of that"

Chloe started crying, tears were beginning to fall down from her face, feeling heavy after the both of them throw words at each other, she backed away to look at beca's eyes and when she sees it also filled with tears, she did something unexpected. She ran to the door, wiping the tears from her face and stopping at the parking lot, she sees beca running towards her and she knew if she gets in a taxi now she can avoid beca but instead she's standing still, as if waiting for beca to actually catch up to her

"Chloe please don't go" beca says, breathing out the words and panting from the run she did

"Beca what is it? Why do you want to fix this?"

"You know why chlo, you have every idea why"

"I.. I'm"

"Engaged? I know, but i want you to know how i really feel about you, at least before you go"

"I wasn't...going to say. I'm not engaged beca, but you couldn't have known that since, you didn't answer to anything"

"What about chicago?"

"What about him? You know what, I'm leaving"

"Chloe i love you"

"No beca, you don't get to say that"

"I can, because it's true Chlo. I love you"

Chloe can't really move anymore, she doesn't know exactly how to react with beca telling her she loves her, she's waited for it for so long, too long. It became clear to her that she needs to move on from beca when chicago broke off their wedding, it became clear to her that her feelings for beca was keeping her from falling for anyone else completely. So hearing beca tell her this now, it cuts her deep, she always thought that her and beca we're inevitable, but reality denied them of this inevitability because beca had jesse then she had chicago then beca pushed her away, and now? She asks herself what will she do now, will she push beca away or will she stay

"Chloe? Say something please"

"Beca, you don't even know me anymore, you only love the memory of me"

"Chloe, i can love you all over again, i know we're not who we used to be but we're here now. Don’t you feel the same way?"

"Beca, i have loved you for years but right now i have no idea who you are, how your life is and"

"Chloe I'm still me, sure i changed, and hey i got a couple more tattoos and i wear contact lenses now but underneath all that crap is me"

"Don't you think we're making a mistake?"

"If it's the both of us, then how can it be a mistake?"

"I'm scared"

"I am too"

"My heart's been through enough, I'm not sure if it still even knows how to love"

"Mine does, whenever it remembers you"

There was silence, noise only from the beatings of their hearts that were too loud, too powerful. It's as if the hourglass that has been going on for years has finally been turned around in favor to them.

"Come with me" she hears beca calling out to her, her hand stretched out for her to take

Chloe takes her hand with no hesitation. She leads them to a car which she assumes is beca's "Becs what are we doing?" the nickname slips out of her unexpectedly

"Come on, i know a diner somewhere near here"

"We're leaving?"

"Yeah, I'll text amy and besides, i know you're hungry"

She really is, all this back and forth was exhausting and the whole night was draining her, not focusing on the fact that beca knew that, she nods and goes in the car. She watches beca start the engine and back away from the lot "i wear glasses now"

"What?" Beca asks her, Wondering what she meant

"You said you wear contacts now, i wear glasses..well i mean not now of course but yeah.."

"I'm sure you look ridiculous in them" beca says, laughing at her and chloe can't help but smile as well, it was stupid but if they were gonna do the whole getting to know each other again then she'll try "shut up, at least i call my friends" her eyes widens, not really meaning to say that "okay i deserved that" beca replies while smiling and looking down the road.

They arrive at the diner faster than what she was expecting, it was already 11 pm and the diner had no customers other than some truck drivers and a couple of kids who recognized beca right away, asking for a picture with her, they take a seat at the back corner and ordered some burgers and fries

"Sorry about that"

"its fine, I mean it's something to get used to but I'm happy for you, with your fame and fans and all that"

"At least someone's happy about that"

"You're not?"

"It was never my goal chlo, all i wanted was to make music but when people keep telling me how releasing three albums in 5 years will be one of my biggest achievements and don't get me wrong I'm proud of the albums, it's just that sometimes i feel like I'm not actually doing what i dreamt of"

"Producing music"

"Yeah…"

"This pop star thing isn't really suiting me well"

"I mean you can't basically just quit"

"I'm taking a little break from it all now"

"Oh, well that.. that's good"

"What about you, how's everything been going?"

"Well..you already know about the engagement so there's that and besides that was years ago but anything else has been really boring"

"It's not, I'd love to catch up on everything"

"Fine but remember you asked for it so don't go snoring" chloe tells beca, it's a lighter exchange of words and it's also a breather to have someone else listen to her again other than aubrey. The food arrives and they eat as she continues to tell stories about her work and how her parents keep asking her to visit them every single week, she tells how one of her co-workers keep hitting on her and when she gave him a chance the dude literally was a creep so she left him at the restaurant after saying she was only going to the bathroom, she tells her about the fling she had with a woman named sally who was a music teacher at a school near her workplace, not mentioning how sally looked a whole lot like beca, she mentions Chicago's name and focuses on the cringe on beca's face when she hears his name, she never really did like the guy.

Chloe hadn't felt like this for a long time, excited and yet a little nervous, hesitant and yet full of hope. It was like high school crushes and slushies on a summer day by the lake but this was getting to know someone all over again, someone she admired before. It all feels very nostalgic especially when they reminisce about their days in the bellas, it was a night of endless coffee and endless conversations about everything they've been through the last five years

It was 30 minutes to 4 am when they decided to order some snacks since the conversation wasn't clearly coming to an end anytime soon. It was amazing, chloe thinks. Five years all laid out messily in just a matter of hours, it was surreal to her how they were tossing stories to each other with ease, the good and the bad and it wasn't going to erase what happened between them but right now as she laughs at a story beca was telling her about a paparazzi tripping while following her she wonders how is it possible that even after everything she still has this connection with beca

"Hey chlo, you okay?" Beca asks her, waving her hand in front of Chloe's face

"Yeah, I am. I was just thinking how weird this is"

"Oh..uhm, i mean i can take you to your place now if you feel uncomfortable, i didn't mean to like, keep you here this long, I'm sorry"

"No dummy, i was thinking about how just a few hours ago i was so mad at you and now we're here, as if nothing's wrong"

"Is there..something wrong?"

"There is"

"Oh" there's the beca she knew, the shy and timid beca that somehow carried the bellas to all its greatness, she's not going to complain about this "new" beca though, the confidence looks good on her

"The wrong thing is that, this isn't weird"

"What do you mean?"

"Well i was thinking about how a few hours ago i was ready to ignore you the whole evening and yet here i am, talking at a diner with you as if you never left"

Chloe didn't mean to hurt beca with those words, she thinks that maybe it was a way to let beca know that she still needs a little more time to get used to this again, she was about to say something but beca, who was now looking at the table, inhales as if her life depended on it, looks at chloe straight in the eyes

"Isn't that crazy though? we spend five years apart and yet in just one night we find a way to fix.."

"Well it's not fully fixed yet" chloe cuts beca off

"Progress is progress, and I'll understand if you decide to go, I know I'm pushing my luck on this but being with you here now it..it makes me really happy chlo, so thank you..for giving me this chance to explain everything and just..thank you for everything chloe.."

"You're an idiot, you know that. I just...i don't understand why you had to push me away, I would've never given up on our friendship, I would've done everything to actually prevent us from drifting apart, how come you didn't beca?"

"Well it's no excuse but..i was stupid, and scared and i mean, you had chicago and your whole life ahead of you, i would've just held you back, your life was set and perfect"

"Nothing's perfect beca, what hurt me was, you didn't even try, you keep telling me that i mean a lot to you, that wasn't how i felt when i keep getting my calls rejected and messages ignored"

"I'm sorry. I can't change what i did in the past but i can promise that if you let me, i will do my best to never disappoint you again"

"All those years, back in barden...do you even have any idea how much I loved you?"

"I..i don't know. I wanna say i knew but i always told myself that it was all in my head, that you would never like me"

"See it's funny because that's what I used to tell myself too"

"Victims of circumstances...”

"Hmm, we really are quite a pair huh?" chloe replies, she's feeling so much lighter now than she did when they were entering the diner. This wasn’t what she thought would happen when she decided to step inside beca's car, the next moments that followed were all just unplanned and spontaneous, it was all a blur to her ever since beca told her that she loves her "i missed you becs" she tells her wholeheartedly

"I missed you too chlo, a lot... I'm sorry i didn't do anything sooner"

"Well for future purposes just tell me how you feel so i can tell you that you're being crazy"

"So there's a future?"

"Maybe…"

"That's all i need, a maybe..i mean I've waited this long"

She looks at beca who's wearing a sincere smile on her face, it was a smile she really missed, she missed everything with beca and she feels a little sadness in admitting that. She has no idea what will happen to them now, she only hopes that maybe all this will make their friendship a little more solid in the future, she knows she has feelings for beca but now isn't really the right time to act on it, she needs time to be sure and not just let her heart act on impulse.

She asks beca if she had any clothes in her car because as much as she wants this moment with beca to last longer, she can't take her dress anymore, it was four am in a diner and they've been sitting there for hours

"Yeah i have a duffle bag in the back of the car with my clothes, do you want me to get it?"

"No it's okay, I'll check it out" beca nods to her as she gives her the keys to the car

She looks through the bag, wondering why beca has a duffle bag filled with clothes in the first place. As she searches for something to wear she sees a familiar shirt, a white shirt that she had back in barden, it looks overused now though, she takes it out and finds a letter, addressed from her to beca. It was the letter she sent when she saw beca in the news, she felt so proud that day, seeing her friend get the recognition she deserves, she wonders why beca still has it and why she keeps it around. She keeps the thought for another time, she grabs a hoodie and sweatpants heading towards the toilet in the diner to change.

When she got back to their table beca was looking at a big map on the table, with multiple crosses on it "hey, what's that?" chloe asks

"Oh it's uhm…I'm on this road trip, since i left work i kinda wanted a little adventure, a change i guess"

"That's nice, I've always wanted to go on a road trip"

"Maybe you should join me" beca says as she laughs at the thought

"Maybe i should"

"Wait what?.."

"Yeah, i don't know..it seems exciting..i mean only if you're okay with it.."

"No I mean, I would love to have you with me chlo, but are you sure?"

"Yes. For a long time now my life's been quite stuck, i need a little breather, to have a time for myself"

"Except you'll be with me, your former best friend, who you formerly like and who has now admitted to her feelings for you"

"See? Who else better to be with?"

"Okay, I did not expect..Wait what about your job, your apartment back in?"

"I can handle all that" chloe cuts her

"Chloe.. please think about it, I don't want you regretting this decision"

"I'm a big girl beca, I'm old enough to know what I'm doing, and if it's a mistake then at least"

"At least what?"

"Whatever happens, I'll be able to get myself back up, i know that"

"Well…okay then, tell me where you wanna go?"

They spend a couple more hours inside the diner, just discussing about this whole impromptu of a situation, when beca sees a hint of sunlight on Chloe's face from the sun that's starting to come out, she sees the blue eyes that keeps her going every time she's feeling down, she sees chloe look up to her, with furrowed brows

"Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Nothing weirdo"

"You're the weirdo"

Chloe's happy, like genuinely happy. It's beyond her wildest imagination on how one night can change so much but also bring them back to what once was. She relishes how they opened up to each other, how they were honest, how they remembered all the memories they had and it all felt so normal, like no time and pain had come in between them. It will be a journey for her before she can forgive beca with everything but there's no more waiting, no more wondering, no more what ifs. There's no need to forget what happened because it still brought them back here together and she'd be lying if that wasn't what she always hoped for to happen.

"Hey becs, i think we should go... it's sunrise and I'm a little tired"

"Yeah same, i asked the girls last night if we could all have lunch together, they all agreed, are you going?"

"I would love to"

"Let's go?"

They pay their bill and head out to the parking lot, the sky was beautiful, darkness from the night being filled with orange streaks "so where do you want me to drop you off?" Beca asks her

"I'm staying at the hamilton hotel"

"Okay then, let's go get you some rest"

Chloe looks at the rear view mirror as they drive away from the diner and sees the letter and shirt she brought out while looking for clothes and felt the need to ask beca about it

"Becs, just wondering.. Why do you have my white barden shirt and letter tucked in your duffle?"

"Oh uhm..well, they're important to me. Can't leave them behind. You know what? i got something in the glove compartment, take a look"

Chloe opens it and sees three notebooks placed neatly "what are these?"

"Open the red one" beca tells her as she continues to drive

Chloe opens the notebook, it was like a diary, except every page started with "dear chloe,"

"Yeah... I know I didn't reply to those letters you sent but every time i felt like sending you one, i wrote them in a notebook. Those are all of them, words left unsaid i guess..you can have them if you..if you want"

Chloe thinks she's too sleep deprived for this. She can't wait to read all of them though, to read what beca was thinking about then, they are the filler episodes in their series

"Nah, keep them here... something to read on that road trip"

Beca smiles at the thought, they stay quiet for the remaining drive, she glances at chloe from time to time and sees her looking at the window, definitely feeling sleepy, beca on the other hand feels giddy, feels very optimistic. Everything was better than what she hoped for and she's grateful for it. She thinks she doesn't really deserve their forgiveness, especially chloe's but they're giving her another chance, Chloe's giving her another chance. Positivity fills her up and life has never felt so much fuller than now. She parks at the front of the hotel to drop chloe off but before chloe opens the door she feels Chloe's hands intertwining with hers

"Beca….i just want you to know.. i want you to know that my feelings for you never left, but i also don't want to promise you anything yet because that wouldn't be fair to either of us"

"I know chlo" beca replies to her, looking at her with those dark blue eyes and soft smile

"Thank you, for tonight. It means a lot"

"No chloe, Thank you….so can I pick you up later for lunch? If you want we can go straight ahead on the trip after it"

"Yeah, definitely"

"Okay then, go get some rest beale"

"You too Mitchell, you'll need it, we're headed for a lot of roads"

"Can't wait"

She exits the car after kissing beca on the cheeks, feeling her face go red as the butterflies in her stomach go alive after a very long time. She waves goodbye to beca before she enters the hotel, heading back to her room to have the best sleep in her life because of all the worries that left her mind, it all seems very euphoric and scary at the same time and she loves it.

Beca watches chloe until she's out of her sight, the kiss on her cheek still lingering, she feels herself smile widely as she imagines how she's on top of the world right now. It's like they were teenagers who were starting to fall in love, and no one else ever made her feel like this, it was only chloe. It was and will always be chloe.

[massivedrickhead]

If you’re still taking prompts what about one where Beca finds out she has a heart condition and without a transplant could/will die, so rather than fighting for Chloe she lets her go so that she can have a happy life with Chicago. Only Aubrey, who Beca confided in, can’t bring herself to keep the secret from Chloe knowing that her best friend has been in love with Beca for several years. Refusing to deny Chloe the chance of being with the one she really wants, she tells her the truth.

This turned out way longer than I planned, I just hope it’s good.

Beca pulled out her phone as soon as she climbed into the back of the Uber, her other hand running absentmindedly against her chest, as if she could massage away the constant ache that was there.

“Patient or visitor?” The driver asked.

“Sorry?” Beca asked, tearing her eyes away from her phone. 

“I picked you up from the hospital. Are you a patient or a visitor?”

“Uh, neither,” Beca said, lying easily as she looked back at her phone. “My friend works there and I met her for lunch.”

“Oh cool,” he said. “What does your friend do?”

Beca tried not to roll her eyes. “Cardiologist,” she replied. 

“Cool, cool,” he said, nodding. “So, you single?”

“I have a girlfriend,” she said, lying again. “Am I cool to make a call?”

“Oh, yeah no problem,” he said, sounding disappointed.

She hadn’t planned on calling anyone now, but she didn’t want to deal with the nosey Uber driver for much longer. So she called Chloe and, of course, the redhead answered almost immediately.

“Hey!” Came Chloe’s bubbly voice on the other end of the phone. “How are you?”

“Uh, yeah I’m alright. Listen, are you free tonight?” Beca asked, her stomach twisting slightly as she crossed her fingers hoping Chloe would say yes.

“No, sorry, I’m out with Chicago tonight,” Chloe replied, sounding genuinely sorry. “Why?”

“Oh, no reason. I just felt like going for a drink,” Beca said, heart sinking. “Have a good night.”

“Will do, thanks.” Chloe paused. “Are you okay? You sound weird.”

“Yeah I’m fine. I’d better go but I’ll talk to you later, yeah?” Beca said. 

“Okay sure,” Chloe said. “Bye.”

“Bye.”

Beca hung up the phone and sat back in her seat, looking out the window. 

A jolt of pain shot through her chest again and she winced. 

She’d been hoping to tell Chloe tonight. She had a lot of stuff she needed to tell Chloe.

She picked up her phone again and called Aubrey.

Ever since the blonde had moved to New York a few months ago, the two had gotten close. They’d previously only spent time together outside of the Bellas because they had a mutual love of Chloe’s company. When Chloe started spending more of her time with Chicago, Beca and Aubrey just started hanging out together.

“Hello Beca.”

“Hey Aubrey. What are you doing right now?” Beca said, realising she couldn’t wait until tonight. 

“Nothing really, just working from home. What’s up?” Aubrey asked.

“Can you come over?” 

There must have been something in Beca’s voice, because Aubrey didn’t question her further. She just said “sure, see you in like 30 minutes” before ending the call.

The car pulled up outside Beca’s Brooklyn apartment, and she got out after shooting a quick “thanks” to the driver. 

She paced her tiny apartment until she heard Aubrey’s sharp and familiar knock against her door.

“Hey,” she said, letting Aubrey in. 

“Hi,” Aubrey said, looking concerned. “What’s going on?”

“Um… I don’t really know how to say it,” Beca said, running a hand through her hair. The pain in her chest was increasing her anxiety even more. 

“Sit down,” Aubrey said. Beca sat on the edge of her bed and put her head in her hands. “Take a deep breath and just tell me when you’re ready.”

Beca nodded put kept her head in her hands.

“I’ve been to the hospital,” she said, not looking at Aubrey. “I’ve… They just diagnosed me with a heart condition.”

“Shit,” Aubrey breathed out. She sat beside Beca on the bed and put a hand on her leg, which had been bouncing up and down. “So, what does this mean?”

“Well they told me a lot of scary shit but essentially I…” She swallowed hard, her voice shaking slightly. “I need a transplant.” 

“Jesus, Beca,” Aubrey said. “Did… Did they say how long you can wait?”

“About a year, give or take a few months,” Beca said, and she heard Aubrey let out a shaky breath beside her. 

“I’m so sorry Beca. This… This really fucking sucks.”

Beca let out a teary laugh. “It really fucking does.”

“But we’re gonna be here for you, you know that right? All of us,” Aubrey said. “You’ll just have to be careful when you tell Chloe, she’s probably gonna try and buy you a heart on the black market or something.”

Beca’s stomach twisted at the thought of telling Chloe. 

“Aubrey… Chloe… I’m… I’m in love with her,” Beca said, finally spilling the secret she’d held onto for years. 

“I know, Becs,” Aubrey said, sadly. “You know, you should tell her. She might… reciprocate.”

Beca laughed again but this time without humour. She shook her head.

“I’m not doing that to her. She’s happy with Chicago. They’re engaged for fucks sake. They live together. I’m not telling her ‘oh I’m in love with you and by the way I have about a year to live.’ Even if she does feel the same, I’m not gonna put her through that. She has a chance to be happy with Chicago and I’m not gonna ruin it.”

“Beca you should let that be her decision,” Aubrey said, her heart breaking slightly. 

Beca shook her head again. “I’m not doing it. Even if I get the transplant and it’s a complete success, it’ll give me maybe another 8 or 9 years if I’m lucky. Best case scenario, I’ll make it to my 30s and she’ll have to start over again. You can’t tell her, Aubrey. Promise me.”

Aubrey sighed. “I promise.”

Aubrey stayed and talked with Beca for a few more hours before leaving her to get some rest.

Having talked and cried for hours with Aubrey, Beca was exhausted. She changed and crawled into bed and fell asleep almost immediately, trying not to think about the ticking time bomb in her chest.

It felt like seconds later that Beca heard a knock at her door, but when she jolted awake the room was dark. She checked her phone and saw it was 9pm. They knocked again.

“Just a sec,” she called, flicking on a lamp before answering the door. Chloe was standing there with a worried expression. “What’s up?” Beca asked, stepping aside to let her in.

“You sounded weird on the phone earlier,” Chloe said. 

“I thought you were going out with Chicago tonight?” Beca asked rubbing her eyes to wake herself up.

“We were out, but I was worried about you,” Chloe said. “I asked him to drop me off on the way home.”

“Oh, you should have just called, I’m fine. I feel like you’ve had a wasted journey,” Beca said, her stomach twisting again at the lie.

“Beca,” Chloe sighed. “Come on. This is me you’re talking to, remember? I know when something’s wrong.”

“Have you spoken to Aubrey?” Beca asked, worrying about what the blonde might have told her.

“No? Should I have?” Chloe asked. Her confusion seemed genuine and Beca felt a small wash of relief.

“No,” Beca said. “She was here earlier, I thought she might have called you.”

“What’s going on Becs?” 

The use of the nickname combined with her soft voice and the scared look on Chloe’s face finally made Beca break. 

Through tears and stops and starts, Beca told Chloe about her appointment with the doctors. About the list of mediation she now had to take. About the length of time she had left unless she got that transplant.

Chloe cried with her, but was far more composed than Beca had expected. Chloe was devastated, but she was also calm and reassuring. 

At one point she sent a text to Chicago to let him know she would’t be home, and she crawled into bed beside Beca. Wrapping her in her arms the way she used to when she still lived there.

“It’s gonna be okay,” she said softly, brushing the hair from her face. “I’m gonna be with you the whole time.”

And to her credit, she was.

She took Beca to all her appointments, and stayed with her no matter how long the wait was.

She helped her keep track of all her medication and drove her to the pharmacy when she needed to get more.

When Beca was too sick to get out of bed, she’d come over and cook for her and stayed until she fell asleep.

And Beca fell more and more in love.

It lead to some heated arguments with Chicago, who felt like Chloe was being taken advantage of, and that she cared more about Beca than about him, but Chloe didn’t care. 

Beca was her best friend, and she loved her.

She really loved her.

When Beca collapsed in the grocery store and was rushed to hospital, Chloe was person they called. She was Beca’s emergency contact.

Aubrey arrived soon after Chloe, and what she saw upon entering Beca’s room broke her heart.

Beca was lying unconscious in the hospital bed, various tubes and wires attached to her. The beeping of her heart on the monitor was erratic, as if it was struggling to carry on beating.

Chloe was beside her, clutching her hand, tears spilling down her cheeks.

“I thought she had more time,” Chloe said, her voice breaking. 

Aubrey swallowed the lump in her throat and sat in the empty seat beside Chloe.

“What did the doctor say?”

“She might pull through but,” Chloe sniffed and wiped her eyes, “but this might be it. Even if she does wake up, she needs that transplant soon.”

“Don’t give up on her yet,” Aubrey said, her own tears falling. “She’s strong. She’s stubborn.”

Chloe nodded, and so they waited.

“She’s in love with you, you know,” Aubrey said after a few hours of waiting. It was 11pm and her voice was hoarse and tired. 

Chloe, who had been lightly tracing the tattoo on Beca’s wrist with her finger, froze.

“What?” She whispered.

“Beca’s in love with you. She made me promise not to say but… But I know how you feel about her. I can see it. I can see how much you love her. The way you look at her… the way you talk to her, the way you talk about her. I can see it,” Aubrey said. “I want you to be happy. I want you both to be happy. You don’t love Chicago, not in the same way.”

“Why didn’t she tell me?” Chloe choked out. “We could have been together. We could have had all this time together!”

“Because she’s dying,” Aubrey said. “She thought you were happy with Chicago and she didn’t want to ruin that.”

Chloe shook her head, tears spilling out again. “Why are you telling me now, when it’s too late?”

“I’m sorry,” Aubrey said. “You just… You deserve to know the truth, while she’s still alive. I should have told you sooner but I… I thought she had more time too.”

A man cleared his throat and the two women jumped.

“Sorry to interrupt but, we’re going to need to take her to surgery now.” A man in a white coat was standing by the door and several other doctors and nurses came in. “We found a donor and we have to move quick.”

Chloe didn’t want to let Beca’s hand go, but she knew she had to. She kissed her on the forehead.

“When this is done,” she whispered to her, “when you’re awake, we’re gonna have a talk. I love you.” She straightened up and and watched as they wheeled her away, fear and hope flooding every part of her.

Before he left the doctor told them the surgery would take about four hours, so Aubrey convinced Chloe to go home so she could at least shower and eat. 

Chloe did, and while she was there she broke up with Chicago. Whatever happened with Beca, Chloe knew she couldn’t be with him. Aubrey was right, she didn’t love him like that.

When Aubrey picked her up a two hours later, her eyes were red from crying and she looked as tired as Aubrey felt.

They headed back to the waiting room, and they waited for news.

“Beca Mitchell?” The doctor asked the almost empty waiting room. Chloe and Aubrey jumped up and ran towards him. “You’re here for Ms Mitchell, yes?” They nodded, both too terrified to speak. “This way, please.”

They followed him down a corridor and he gestured towards a window. They looked through and saw Beca sleeping, still attached to various machines. Aubrey couldn’t help but notice that the heart monitor was showing a much more regular beeping.

“It was a success,” he said. “We’re confident the body has accepted the organ. The next few days will be critical, and she’s going to be in the hospital for a few more weeks, but she should make a full recovery.” 

Chloe dissolved into tears, and Aubrey thanked the doctor over and over.

“You can sit with her if you like but don’t expect her to wake up anytime soon,” he said. 

They thanked him again and spent the next few hours sleeping in the chairs beside her bed.

Beca was confused when she woke up, but after everything was explained to her the relief on her face was visible. 

Chloe waited for a few days before broaching the subject of ‘them’. 

Beca was sleeping, so Chloe sat beside her and picked up her hand as she always did, only this time she pressed a kiss to her knuckles.

Beca stirred and opened her eyes, smiling when she saw her.

“Hey,” she said, sleepily. 

“Hey,” Chloe replied. “I want to say something. Something I’ve wanted to say for a very long time.”

“Okay,” Beca said, confused. “Go for it.”

“I love you,” she said. 

“You… Really?”

“Really. I want to be with you.”

“I want to be with you too,” Beca said. “But, you know I’m still… I still don’t have a lot of time. I mean, I might have a year. I might have ten. But I don’t have… forever.”

“No one has forever,” Chloe said, pushing the thought of losing Beca out of her mind. “I want to spend whatever time is left as your girlfriend. I want to spend every minute of it with you.”

“You’re… You’re sure about this?”

“I’ve been in love with you since before we graduated. Since before you kissed Jesse. I don’t want to spend another second not being with you,” Chloe said, tears in her eyes. “If this isn’t what you want then that’s okay, but don’t push me away to try and protect me. I know this is going to be hard. I know we don’t have as much time as we deserve. But that doesn’t stop me from being in love with you.”

“Okay,” Beca said, finally giving in. “Okay, let’s do this.”

And they finally kissed.

[rainyrowan]

Sunkissed - Chapter 3

description: Wedding of the century rolls around as the previous college clique, along with the rest of their family members, stay in preparation for it. During this time, Riley meets Lucas, a gorgeous, green-eyed wallflower who happens to be immediately taken by her. Little did she know, he has a deep secret. One that will either change her views on him forever or make her feel closer to his world.

word count: 2,927

pairing: riley x lucas

Song: Stop and Stare by OneRepublic

chapter three; riley

For most girls, coming home to your mother posing by the stairwell in a wedding dress as your father and her best friend are adjusting the fabric beneath her isn't typically, well, normal. However, it's the norm on my end. 

"Hi honey," Topanga greets as I come into the front door. "What do you think of the dress?" She asks, dramatically leaning against the banister, allowing her ombre curls to cascade over her face. The dress is pretty simple compared to all the other ones that she has tried on for her previous clients. This dress is made up of white satin and it's off the shoulder too. It also has little laced flowers at the bottom, which I thought was pretty cute. I genuinely think it's beautiful, but I'm still shaken up that I just nod silently.

A satisfied smile creeps upon her face. "Good. Well, it's Rachel's."

"Oh, she's here?"

"She's at my place, Babygirl," Angela speaks. "Her, Aubrey, and Lucas should be settling in."

"Who's Aubrey and Lucas?" I ask.

"Aubrey's her niece and Lucas is the nephew." Topanga answers.

Dad jerks up and points a finger at me. "You are to stay away from Lucas, ya hear me?!"

Angela rolls her eyes. "Cut it out, Cor. Your father is joking. You should meet them." She then turns to my dad. "Both of them."

"Sure. I really don't mind. I'll meet them when I get the chance." I shrug. "But for now, I'll head up to my room."

They all nod at me before I quickly start climbing up the flight of stairs. Our house only has three rooms, which makes two reserved for my parents and my not-so-little brother, Auggie. The last room would be the office that my parents have always wanted. This leaves me the attic. Although, I'm really not complaining or anything. As a matter of fact, with the help of Farkle, I was able to decorate my relatively large area just the way I want it. Only cons would be that I have to climb an extra flight of stairs and I don't have a door. My room's basically a loft, but I love it.

Just as I was about to head into my room, I decided to make a slight detour to Auggie's. I poke my head into the slightly closed door to find him locking lips with his girlfriend of apparently seven years, Ava. I roll my eyes at the sight. Just as I was about to shut the door, giving them privacy, he pulls away from her and turns to me. "You perv." He sneers.

"Hi, Riley," Ava says, embarrassed.

I smile at her. "Hey."

"Can you just leave us be?" He asked, raising an eyebrow. Oh, whatever happened to my sweet little boy? He's all grown up now.

"My dear brother, if you would like some privacy, I think you should really use this to your advantage." I sway the door back and forth.

"Whatever." He offers me a smirk.

"Just keep this shut and don't do anything you'll regret!" I exclaim, walking away.

Once I've reached my room, I plop onto my bed. I lied there for a few moments, just pondering about everything that has happened today. I've embarrassed myself once again and now Charlie's mad at me. I groan and the thought. I sit up, glancing at my phone beside me. I impulsively click on Farkle's contact and shoot him a text. 

Hey, where are you right now?

Lucky for me, Farkle's pretty quick when it comes to responding to my messages.

Sparkly Farkly: I'm home. Why?

Are you busy? Can you come over? I kind of need you.

Sparkly Farkly: Give me 2 minutes. I'll be there.

I graciously sighed in relief. Having your best friend be your next door neighbor can be more convenient than you think. I look up at my mirror, which sits on top of my dresser. I sigh as I stare at my reflection. Ugh. I pretty much sigh every time I see myself in the mirror. Look at the mirror-- sigh. Look at the mirror-- sigh. It has become an impressive reflex throughout the years, honestly. Today, I sigh at my brown curls. How can Charlie still look adoringly handsome when the sea breeze messes up his hair? And when that happens to me, why do I look like I've just rolled out of bed? I pick up my brush and comb through my curls. Moments later, I hear a soft knock on my door. "Come in," I say. 

Farkle opens the door and I smile at him. Well, I smile at him to the point where tears start to slightly form in my eyes. "Not again," He whispers before pulling me into his arms. I sob uncontrollably into his shirt, which I used to feel really bad doing, especially since I wear mascara on a day to day basis. Even on my worst days, but it's not like I know when I'm going to have one anyways. Today, I fortunately do not have any makeup on.

"What happened?" He asks me. 

I pull away, wiping my tears. "I had a panic attack, Farkle."

He tenses up. "Is it because of Charlie? What did he do?" 

I sob as I explain what had happened, hoping that he could even understand what I was even saying. Moments like these, I feel like I tend to overreact on the littlest of things. Farkle says it's fine and that I should just let everything out, instead of bottling anything in, regardless if it's anything major or not. He's truly a good friend for willing to hear me out and staying patient with me. 

"I just don't understand why I fall into these things. I understand what I'm getting myself into, but it's like I just ignore the consequences." I rant, finally cooling down.

"It's okay, Riley. It happens," He responds. "You just need to remember that there are certain things that are out of your control and you can't dwell on that."

"Have you met me, though?" We both laugh. It's true. I seem to always be filled with so much regret. 

"The best thing that you can do is move on. As a matter of fact, we can do that right now!" Farkle retrieves his backpack that I hardly even noticed he brought. "Movie night?"

I let out a sigh and smile at him. Move on. I think to myself. "Depends... What movie?"

"I was thinking Funny Face." He suggests.

"Of course! How can I say no to an Audrey Hepburn film?" I exclaim. "I'll get the ice cream." 

Moments later, we're snuggled up in my blanket on the floor. Farkle's laptop is placed right in front of us as we watch the movie and simultaneously stuff our faces with chocolate ice cream. This pretty much sums up my ideal perfect night. 

Funny Face clearly is one of my favorite movies of all time. We beam over how dreamy Paris is, how Audrey's costumes look breathtaking in the film, and Farkle and I even got to dance along to the musical sequences that would come up. It was all laughter and fun for a bit, but as the night came along, it all had to be put to an end. Once the movie ended, Farkle gets a call from his mom telling him that it was time to go home. 

"I gotta go." He mumbles. 

I frowned. "Aw, can't stay longer?"

"I wish I could," Farkle hangs his head down. "I'd rather be here than at home anyways." I pull him into an embrace. Lately, there's been this odd shift going on between his parents' relationship, thus affecting Farkle. Constant fighting would occur almost every single day and he unfortunately has to always witness. At times, he would sneak out to our place and stay for a bit. There was this one time that he actually stayed a whole week! Things must be pretty heated between the two if they weren't able to notice that their son was gone for that long. 

"It'll be okay," I whisper as we both pull away. "Maybe I can see you tomorrow. You can help out with the wedding." 

"Can't. My dad's taking me to Stanford tomorrow."

"Oh, wow! That's like your dream school!"

"Yeah, he's been planning a campus tour for months." He shrugs like it was no big deal at all. Me being the best friend, I can tell that he's secretly very excited. 

"I hope you have fun." 

"Thanks. Well, I better get going." He offers me one last squeeze before heading out. I honestly would've sent him out, but I was way too beat. I decided to call it a day and fall right into bed hoping that tomorrow will do me good.

- - - 

The next day, I woke up bright and early just as my mother told me to do so. I quickly got ready by doing my usual morning routine: Brush my teeth, shower, get dressed, and curl my hair. Today, I decided to throw on a rose-patterned sundress along with my favorite white cardigan that my mom had given me. It's kind of like a protection shield if you ask me. When I'm in trouble and I have this on, it's like Topanga's there with me, which obviously makes me feel safe. 

I slip on a pair of brown sandals before grabbing my camera, thinking that they might want some photos of the whole set up process. I sling the leash over my shoulder and climbed down the stairs. As I was heading down, I was instantly greeted by the smell of my mother's famous Blueberry Surprise Breakfast, a personal favorite. Topanga would either prepare blueberry flavored pancakes, waffles, or bagels. Today, it was the waffles. 

"Good morning, honey! Thank you so much for waking up early. Your father and Auggie are still sound asleep, so we'll probably meet them at the venue later in the day," She explains, stuffing a waffle inside a ziplock bag and handing it to me. "Meanwhile, you and I need to head over there right now. So, eat this on the drive." 

I take the bag and nod. "Alrighty." 

We both then head straight for the door. "Nice cardigan, by the way." She jokes. 

"Yeah, the person who gave it to me truly has a great sense of style." I giggle. 

- - - 

On the way, Topanga pretty much explains everything I need to know: The wedding ceremony will take place down by the beach. Right afterwards, everyone will walk over to this grand hotel, which luckily is walking distance from where they're at. There, the reception will take place. I can already tell that most of Angela and Topanga's magic will be manifested into this part of the evening. 

Once we arrived, we were immediately greeted at the sight of Angela scurrying around. Spotting us, she waves. "Oh good, you're here!" 

"Indeed I am!" Topanga beams.

Angela then grabs both of our arms and drag us into the wedding suite. "I know we only started yesterday, but I feel like all of it's already coming together! I can't wait for you two to see it." When we step inside, I hear myself gasped louder than ever before. 

"Wow, it's amazing."

Tables and chairs were already set up where they're supposed to be, just awaiting its silk fabrics that they need to be covered in and the centerpieces, which I hopefully get to be in charge of. Fairy lights were also hung up everywhere, which makes the place look incredibly magical. Even though there is still so much that needs to be done, the place already looks pretty nice. I can best assure that once the extra decor is set into its place, everything would turn out phenomenal. 

Suddenly, a tall red-headed lady approaches us with a smile. "Topanga!" She exclaims, giving my mother a hug. "I am so glad that you're here!"

"As am I! I can't believe this all finally happening," She says, looking around the room in amazement just as I did. She then turns to me. "Oh, Riley, this is Rachel. You probably don't remember her but  trust me, she definitely was a big part of your childhood." Topanga chuckles. And so I've heard. Both my parents have told me about how Rachel would take care of me as a baby. From hearing all the stories, I thought she was pretty darn cool.

"Hi," I greet as politely as I possibly can. 

Rachel cups her hands over her mouth. "Oh my gosh, Angela was right! You're growing up such a beautiful little lady, I hardly even recognized you." She instantly pulls me into a bear hug and rocks me back and forth. 

"Alright, so my itinerary says that we have a meeting with catering soon." Topanga interrupts, bringing us back on track. 

"Correct. The head chef is waiting for us in the kitchen." Rachel says. 

"Yes, and we need to start testing out audio/visual, so Riley, if you could head on over to the storage room and fetch a couple microphones that'd be fantastic." Angela requests. 

"Oh, sure. But where exactly is-" 

"Thank you, sweetie!" She exclaims before the three of them head towards the kitchen. Well, alrighty then. I think to myself. Guess I need to find the storage room myself. 

Before I do so, though, I take a few photographs here and there.  I then scan the room in search for the storage room, but failed to spot it. It must be outside then.

I exit the wedding suite and make my way down the hotel's hallway, hoping to find an employee that could help me out. 

As I was walking, I suddenly hear a soft melody playing from one of the rooms. Intrigued, I decided to investigate. I let myself into what seemed to be an awfully dark room. I could still see, but just barely. Barely enough to realize that I am currently inside a theater. Foldable chairs were placed all over the room and right up ahead was a small stage. I figured that one hit wonders or old artists would perform here. 

The sound was coming from the far end of the stage. I walk ever so quietly so whoever it may be won't see me. The closer I got to the stage, the louder the sound becomes. Next thing you know, I hear a voice. A guy's voice. He was humming along to the tune that he was playing, which was very, very beautiful. I then see him. A boy, who looked around my age, was sitting crossed-legged on the very back corner of the stage. He was surrounded by a ton of music equipment, so I couldn't really get a good look at his face. However, I could still see him delicately plucking the strings of his guitar whilst slightly swaying back and forth. I was wonderstruck at the sight.  Everything about the guy seemed so intriguing and mysterious, yet familiar. I scratch my head at the thought. 

Why does he look familiar?

I pulled out my camera and zoomed in, thinking that I could probably get a good look at him this way. For a split second, I saw him. But to my horror, I accidentally press the shutter-release button and the sound my camera makes stops him from playing. Shit. 

He turns around and looks off into the room. "Hello? Who's there?" 

Maybe if I slowly tip-toed towards the door, he won't notice. But I could never. The door was too far away, and besides, he'd probably see me leave. I take a deep breath before revealing myself. I slowly merge from the darkness, and wait- I remember him! He was the guy I ran into at the beach yesterday. 

His emerald green eyes, ones that have looked into mine before, widened at the sight of me. He remembers me. 

"Who let you in? And why were you taking photos of me?" He asks in a slightly stern tone. 

"I-I'm so sorry. Uh- I really didn't mean to. I-I-" I stutter anxiously. I take a second to stop myself from committing another act of embarrassment. "Look. I'm taking photos for the wedding that's happening here," I partially lie. I technically am taking the photos, but I'm more so on my quest to find the storage room. "How did you get in, I should ask. Are you the wedding singer?" 

The boy raises an eyebrow. "Am I the wedding singer?" 

"Yeah, are you practicing?" I start to slowly move towards him. "Because if so, I wouldn't do that song if I were you."

"And why not?" 

"Because," I say looking right up at him. God, his eyes are so mesmerizing. "Because it sounds so sad." 

He doesn't speak. Instead, he stares at me as if I was an alien from another planet. I begin to endure this familiar sinking feeling that I've become very much familiar with, especially from Charlie. I realize that I should probably leave before I start becoming even more anxious than I already am. "Well, it was nice meeting you. Good luck at the wedding." I say with burning cheeks and I turn to go.

[lets-talk-appella]

That’s When She Knew

Hey, so here is the *sort of* part 2 to Chloe’s Secret (the one where she goes to visit Jesse following his and Beca’s split) that I’d promised! I hope you enjoy.

If you’re curious about Chloe’s Secret, you can find it HERE.

Summary: In which Beca finally pulls her head out of her ass to realize that she’s been in love with Chloe this entire time. Much fluff ahead, enter at your own risk.

Timeline: Just under a year since graduation/PP2, set about 6 months after the events of Chloe’s Secret.

Word count: 4k

Beca sneezed violently for what felt like the millionth time; her nose scrunched up, her body tensed, and she stopped dead in her tracks as her face exploded outwards in a torrent of mucus.

“Eww…” she groaned, examining the wet spot on the inside of her elbow, which she had used to cover her mouth. A tissue was presented to her, held between a thumb and forefinger.

Accepting it with a grunt, she glanced at the bright-eyed redhead beside her and asked bitingly, “Why are we doing this again?”

Chloe beamed at her, utterly delighted. “Because it’s absolutely beautiful outside for the first time in months!”

Beca glared back as she blew her nose with enough force to pop her ears. She wiped, sniffled a little, and whined, “But I’m dying! Let’s go back inside where I can breathe.”

Chloe shook her head and smiled as she spun away from Beca to skip across the short grass of Central Park. As she moved, the slight breeze played with her hair and the sunlight made her eyes look even more impossibly blue.

“I’m sorry you have spring allergies, Bec, but it’s finally nice out again and I want to celebrate! Besides, if you build up immunity now you won’t be allergic later.”

Beca rolled her eyes in disbelief as she shoved her used Kleenex into a pocket for later disposal. “I’m not sure that’s how these things work, Chlo. The trees are like, literally attacking my face.” 

Nevertheless, she picked up her pace slightly to catch up with Chloe so they could walk side by side again.

She never could say no to Chloe.

Chloe looked at her best friend triumphantly and the two continued their leisurely walk across Central Park. Despite her stuffy nose and itchy eyes, Beca couldn’t help but enjoy the feeling of the afternoon sun warming her shoulders. It had been a long winter. They weren’t used to the cold New York temperatures after living in the south for so long at Barden.

As they made their way across the grass and toward a nearby footpath, they were almost taken out by a stray Frisbee thrown by some teenagers. “Oops, sorry about that!” one goofy-looking guy called out to them as he ran by to retrieve the lost disk.

Chloe, sweet as ever, replied with a smile and a quick, “That’s okay!” while Beca narrowed her eyes and muttered, “That was close, dude.”

She looked around the overcrowded greenspace filled with people who shared their desire to enjoy the nice weather. There were several Nike-clad joggers, a few young kids playing around, and various people walking their dogs. Beca cringed at the sound of a screaming toddler in the distance; she wanted nothing more than to be alone with Chloe. The park was nice and all, but the number of other people there distracted her and made her feel on edge. She would have preferred a quiet walk with just the two of them and as little outside distraction as possible.

Her broody thoughts were interrupted when Chloe started, “So, I told Aubrey I’d Skype her this weekend since Stacie’s planning on visiting her at the lodge and this way we can talk to them both. Is there a time you’re free to join?”

Beca raised her eyebrows and glanced at Chloe before sending her gaze to the ground in front of them as they walked. “And have to hear both of you squealing at each other for the first five minutes of the call? No thanks. Also, since when does Stacie visit Aubrey?” she added in confusion, looking back up at Chloe.

Chloe clicked her tongue in protest as she narrowed her eyes and crinkled her nose. She replied with as much dignity as she could muster, “We do not squeal, I have no idea what you’re talking about.” She took a breath and her face turned thoughtful as she continued, “As for Stacie, well, I think that started when –”

She cut off suddenly and threw her arm out to the side, catching Beca in the stomach and stopping them both in their tracks.

“Oof! What the hell?” Beca wheezed as she recovered from the unexpected blow.

Chloe pointed to the ground about a yard ahead and exclaimed, “There! We almost squished the little guy!” Beca craned her neck to squint at the ground where Chloe was pointing. After a moment, she saw it: a fuzzy little black and brown caterpillar inching its way across the walkway to the grass. If Chloe hadn’t stopped them, it was likely that one of them would have stepped on it.

“How the hell did you see that thing from here?” Beca asked incredulously.

Chloe shrugged and moved to the caterpillar. She squatted down and gently rolled it to its side, where it curled into a tight, protective little ball. Carefully scooping it into her hands, she squat-waddled over to a tree near the edge of the path. She placed the caterpillar back down on the ground, where it would be safe right next to the tree trunk. Chloe nodded once, apparently satisfied with the caterpillar’s new placement.

Beca got a funny feeling in her chest as she watched the interaction. As Chloe dusted her hands off on her jeans and stood to face Beca, the strange feeling only intensified and spread to her stomach. She wondered vaguely if she was about to be sick on the sidewalk.

“There!” Chloe exclaimed proudly. “Now he’s safe!” She picked her way back to the path and continued walking in the direction they had been headed before the interruption.

Beca stayed rooted to the spot, eyes zeroed in on her roommate’s back as she walked further away. She felt…odd. Her mind drifted and her eyes lost focus as something settled into place deep within her.

In that instant, Beca realized she was in love with Chloe.

Chloe’s simple act to carry the caterpillar to the tree, probably saving its life, had stunned Beca. It wasn’t the first time Chloe had gone out of her way to help another creature; Chloe was the kindest person Beca had ever met. But this was a caterpillar, an insect that Beca hadn’t even noticed. Chloe astounded Beca with her compassion. Chloe made Beca want to be better. She had always accepted Beca as she is, had never tried to change her, and yet, Beca wanted to be a better person for Chloe. Chloe deserved only the best people in her life, and Beca sometimes didn’t think she’d earned the right to be Chloe’s best friend. Beca wanted to continue trying to better herself for Chloe for the rest of her life.

She wanted a life with Chloe, and only Chloe.

Her mind was flung back to their time at Barden as she recalled the inexplicable need she’d felt to audition for the Bellas, not for herself, but to avoid disappointing a stranger who’d burst in on her shower. She remembered being confused during her freshman year and kissing Jesse because she thought she was supposed to, not because it had felt in any way right. She remembered her guilty relief when Chloe failed Russian Lit repeatedly because it meant she was going to stay at Barden. It meant she was going to stay with Beca. She remembered touches, glances, dances, that always had her feeling some confusing sense of want that she had immediately shoved down.

She remembered being absolutely terrified of life beyond college, until lyrics of a familiar song, sung over a campfire, had grounded her. She remembered the moment she’d locked eyes with Chloe, whose face had been gently bathed in golden light from the campfire. She’d thought that she was the most beautiful person she’d ever seen. That was the instant Chloe became home. From then on, Chloe filled her thoughts more than Jesse ever had.

Beca loved Chloe. Was in love with Chloe. Maybe she had been for a while.

Beca supposed that she should have seen it coming, really. Since the retreat, the thought of losing Chloe had been unbearable. After they graduated and won Worlds, Beca’s future had, for a time, looked as though it would be Chloe-less. It had been dark, uncertain, and had developed a gray hue without Chloe’s sunshine. Within a few days following the Worlds competition, Beca had found herself starting to dread her original plan of moving to LA. Sure, she’d be with Jesse, but that option lacked Chloe, which was unacceptable.

It had felt like a miracle when she’d gotten the call from BFD, Residual Heat’s sister company. New York was expensive, though, and she’d need roommates. She’d known exactly who to ask. Beca couldn’t remember ever feeling more relieved than when Chloe had agreed to come with her. A weight was lifted from her chest; instead of a gray future, she saw a bright red and ocean blue one filled with sunshine and warmth.

She had never really liked living with other people; even the Bella house had been a bit much for her sometimes. So, Beca had been surprised (but not really all that surprised) when she realized that she liked living with Chloe. Like, a lot. She kind of loved it. And when Chloe had gone to Florida to visit her parents the weekend after Jesse had broken up with her, Beca should have taken a hint from how much she’d missed Chloe, even though she’d been with Amy and several other Bellas. Not having Chloe next to her had felt like she was missing an arm. She’d felt lost, and not from the breakup.

She should have known then.

Even now, though, it didn’t feel like some huge revelation; there was no lighting strike, the earth didn’t move under her feet, she wasn’t left gasping for air. It simply felt like something within her chest – within her being – had clicked into place. She felt whole, complete. She hadn’t known she was incomplete until the pieces fit, and now she wondered how she had gone so long without all the parts assembled. Beca vaguely registered that she should be scared, terrified even, of her feelings. Her younger self would have immediately shut down, rejected her own emotions, and would have built towering walls against Chloe. She would have left. She would have run.

Beca Mitchell was in love with Chloe Beale.

The old Beca would have closed Chloe out, thinking that eventually the redhead would leave her. The old Beca would have cut ties now before the inevitable pain later, because there was no way, no possibility, of Chloe loving her in return. Freshman year Beca would have run and never looked back.

The mere thought of leaving Chloe shot agony through her chest and she gasped.

The current Beca had grown up. She had painstakingly dismantled her own walls brick by brick throughout college and up to the present. She still held strangers at a distance with wit and sarcasm and was slow to make new friendships, but for the most part, her walls were a lot more like paper than like stone. She had a select group of people to thank for that. The Bellas had wormed their way past every barrier she had thrown at them until she had accepted each and every one of them into her heart. Jesse had also contributed to the dismantling of her walls with his own sledgehammer, breaking through to her until she had loved him, even if it turned out to be more of a friendship love in the end.

But if Jesse had been a sledgehammer against her walls, Chloe had been a wrecking ball. Somehow, Chloe had taken Beca completely by surprise. Or, wait – maybe it wasn’t so much that Chloe had broken down Beca’s walls, but rather that Beca realized Chloe wouldn’t stop trying to get through them, so she decided to open up to save them both needless effort. Chloe had always been different. Beca knew that no matter how hard she tried, even if she threw Chloe from her life and never saw her again, there was no way she could ever build a wall between her heart and Chloe Beale. It was unthinkable.

Beca loved Chloe, and always would.

So no, Beca couldn’t run. It wasn’t even an option. But what if Chloe didn’t feel the same toward her? That would be torture.

Oh God. What if Chloe didn’t feel the same way? Why would she? Beca’s heart throbbed as she realized this very likely possibility. Chloe was beautiful, inside and out, whereas Beca was… just Beca. She was grumpy, sarcastic, sometimes unfriendly, and overall average-looking in the right lighting.

She never would have moved the caterpillar. Not that she’d have stepped on it purposely, of course, but she’d simply never considered the potential for its existence. She wasn’t like Chloe. She wasn’t good enough.

Why would Chloe want her, when so many others haven’t? She thought she’d had a good thing with Jesse, but he hadn’t stayed in the end. Though they still talked, it didn’t change the fact that he hadn’t wanted to be with her anymore. If he didn’t want her, why would Chloe?

Fear choked Beca as she thought of how it had hurt when she’d lost Jesse. That rejection had stung much more than she thought it would. Sure, they had started to grow apart, but somehow, she felt that it had been more personal than Jesse had ever let on. She thought he’d been withholding something from her about their breakup, like maybe she never knew the real reason. Though they were friends now, she carried the memory of that pain in her chest. She wasn’t sure she could survive a similar rejection from Chloe.

Just before a desperate scream of self-pity threatened to break free from her and cause a scene in Central Park, a wave of memories flooded Beca’s mind. Each lasted only an instant and flashed before her eyes like some cheesy movie montage: harmonizing to Titanium in a shower; being pulled close at hood night; arms around her, guiding her through choreography; a fight that felt like a breakup; a whispered desire for experimentation (Beca’s stomach fluttered at that memory); the hardening of bright blue eyes at the mention of Jesse; countless lingering stares she’d pretended not to notice; a hand reaching for hers at every opportunity; a body curled into hers every morning in their shared bed; Chloe making dinner and leaving leftovers for her; Chloe always making sure she arrived places safely; Chloe’s hair filling her peripherals as she was hugged from behind; Chloe’s endless support and belief in her; Chloe watching her mix when she thought she wouldn’t notice; Chloe’s gaze over a bonfire. Chloe, in love with her.

Relief washed over Beca even as her cheeks warmed and reddened with shame; how could she have missed it? Beca knew that Chloe loved her but had never considered that she might love her as more than a best friend. However, thinking back, she grew frustrated with herself. How could she have been so blind? Chloe had been telling her she loved her for years, and Beca had only just noticed. She wanted to both laugh with joy and punch herself in the face for being so oblivious.

Beca still had not moved from where Chloe had stopped to save the caterpillar. Only seconds had passed, but Beca’s whole world had changed, truly not with a bang but with a whisper. Her eyes refocused and she snapped out of her own mind to see Chloe standing several feet ahead looking back, clearly confused as to why Beca hadn’t continued walking with her.

Chloe beckoned to her impatiently and called out, “Why are you just standing there? Do you have to sneeze again?”

Beca shook her head slowly, still reeling slightly as she mumbled too quietly for anyone to hear, “N-No, I’ll be right…there…”

Chloe wrinkled her brows, craned her upper body toward Beca and asked, “What? Just – come here! I’ve been waiting for you!”

A corner of Beca’s mouth lifted into a half smile at the word choice. She jogged awkwardly to catch up to Chloe, suddenly nervous. However, when they were side by side again, the sight of familiar blue eyes sent waves of calm determination crashing over her. She knew what she had to do.

With a deep breath, she looked into Chloe’s eyes and said, “Chloe…I’m here. You don’t have to wait anymore.”

Chloe looked completely bewildered. “Allergies getting to you, Bec? No need to be so dramatic.”

Beca almost laughed, irritated with herself; she was so bad with words. Her spine straightened as she tried again. “No, I’m um. I’m just – um.”

Chloe raised an eyebrow. Beca couldn’t blame her. Her mutterings sounded like those of a mental patient.

Yet, Chloe waited as she always did, knowing that Beca needed time to find the right words. Beca fell even more in love with her at the gesture. God, how had she gone so long without knowing?

Beca continued, “I’m trying to say… yeah. Yeah, you have been waiting for me. For a while, I think. And I’m trying to tell you that – well, that you don’t have to wait anymore. I’m, like. I’m here. I’m ready. So… you don’t need to wait anymore. Yeah?”

Chloe stared at her, confused apprehension etched across her face. Beca stayed silent, hoping that she had gotten the message. After a moment, Chloe began in a quietly vulnerable voice, “I don’t…what are you… Beca?”

Beca decided to take the plunge, ignoring the fear in her chest. “Chloe, I think – and you really need to stop me if I’m wrong and just a big idiot – but I don’t think I’m wrong, I think – well I know I was an idiot before, but I mean now – I think that you might like me? Like, like like me? As in want to be with? Like date? And that you might have felt that for a while and I just missed it? Am I right? Do you like like me?”

Beca stopped her word vomit to finally inhale, her eyes never once leaving Chloe’s face, not wanting to miss the smallest reaction from her best friend.

She’d missed so much over the years. She didn’t want to risk missing anything now.

Throughout Beca’s speech, the color had drained from Chloe’s face, and her mouth had opened slightly in surprise. She finally closed and swallowed, hard, her throat bobbing. Her eyes moved from Beca’s, flickering between her and the ground. Beca watched as the muscles in Chloe’s cheeks twitched and knew that she was clenching her jaw. Chloe looked scared, like a small animal trapped in a corner. Beca had never seen Chloe so uncomfortable. Her stomach plummeted; she’d been wrong, and now Chloe was the one who was going to run.

Suddenly watery eyes met tentative dark blue ones, and Chloe choked out, shaking her head, “Bec… I’m sorry.”

Beca felt as though she’d been slapped. Shit. Her gaze dropped and her face burned in shame. She’d crossed a line, and she had no idea how to save what was left. “Shit, Chloe, I – “

“Beca Mitchell!” Chloe cut her off her sharply. Her eyes snapped back up to stare at Chloe in shock as she continued, “Don’t you dare interrupt me right now. Let me finish, please.”

Beca nodded frantically, desperate for Chloe to keep talking.

With a deep, steadying breath, Chloe resumed. “I’m sorry. You have to understand – I never meant to fall for you.” Beca’s eyebrows shot up. Did Chloe just say – but she was speaking again, hands clenching and unclenching at her sides.

“I just, I don’t know, I saw you at the activities fair that day and you looked so beautiful, and then we sang together and something just clicked for me, and I couldn’t get you out of my head. And then you had Jesse, and I felt horrible, Bec, honestly, I tried so hard to not to like you, but I couldn’t help it because you were always so perfect, and I just – ”

Beca had heard all she needed to. She lunged forward and clutched desperately at Chloe, one hand placed on her cheek and the other flung around the back of her neck. She saw Chloe’s eyes widen just before she slid her own shut. She pressed her lips against Chloe’s, muffling whatever words were going to come spilling out with the rest of her rant. Beca tried to put everything she could into that kiss, everything she’d realized in the last moments.

At first, Chloe didn’t respond and Beca almost pulled away, worried that she’d somehow misunderstood. But then, Chloe’s lips softened under hers and strong arms encircled her waist to pull their bodies closer together. Their lips moved against each other; Chloe tasted like sunshine and strawberries. Beca felt like she was floating away.

Beca pulled back briefly to double check Chloe’s reaction; when the contact between their lips broke, Chloe’s eyes fluttered open. She looked dazed, her eyes slightly unfocused.

She was absolutely beautiful.

“Was that okay?” Beca checked quietly. “I’m sorry, I should have asked first.”

Chloe smiled softly and Beca’s insides melted a little.

“That was completely okay. In fact…”

Chloe closed the space between them this time, and they kissed again with more care. Beca noticed that Chloe’s mouth fit perfectly against hers, with Chloe’s lower lip nestled between both of Beca’s. The kiss was brief and stayed PG (they were in the middle of a crowded Central Park, after all), but Beca didn’t think she had ever been kissed with so much love in her life. Her skin burned pleasantly where Chloe’s lips met hers. She’d never felt anything like it.

They broke apart naturally but kept their bodies close. During the kiss, both of Beca’s arms had ended up around the back of Chloe’s neck, resting on her shoulders. They smiled shyly at each other before Beca cleared her throat awkwardly. Wanting Chloe to understand her completely, she said, “You don’t need to wait for me anymore, Chlo. I’m sorry it took so long, but I’m here. I want to be with you.”

Chloe smiled blissfully and said, “Mmm, I think we can arrange that.”

With a mild sense of horror, Beca realized her eyes felt a little watery. Gah. Must be the damn allergies. Blinking rapidly, she grinned back at Chloe, hardly able to believe her ears.

Suddenly, panic gripped her heart; what if Chloe meant this as a fling? Beca didn’t think she could stand it if Chloe was planning on this being too casual. Beca knew she was too far gone for anything between them to be considered a meaningless fling. With a deep breath, she closed her eyes and forced the words from her mouth.

“Good,” she said, “Because I’m about to completely demolish our friendship.” Her eyes opened in time to see concern cross Chloe’s face as she continued. “And… you don’t have to say it back – I know this is coming out of nowhere, but – I … I love you.”

Chloe’s eyebrows jumped to her hairline and her jaw dropped. Beca would have laughed if she hadn’t been holding her breath in anticipation. All at once, Chloe’s face shifted to an unreadable expression that sent adrenaline shooting to Beca’s already shaking legs.

Chloe leaned forward slowly until her mouth was at Beca’s ear. Beca, rooted to the spot, didn’t think she could move even if she wanted to. With a soft exhale, Chloe whispered, “Can I tell you a secret?”

Beca nodded mutely, more frightened than she had ever been before, including the time she’d almost died in that bear trap. Chloe chuckled softly, then breathed into Beca’s ear, “It’s a good thing that I love you, too.”

Beca’s heart soared and her face broke into a huge smile which Chloe matched with her own once she’d leaned back enough to see Beca properly.

“Oh. Okay,” Beca managed to choke out, happier than she could ever remember being.

“Well,” said Chloe, leaning again to press a brief kiss against Beca’s smile, “that settles it.”

Cheeks sore from her smile, Beca chased Chloe’s lips with her own until they met again. She’d never get tired of kissing Chloe.

When they broke apart again, Beca laughed at Chloe’s slightly pink cheeks. “I like doing that.”

“Me, too,” replied Chloe. “But we are in public.”

Oops. Beca looked around to see that more than a few people had started to watch their interaction, including the teenage boys that had been playing Frisbee. Yikes. “I forgot,” Beca said sheepishly as her own face warmed.

With a wink and the smirk she had learned from Beca, Chloe nudged her harm playfully and purred, “It’s okay. I know a place we can go.”

Beca’s right hand slid down naturally to be enveloped in Chloe’s left as Chloe turned and led them back in the direction of their apartment, both wearing identical smiles. Beca, lighter than air, knew that she’d follow Chloe just about anywhere, whether it be a cappella auditions or an unknown future. 

She’d be okay, as long as Chloe was with her.

[fandom-heaux]

Can you do a triple treble as kids story. where one of them Goes to live in the same street the other two live in and they become realy good freinds that can lead to so much more I would love that so much :)

Of course anon. I might have strayed a little…

You’re Cool, I Guess

Rating: G

Words: 2350

AO3

“Come on Beca, you don’t really have a choice. You might as well go into this with an open mind, for once.”

Beca and her father were sitting outside of Liberty Middle School while he tried, and failed, to convince her that this was a good situation they were in.

The grip Beca held on her book bag strap tightened at her father’s words. Its like he just wanted to brush over the fact that she was entering this stupid school in the middle of the year. Or that she had to leave her friends behind to come here and start over. Granted she didn’t have many friends back at home, but now she had none, so she hoped her dad was happy.

Beca was fuming, but she didn’t want to waste her breath trying to explain why this whole situation sucked for her. It’d be like talking to a brick wall. So she rolled her eyes and exited the car without a word to her father.

“Psst..”

Beca side eyed the red haired girl that sat next to her in her third class and furrowed her brows. She looked like one of those popular girls that were super mean to anyone that didn’t worship them. People like that didn’t exactly want to talk to her. (Okay, maybe she drew that conclusion a little quick, but she really didn’t have the best experiences when it came to pretty girls). Besides, Beca’s steely disposition had kept a number of people away from her today, so she really couldn’t figure out why it didn’t work on this girl. After a bit of silence (that was maybe used to try and see if the girl was crazy) Beca answered her, “What…”

“Hey, I’m Chloe. You’re new right?”

“Um… yeah?”

The girl, Chloe, started to giggle. Oh, she was one of those people. “What’s your name?”

Beca really wasn’t one for small talk, but it’s not like she had anything better to do as they sat in class waiting for the teacher to do something. “Beca.” Chloe’s smile grew, if that was even possible.“Hm. You really don’t talk much do you? Well that’s okay. You’re cute Beca. And I really like your earrings.”

This made Beca blush and look down. Cute? No one’s ever called her cute. Then she reached up and touched her left ear fondly. Of course she had both lobes pierced, but without her dad’s permission she had snuck off to get an orbital piercing. It was just after she found out they were moving, when things had seemed to be falling apart rapidly. What her father saw as a careless act of rebellion was actually a move to make Beca feel like she had some kind of control over what happened in her life. And right now, it was her favorite thing about herself.

A breathy laugh escaped Beca’s lips. “Thanks.” Chloe scooted her chair a little closer to Beca, and unlike any other time in her life, the shorter girl didn’t move away. Something kept her rooted in her spot. Okay, not just something, it was definitely the girl’s bubbly charm and possibly the bluest eyes the world has ever known.

“So, What lunch do you have?” Beca tried to remember what she’d seen on her schedule. “Third, I think.” Chloe looked like she was going to pop from her excitement, but before she could say anything else, their teacher told everyone to quiet down so she could start teaching. Chloe leaned close to Beca and whispered, “I have third lunch too! You should totes sit by me and my best friend Aubrey, she’s going to love you.”

Aubrey totes did not love her. Quite the opposite actually. When she saw Beca for the first time, she and Chloe were walking toward the booth that Aubrey and Chloe usually shared alone. The first thing she thought?  Who the heck is that and why is she coming over here with my best friend? A look of confusion and disgust crossed her face. You see, young Aubrey wasn’t very good at hiding her emotions.

What Aubrey didn’t know was that Beca had actually spotted her far earlier, when she had just entered the cafeteria. She was looking around for Chloe when her eyes landed on a blonde girl sitting alone with a notebook in front of her and a low bun that looked so tight it made her eyes water. But now, as she walked towards the girl with Chloe by her side, the unfriendly gaze in her direction cased her steps to slow down. Beca could feel her defences coming back stronger than before, already thinking of a million ways this could go wrong for her. She wasn’t very great at making friends, and it seemed a first day at a new school didn’t change that fact.

Chloe, however, was completely oblivious to the conflicting emotions her best friend and new friend held towards each other. She just kept walking with that spring in her step that Beca (and Aubrey) couldn’t help but admire. When Chloe slid into the booth beside Aubrey, Beca noticed a few things. First, she saw the withering look in Aubrey’s eyes soften almost immediately as they landed on the bubbly redhead. Second, she saw how Chloe easily slipped her arms around the girl and hug her as if her life depended on it. Suddenly, Beca felt awkward and out of place.

Obviously these two meant a lot to each other and she really didn’t want to intrude. Beca had already made a plan to give them some lame excuse and see herself to a dark corner somewhere when she felt a soft hand gently grab her wrist. Chloe was looking up expectantly at her, pleading with her eyes, but Beca looked down at the ground.

“Um… I really should get going.”

“What? No, you just got here. You haven’t even met Aubrey yet!” Aubrey snorted at that, like she didn’t care to meet Beca anyway. That just further convinced Beca that she was not wanted in their little circle. “Yeah, see? I don’t want to get in the way, so i’ll just go.” She tried to get her arm back from Chloe’s grip, but it was tightened. “Beca stop. I want you here…Bree tell her.” Chloe turned her pleading eyes in Aubrey’s direction. After a beat, the blonde girl’s hand waved across from her to the empty seat of the booth, as if wordlessly giving Beca permission to sit with them.

Beca hesitantly dropped her bag from her shoulder and slid into the booth across from the two girls with a sigh. Chloe’s look of unbridled joy almost made the painfully awkward situation worth it. Beca and Aubrey then went through formal introductions at Chloe’s request. Things seemed to be going smoothly for a little while (well, as smooth as strained conversation can get), until Aubrey asked about Beca’s piercing. She had a feeling this girl wouldn’t admire it the way Chloe had, so she kept her cards close to her chest.

“I just got it ‘cause I felt like it.”

Aubrey tilted her head at Beca, like she was challenging her. “Well Beca, I just don’t understand how your parents let you go off and get that ridiculous piece of jewelry in your ear.”

Beca leaned forward, her eyes squinting. “Would you believe that I didn’t get permission? I’m sure something like that is hard for you to understand, miss goody two shoes.”

Aubrey had the audacity to huff, mocking offense. “That’s probably more than anyone can say about you.”

Beca tried to stop the smirk that was forming on her face. If she didn’t know any better, she’d say that Aubrey was actually enjoying this. “Well if you took that stick out your ass then I’m sure you’d think different.”

“Oh my goodness, stop! You two seriously need to knock it off.” Beca and Aubrey stopped bickering, but kept staring at each other. Chloe had no idea where all of that arguing came from, but one thing was painfully obvious to her; these two girls pretty much did whatever she asked them to. So she came up with a plan.

“I’ve decided that i’m gonna have a sleepover at the end of this week… and you two are coming.” That immediately got the other girls’ attention.

“WHAT?”

“We’re not gonna play spin the bottle are we?”

Beca grimaced as she and Chloe walked hand in hand into the red haired girl’s bedroom. Chloe giggled and kept dragging her along. Aubrey was already seated on the floor beside Chloe’s bed. Beca, ever observant, noticed Aubrey glance down at their joined hands as they entered the room. She tried to subtly let go, but Chloe wouldn’t budge until the pair slipped down to the ground to form a circle.

Beca could immediately tell the difference between school Aubrey and the girl she saw in front of her right now. She was ten times more relaxed and wow, her hair looks beautiful when it’s down like that.

“No silly. I mean as much as I love cliches, we aren’t gonna do any of that. Well not yet anyway.” Chloe then winked at Aubrey, who blushed and looked to the ground. Beca decided she liked this Aubrey a lot better than school Aubrey.

“We are just gonna talk. Beca, you just moved here right?”

Beca hated being put on the spot, but she tried to relax. For some reason she actually wanted this to work out.

“Um, yeah. I did. Like, right down the street from here actually.” Chloe started to giggle (again) and Aubrey groaned loudly. The two of them looked at each other and bursted out laughing, Chloe clutching her stomach and rolling onto her back. Beca definitely felt left out. This obviously wouldn’t work out if she wasn’t even let in on their inside jokes. Beca let out a sigh. “Um…. what’s so funny?”

Aubrey looked over at her, still laughing. “Oh. well, Chlo predicted that you had moved into our neighborhood, but I figured the universe couldn’t possibly keep giving her everything she wished for. So we made a bet. Turns out you do live here and now she gets to have my favorite sweater.” Aubrey saying it out loud made Chloe laugh even harder.

Oh. So it wasn’t bad. Beca let out a breath she didn’t know she was holding. Then it dawned on her. Aubrey said that Chloe had wished that she moved into their neighborhood. Did that mean they actually did want her here? That was definitely new.

“Oh.” A breathy laugh escaped Beca. Maybe she should stop assuming the worst of everyone.

Chloe had finally gotten herself together and sat back up. “Okay, Okay. Let’s be serious.” When Chloe looked at beca her eyes were shining, and the tenseness in Beca’s shoulders disappeared.

“Alright. I have a question, Beca. Why in the world did you move here so late in the school year?” Aubrey’s tone was teasing, but her face showed that she was actually curious. Beca really wanted to do this, but that didn’t mean it would be easy.

So she told them. She told them that her parents got divorced and her dad decided to leave, and if that wasn’t enough he had to drag Beca along with him. She told them the real reason why she got her ear pierced and that it was very special to her. She told them that she and her dad had moved to the neighborhood the week before and how she hated the idea of going to their school. Then she mentioned that it wasn’t all that bad because she had met the two of them and they were slightly less annoying than everyone else. Beca talked until there was nothing left to say.

Beca finally looked up from the ground, where she had been staring while practically telling her life story, to see tears in Chloe’s eyes and appreciation in Aubrey’s. They were quiet for a while, making Beca feel like she had been oversharing. But suddenly she saw a flash of red and was knocked to the floor, trapped in a bear hug from Chloe. “Thanks for telling us Beca.”

“Yeah Beca, that was probably really hard.”

Beca laughed a little. “Yeah it was. But i’m glad I got that out…” Chloe reluctantly let Beca go after Aubrey tugged gently at her shirt. The three girls sat quietly for a while just thinking about what Beca had spilled.

Beca couldn’t possibly believe that she had opened up that much. What was it about these girls that just made that so easy?

Chloe was so full of emotion that she would need a full night to process it. It was a little overwhelming, the things she felt for this new girl that had entered her life. It was almost as if the three of them were destined to be together; to be here, in her bedroom right now, solidifying their relationship. It was almost like… Wait wait, I need to think about all this tomorrow.

Aubrey was full of understanding. She knew what it was like to live in a harsh environment, being that her father was a military person and her mother was extremely strict. She knew what it was like to not want to open up to anyone for fear of judgment and rejection. But she also knew that there was something about her red haired best friend that just made you want to be open and honest, and she was kind of honored to be apart of that experience for Beca.

“Oh my god, let’s stop being sappy and move on, yeah?”

…

At the end of the night, the three girls had grown closer. Beca learned more and more about them and grew fonder as the night dragged on. By the time they were ready for bed, all huddled up in a pile on Chloe’s bedroom floor, a question was burning on Beca’s brain.

“Did we all just become friends?”

“I think so.”

“Ew.”

[lyricallove43]

Bechloe Soulmate AU:

"I can't move."

"B, come on quit messing around."

The mall was busy and a grumpy Beca had only just begun to enjoy the impromptu shopping trip her best friend had dragged her on.

"No, seriously Stacie. I legit feel like I'm stuck." Beca looked to her friend confused and slightly terrified. "Why can't I move?"

Stacie's eyebrows shot up and a mischievous grin pulled at her lips, "I bet they're here somewhere."

"No fucking way," Beca's heart began to pound as she whipped her head around looking behind her. "I'm not even of fucking age until next month." Beca tried pulling herself away from the stairway but she found her body just wouldn't budge. Almost as if the worlds gravity was solely focused on her maintaining this exact position.

"They're probably older than you."

Becas mind raced. She'd always been slightly uncomfortable with the whole soulmates thing. Did she not have freewill and control of her life? Why did fate get to decide who she loved? The twentyfirst year seemed like doomsday to the small brunette. She already begun funeral plans for her precious independence. She felt as if the weight of her whole life was sitting on her chest.

"Beca, hello? You still in there?" Stacie joked with a happy glint in her eyes. "It's just a person, B. It's not like you immediately lose all sense of yourself just because you've met them."

Stacie firm hand on her forearm soothed her. "When I met Aubrey, it wasn't romantic. I felt a pull toward her, I knew she was my person but I didn't love her. Not then," Her eyes softened. "She wasn't so sure about me. She wasnt sure of herself. She thought she was straight for fuck sake!"

"I remember," Beca replied with a laugh "girl had a stick up her-"

"Watch it, Mitchell." Stacie pushed at her shoulder, "Point is, that this is a good thing. It's a change but you'll still be the annoying, little pain in the ass you've always been."

"Okay. Okay, I can do this," a huge breath poured from her lungs. "Wait, what where are you going? Stace?!"

"I'll be over here when you're done!" Stacie called over her shoulder as she made her way over to set of benches across the courtyard with a knowing smirk.

"I hate you, you stupid nerd!"

"Love you too, loser!"

Great. Now she'd really look like a freak. Just standing alone at the bottom of the stairs. Fate couldn't have given her a seat? She fiddled with the sleeves of her leather jacket, anxiously staring in the direction Stacie had walked off in. That bitch.

_______________________________

"Chloe, slow down. I can't keep up with you!"

"I can't. I feel them, Em."

Chloe couldn't stop. She felt like running full speed toward the pull in her chest. Her heart pounded loudly in her ears as she walked at top speed through the crowded mall. She was on a mission, barely realizing her little sister falling further and further behind her.

Red curls thrown over her shoulder, she made her way across the mall. People were watching her, she didn't blame them. She'd probably look too if a crazed person were powerwalking past her as if their life depended on it. The thing is her life actually does depend on this moment.

She had always taken comfort in soulmates. The idea that one day she would have someone who unconditionally loved her. In what capacity never much mattered to her. She'd be equally happy being a bestfriend or a lover or both in the same way she'd be happy with a man or a woman.

She headed down the the stairs taking them two at a time before rounding the corner and tripping in true Chloe fashion.

________________________________

"Shit, I'm so sorry I didn't even see you..there."

Beca slowly righted herself, looking up into the eyes of the stranger. Finding herself knocked breathless by the stunning shade of cool blue she was met with.

"It's you."

"Yeah, I uh, I guess it is. I'm Beca,"

"Chole. It's nice to meet you, Beca. I'm sorry I almost took you out just then."

Chloe could've run over her foot, Beca wouldn't have cared in the slightest. She was so unbelievably gorgeous it almost hurt to look at her,it was like staring into the sun.

"It's totally fine. I was kind of stuck standing in the middle of the walkway so..."

"You were stuck?" Beca noted the way Chloe's eyebrows knit together in confusion.

Beca just laughed nervously and nodded "Uh, yeah I was or at least it felt that way," she mumbled. "Like gravity was holding me here."

Chloe's smile returned, "I guess you could say you're stuck with me, huh?"

"Something like that."

[katelides]

Staubrey prompt 'cause it's been a while :3 "Shut up and marry me Aubrey!" "Fine! What?" Where Stacie and Aubrey is arguing about sonething, I dunno maybe intellectual thing or what. That is one heated discussion but Stacie falls over and over for Aubrey even if they are arguing over sonething that she realizes that she wanna be with Aubrey for the rest of her life.

I’m REEEAAALLLYYY sorry for taking so long to write this anon! I’ve been working on this for a while and I just couldn’t finish it! Hope you can forgive me??

https://archiveofourown.org/works/12940941/chapters/32240358

https://www.fanfiction.net/s/12670274/36/Little-Big-One-Shots

Shut Up And Marry Me

One Shot 35

Aubrey is sitting at the kitchen table working on theschedule of the retreat for the coming week. But her mind is racing a millionmiles an hour. This is the third time this week that Stacie bailed on dinnerwithout giving her any heads up. It never used to be this way, they would always let the other know. But the pastfew weeks things have changed. Stacie is being more cryptic, and is barelyhome.

They both work long hours. Aubrey at the lodge and Stacie atthe laboratory. She works late all the time and that’s something Aubrey canreally get behind but shooting someone a text or call them to let them know, isthat too much to ask?

Aubrey throws her pen on the table with a groan and watchesas it rolls of the edge. She then switches her attention to the food on thecountertop that by now has gone cold. She gets up with a sigh and startsputting the food into containers so either she can eat it tomorrow for lunch orStacie can eat it when she comes home. She’s done waiting, so she’s going tocall it a night. There’s no use in waiting up anyway.

The blonde makes her way up to their bedroom and starts onher nightly routine. A little over 15 minutes later, when she’s almost done andready to climb into the bed when she hears the front door shut, followed byStacie’s voice shouting: “Babe, I’m home!” The blonde stays quiet, still tooangry with the brunette. “Babe?” Once again Aubrey ignores her girlfriend. Shecan hear the brunette running up the stairs. “Bree? Are you in here?”

Stacie walks into the bedroom and sees her girlfriend layingon bed. “Ok babe, I know you’re not sleeping. What’s wrong?” Aubrey just huffsand turns the other way. “Aubrey what’s going on? Why are you mad at me?” Theblonde sits up with a jolt. “If you can’t even answer that question maybe youshould think about that first.” She moves away when the brunette tries to comecloser. “No, don’t touch me.”

The brunette takes a step back in shock. “Aubrey?” Theblonde shakes her head. “You know what, I’m going to call Chloe a-“ Stacie cutsher off. “No, we’re going to talk about this. I want to know what’s botheringyou. You’ve been weird lately and I don’t know why.” The brunette crosses herarms. It doesn’t give the desired effect though because Aubrey scrambles offthe bed and runs down the stairs. Stacie doesn’t hesitate and follows her.

They stop in the kitchen and Aubrey immediately heads forthe fridge and takes out the food containers. It takes a lot of strength notthrow the containers at her girlfriend. Instead she just puts them on the table(read slams it down). “You tell me Stacie. Can you explain to me how youmanaged to bail on me for diner? Three times, this week alone?” The brunettefreezes in shock. “I-I can explain.”

“Really? I’m really curious to how you’re going to talkyourself out of this?” Stacie take a deep breath and motions to the chairs forthem to sit down. Aubrey sits down on one side and Stacie chooses the one rightacross the blonde. “We’re on the verge of a breakthrough at the lab. And Jamesneeded me to stay longer. I’m really sorry I forgot to call you.”

Aubrey scoffs. “And you want me to believe that? Do youreally think I’m that gullible? James wanted you to ‘work late’?” The blondeuses her fingers to make air quotes. “What? What are you implying?” Stacie sitsback, with a completely deadpanned expression. She lets out a shaky breathfilled with disbelief. “You’ve been working overtime  for a month now, you always make promisesthat you don’t keep and you’ve been secretive .”

Stacie rolls her eyes. “I’ve been working overtime because I have to, not because I want to. Doyou really think I want to stay there longer than I have too? I want to gohome, to you and spend time with you. Make it for dinner so we can talk aboutour days. I want to hold you when you have a long day with annoying clientslike today… yeah I know that because Ashley called me.”

The brunette runs her fingers through her hair. “I shouldhave called you but I was already on my way home so I didn’t think you’d mindbut I was wrong. Maybe you’re right… I’ll go sleep at a hotel tonight and we’lltalk in the morning. I’ll cancel my shift so I’ll be home when you come back.”Stacie makes a move to stand but stops when she sees Aubrey hitting the tablein anger. “No, neither of us is going anywhere until we get this settled. “

Stacie is taken aback and plops back down in her seat. Shewatches the few loose strands in her girlfriend’s face bounce up and down. Sheshould be terrified of the blonde, but the look in her eyes reminds her of theold Aubrey, the one she fell for in her freshman year of college. “You and meare going to sit here and talk about this Stacie.”

The brunette nods. “Fine, you start. You’re the one thatblew up at me.” Aubrey takes a deep breath and starts a long rant about howStacie’s never home. And about the fact that whenever she is home they nevertalk or do anything together, and that they haven’t had sex in over 2 weeks.She doesn’t trust James at all because he’s been ogling her for months now,even though he knows she’s in a relationship.

Stacie just watches the blonde with a goofy, distant smile.She watches as everything seems to go by in slow motion. All the memories oftheir early days come rushing back. One memory in particular finds its way tothe surface.

*Flashback*

Stacie is smiling upat the ceiling. She still can’t believe how lucky she had gotten. Her andAubrey are dating for almost a month and spend every possible free momenttogether. That’s how they both ended up naked with Aubrey wrapped around herunderneath the sheets. The brunette had taken her girlfriend out for surprisedinner date. The blonde has been extremely stressed out with the lodge andcould use a distraction. And she would always be a happy distraction for her.

She can feel Aubrey stirin her arms. “Hmmmabe too loud.” Stacie chuckles at the adorableness that’s hergirlfriend. “What’s too loud baby? It’s silent in here.” A soft grunt escapesthe blonde and she nuzzles her nose even further into the crook of hergirlfriend’s neck. “Think…. loud…staph” It takes all of Stacie’s willpower notto burst out laughing. “Sorry baby, it’s just sometimes I look at you andwonder how you can be so cute all the time.”

Once again the blondegroans and squeezes the brunette in probably some kind of protest to beingcalled cute. “Oh but you are.” Stacie mumbles into her girlfriend’s hair whilepressing soft kisses to her forehead. “Stace what’s bothering you?” Aubreypulls away slightly and squints up to look at the brunette. “Nothing Bree, I’mjust… I’m really happy to be with you. I uhm….”

“What’s up Stace.?”Aubrey sits up completely and switches on the light on her bedside table. Staciefollows her lead and turns to face her. “I-I love you Aubrey Elizabeth Posen,I’m in love with you. I know it’s toosoon to say but I mean it and I’m n-“ She gets cut off by Aubrey bouncing ontop of her, attacking hers lips with her own. The kiss deepens and gets heatedreally quickly.

Stacie manages to flipthem over and pushes herself up so she can look her girlfriend in the eyes witha goofy grin plastered on her face. Aubrey has an equally big grin. She looksup and lets out a content sigh. “I love you too, Stacie Amelia Conrad. Morethan you can imagine.” That’s all it takes for Stacie swoosh back down and kissAubrey with all the passion and power she can muster.

Yeah, she fell in lovewith the right person. The person she wants to spend the rest of her life with.

*End Flashback*

Stacie snaps back to reality while Aubrey is still complainingabout something that has to do with her toothbrush? With every passing minutethe brunette gets even more confused about what Aubrey really is angry about.It takes less than 3 minutes for the brunette to snap. Maybe it’s the best spurof the moment decision she’ll ever make or she might regret it.

“Oh for Christ’s sake will you please shut up and marry me,Aubrey!”

“Fine! Wait… what?” The blonde doesn’t completely processthe question or rather the fullquestion at first. When it finally hits her jaw drops to the floor. The twostare at each other, not sure of how to proceed. Stacie of course knows sheshould make the first move. So the brunette slowly gets up from her seat andgoes to stand before her – she still hopes is her girlfriend – and kneels downon one knee.

Her heart is pounding out of her chest, her palms are sweatyand she can’t seem to maintain eye contact so she looks down at her hands andstarts playing with the ring she had inherited from her grandmother on herindex finger. Then an idea hits her. She takes of the ring and holds it upbefore Aubrey. She’s terrible at winging it but she doesn’t really have achoice right now.

“I-I uhm pffft okay, I got this… Sorry that was lame uhm…”Stacie is on the verge of a panic attack and Aubrey seems to notice so she putsa reassuring hand in the brunette’s shoulder with a smile and tear filled eyes.

“This wasn’t how I was planning on doing this. But I knewfrom the moment I met you that we’d be forever. It took me a long time to findthe courage to tell you. I knew that I wanted to take care of you no matterwhat happened. And when I saw you getting angry I remembered why I fell in lovewith you in the first place. You being our Bellas captain was the first time I realizedit. The second time was when I started to figure it out was when you showed meyour vulnerable side, the day you told me about your father. In that moment Iknew I would never let you go. So Aubrey Elizabeth Posen, will you do me thegreatest honor of becoming my wife?”

Aubrey stays quiet a minute too long and it makes Staciereally nervous. Her hands starts shaking so badly that she almost drops herlate grandmother’s ring. The blonde snaps out of her shocked daze and throwsherself at her girlfriend. They fall to the ground and Stacie gets attacked byAubrey’s lips on hers. The brunette clutches the ring and her girlfriend ashard as she can.

The two break apart after making out for a few minutes.Aubrey rolls of off her girlfriend with a light laugh and huge grin spreadacross her face. Stacie wraps her arms around her and takes Aubrey’s left handand slides the ring on her finger. “I know this isn’t the ring you wereimagining bu-“ The blonde cuts her off. “Of course I’ll marry you. And this isperfect, Stace. But you don’t have to give me this ring, I know how much youlove your grandmother’s ring. How about we go ring shopping together somedaysoon?”

“I do love this ring but I want you to have it, do you knowwhy?” Aubrey shakes her head ‘no’ while nuzzling even closer to her girlfriend.“This ring around your finger? It was my grandmother’s engagement ring, mygrandparents were married for almost 67 years. And even after my grandma pastaway my grandfather went to her grave everyday and placed her favorite flowerson it. Until he passed away a year later. He just couldn’t live without her. Ireally believe we can have that… scrap that, I know we already have that.”

Another tears rolls down Aubrey’s cheek as she sits up soshe can look down at Stacie, and then at the ring. Without a warning she jumpsup and runs up the stairs. Stacie follows her fiancée up to their bedroom andwatches quietly as the blonde rummages through her sock drawer. She hears afaint ‘aha’ and waits for the blonde to turn around.

When she does she sees her holding a ring, one she has neverseen before. “This is my great grandmother’s ring. My mom gave it to me after I…I told her I was gay. I talked for 2 hours about you when she asked me if Iliked someone. We weren’t dating yet at the time. She told me to give this tothe person I love more than anything in the world. And I think she already knewyou were the one for me.”

Stacie chuckles and walks over to Aubrey and wraps her armsaround the blonde’s waist and pulls her close. “And I think she was right.”Stacie leans in and kisses Aubrey gently. “So, what do you say? Stacie AmeliaConrad, will you marry me?” The brunette nods and mumbles a soft ‘I do’ againsther fiancées lips. when they pull apart Aubrey slides the ring on her fiancéesfinger. This is the beginning of the rest of their lives.

I DO NOT OWN PITCH PERFECT!REVIEWS = HAPPY MEHAPPY ME = QUICKER UPDATESFOLLOW ME ON TUMBLR FOR SNEEK PEAKS FOR UPCOMING CHAPTERS –katelides

[bengalisms]

for the anon that wanted to read something with Caspian super angry? I delivered.

This is a private RP that me and @1000liveslived​ decided to do after that gif was shared. We started plotting and this private RP is set in an AU where Emma is the single parent and Caspian is the one who’s coming into the family unit ( a reverse from what their canon actually looks like). Except in this AU, Emma ex and father of Aubrey (Emma’s child) comes back into their lives after being gone from it for years! Suddenly Kyle wants shared custody and rights to the child he never cared for. Both Emma and Caspian know something doesn’t seem right about the whole thing, but knowing that it’s Emma’s decision, Caspian takes a back seat in this and lets the decisions be made without him.

This scene takes place a few months after Aubrey and Kyle are reunited and Emma begins to allow them time together privately. Aubrey is 10, and has always been vibrant and talkative. But that suddenly begins to change, and Caspian knows exactly who to blame. 

Enjoy!

PS. i apologize in advance for my bad spelling and grammar. Discord doesn’t allow me to use my writing aids to make my english better so!

1000liveslived

Kyle's return into their lives had been met with a couple different reactions... though understandably Aubrey's was far more of the excited variety than Emmalyn's was. Emma truly didn't trust it... didn't trust his intentions, didn't want to even give him the time of day, but as always Kyle had managed to weasel his way into such a thing where Emma had little choice without being made into the bad guy. So with that in mind, she had allowed Kyle to have a couple visitations with their daughter together, watching him ... and with his behavior with Aubrey at first, Emma had reluctantly agreed into letting Kyle take Aubrey out and about a couple different times. One to allow him to pick her up from school and spend some time together, and another for most of a day during the weekend. 

 Though when the girl returned home, she was... just a touch off. Though Emma thinking it to be just the exhaustion of a full day, she had spoken with Kyle briefly before he parted. Going to cuddle herself up on the couch, the child had answered their questions in fairly short answers in ... well a very untypical manner for the girl. Again, thinking that it was exhaustion that weighed her words down, Emma had smiled some and kissed her forehead... 

It wouldn't have been until the next day that the impact Kyle was having on their daughter would be more obvious... though more so to Caspian as Emma prepared breakfast. Infinitely more cheerful, the child had began to chatter on as she generally did, trying to figure out just what she wanted to wear as her conversation took her this way, and that way, and every where between... only to stop dead in its tracks after a short moment. Seeming to come to a stop, the child had grown silent, looking to Caspian as if she were looking to see if he were upset with her for her rambles...

A couple nights since then, Emma had certainly noticed how her daughter grew to be less vibrant, far less sure of herself and... almost ashamed of her natural nature. Emma hadn’t allowed Kyle to have any contact since she had her discussion with Caspian, knowing that at some point she would have to sit down and have a discussion between herself, Caspian and Aubrey but ... for now she was simply dreading it. Kyle had left her once, and Aubrey hadn’t taken it well. How will she take it a second? 

 “No, its alright sweetheart. I want to hear,” trying to coax Aubrey to keep telling her more after the child had stuttered to a stop as if she had remembered herself when she had launched into another story seemingly unrelated to the first. Emma was entirely unaware of a figure passing across the street that could be seen through the window behind her, her focus on Aubrey instead who was currently trying to begin and talk through a mouthful of food.

bengalisms

There is a certain kind of pain when you watch your daughter go off with the man she truly considered her father. He knew it wasn't a slight at him –– knew that while he had never wanted to know his birth parents, Aubrey was very different from him. It hurt him, watching her excitement bubble up as she was so excited to see her father. At first he had been happy for her –– excited that she got to have such an experience. But it was quickly becoming something more devastating than Caspian wanted to admit. 

A few instances of Subrey filtering herslef left him even more pained. She had never done that before. He had always let her ramble and be as she was, no matter what. So when she looked at him with eyes too wide and too sad, he knew it wasn't him. It was Kyle. 

 It had prompted Caspian to sit himself down with Aubrey and ask about it. What he heard shattered him. He was no stranger to verbal abuse and could easily recognize it in Aubrey's demeanor. He'd put it very simply to her. "What he says to you or about you doesn't apply in this house." because it was true. The way he wanted her to behave, the way he spoke to her, it would never trickle into this home. Never. Emma wouldn't allow it, and Caspian didn't have the capability to be mean to so much as a fly buzzing around his head too loudly.

So tonight was an interesting night. One Caspian hoped would lead to thier family discussion about how they planned on going about sucha  thing from here on out. He knew it wasn't his job to parent. Not in this situation. But that wouldn't stop him from showing his concern or trying to help Emma and Aubrey anyway he could. So listening to Aubrey speak at the dinner table, watching as Emma encoruaged her to speak more, Caspian found his gaze flicker to a movement over Emma's shoulder. 

Immediately his posture changed when he saw the man walking to the door. His chewing stops and he licks his lips. he leans back in his seat, finger tightening around a napkin before he draws it quickly down his face. Shoulders tighten. The instant the door is knocked on, Caspian stands. Leaving no time for either girl to react, he wipes his mouth again and offers a very false smile to them both –– eyes already an amber hue. 

"I'll get it." They dont get the door during dinner. They never have. Caspian pushes his chair in and leaves his napkin on the table before walking around the kitchen and towards the front door.

1000liveslived

While Emma was truly glad for the fact that Caspian had recognized what was going on so quickly... she was heartbroken all at the same time. Sick with the knowledge that this was happening to her child, sick with the understanding that it was because of Caspian’s own experiences that led him to recognize it so much faster than herself... and admittedly angry with herself for not knowing it would happen to begin with. Emma was a very protective mother when it came down to it ... for very obvious reasons. It was for that very reason that it was a glaringly obvious testament to her trust in Caspian and her love for him tat she wanted to include him in this conversation to begin with. He had always been far more of a Father to Aubrey than Kyle ever had been... even from the very beginning. There was no doubt in Emma’s mind that Caspian was born to be a Father... she knew him. She knew his soft nature, knew that he wasn’t rash and brunt... and it was because she knew him so well, that she understood that there was something more going on than she was aware of as he stood so quickly once the knock came. 

Looking to him curiously, Emma frowned just a bit as she nodded slowly, “...Alright,” she spoke slowly, her question of ‘what’s going on?’ clear in her tone. Even Aubrey wiggled until she was on her knees, turning in her seat to watch Caspian. Though she was soon urged to sit properly, listening begrudgingly.

As Caspian thought, Kyle stood at the front steps, hands in his pockets as he waited. Though he seemed surprised ta Caspian answered, rather than Emma. Trying to glance into the house to see what was happening, the man even went so far to lean a bit more to the side in order to try and accomplish the task. 

“Emma won’t answer my calls or texts... I’m here to see my daughter.” Kyle didn’t like Caspian. Didn’t respect him in the slightest, and that much woudl be clear by how easily Capsian was brushed off.

bengalisms

Caspian opened the door to find Kyle standing there. His posture didn't anger him, but the look on his face did. Caspian knew all it would take was one glance at the man to find hatred in his heart. And Caspian didn't hate. He didn't even hate Aman for what he had done to him. But Kyle? Kyle was a special kind of person that got Caspian's blood boiling. From the beginning, knowing what Emma had gone through? How could he look at this man and feel anything less. 

Gods he loved her. He loved her more than anything in this world and to know that this man had not only abused her but was beginning to do so with his daughter? Emma's daughter? His sweet Aubrey? There was nothing –– not one thing –– that would stop him from speaking his mind so plainly towards this man. 

The door opens and Caspian's eyes have grown amber. They burn with heat and preditory focus as he steps outside. He closes the door behind him, softly despite the tension that runs through him. He stands in front of him, his gaze angled to look him in the eyes, his body blocking the handle of the doorway. Head tilts slightly as lips curl at his words. The audacity. His daughter? No. No no no, he had lost that privledge the moment he had told Aubrey she wasn't good enough with his stares and his words. Anger coursed through every inch of him –– making it beyond difficult to keep his fists at his side. 

"She's busy." He cuts Kyle off. Standing as he is, back straight, shoulder's square (as square as they could be anyway) Caspian looked unlike the man Kyle would remember. "And no. No you're not."

1000liveslived

Watching as Caspian opened the door, Emma could see that his posture was much different from what she would have grown to be used to, though it wasn't much longer before she didn't see him altogether. Looking to Aubrey who was still looking at the door (and luckily hadn't seen Kyle standing there), Emma made a small noise in the back of her throat as seh stood. "Stay here sweetie... keep eating," urging the words calmly, Emma made her way to the window to see just what in the fuck was going on... 

Outside, however, Kyle didn't seem to be too terribly bothered by what he saw in Caspian. Not outwardly anyways. Though the knowledge that just his mere arrival was enough to put that kind of an expression on Caspian's face drew a bit of a thrill through the shorter man. Smirking just a touch despite the rush of anger that the man did feel, Kyle's dark eyes settled on Caspian. THey were the very same eyes that Aubrey had... though they were far colder in nature. Aubrey's? Aubrey's eyes always seemed to defy the natural laws of light and dark, always seemed to be illuminated and shimmer despite the deep color. Kyle's eyes? Void of nearly anything should you look closely enough. 

"Excuse you? I'm not, huh?" laughing a humorless sound, Kyle pressed a palm to his chest, "I'm the Father. You?" pointing a finger to Caspian, "You're ... clearly not. Now let me through. This is a matter for Emma and me."

bengalisms 

Cold eyes had never frightened him. He had seen them in human beings taller and older than Kyle. He had seen them wield knives and words in the same breath. He had seen them blood thirsty and unsatisfied when his heart remained bleeding. Kyles eyes were a memory of the past which he was fully equipped to deal with. His smugness was a sirens call to action that Caspian took to with ease. He wasn’t afraid of this man and his hollow chest and void like eyes. He was scared of what he could do to his daughter. Not Kyle’s. His. He had always had that thought. For so long he had bared that thought inside him but hesitated in asking. Because what if she denied him? The pain would hurt too much. But he knew that it was true for him. He didn’t need her approval to love her like her father never had. 

“You might be her father but you’ve never been a dad.” He says coldly, his body stiff with determination. Unmoving. Firm. “It becomes a matter for me when I see Aubrey scared to be herself around people she has always been herself with. You’re not welcome here now.” He can’t help it. He knows that it’s wrong in a way. That Emma is the one that holds power over Kyle — not him. But he feels this swell to protect them both. And in it, rage has turned his eyes to fire where Kyle’s are coal; Ready to be set aflame. 

“We’re having dinner. Like I said. Come back later. We might have some left overs.” He steps back, his hand reaching for the door intending to step aside and back into the house. To lock the doors like he is a demon coming for his daughters soul. To feed upon her emotions and feelings like they are a meal prepared just for him. “Left overs are more your style, right?”

1000liveslived

Emma had admittedly taken quite some time to figure out just what it was Kyle did to her while they were together. It had been subtle enough and a long enough period of time that it gained speed, that she hadn't been able to detect it... or at least, she hadn't until she realized just what it was Kyle was donig to their daughter. She was able to see it easily enough in an interaction with another... and quite frankly the knowledge had rattled her. It was a realization that Kyle had never been a truly decent man... he expected things a certain way, expected things to conform to himself and his ideals despite how much they changed on a nearly constant basis... and he would do and say whatever he needed to, in order to make them bend to him. 

His daughter included 

"Fuck you!" growling the words, Kyle's hands connected with Caspian's chset as he shoved hiim roughly, his face the picture of rage and fury. "Its because of that fucking bitch in there that Aubrey's the way she is, don't you fucking get it? You can't fucking coddle her and expect her to be normal y-" 

Seeing this all from the window Emma had just began to watch from, she swore the instant she saw it escelate. "Aubrey, sweetheart, stay right there," Her voice was urgent, quickly moving for the door to try to stop this. The last thing Aubrey needed... was to hear the two men fighting. Thankfully the child with her condition wasn't able to hear the words... but Emma sure as hell could.

bengalisms

The shove was expected but not prepared for. Caspian has seen it coming through those snarled words and felt it in his soul long before it happened. His body gender before he shove, making it more successful in pushing him back than it might have otherwise. But that was simply Caspian: always expecting violence. Even now after all these years, that feeling wouldn’t die down. 

Caspian’s own lips curled back into a snarl. But it was that of an animal which has fear. Never back a scared tiger into a corner. And that was exactly what Kyle had done. 

“Get your hands off me.” There was no keeping that growl from Caspian’s words, even if he didn’t lift his hands to push the other back. He was not someone who contributed to violence unless need be. Kyle was not used to being told no. Luckily Caspian had gotten good at that lately. “And if you ever call my fiancé a bitch again, or speak ill of my daughter again, I’ll string you to a lamp post like prized elephant tusks.” 

Caspian took a single step forward, hand pulling away from the doorknob as he straightened himself. His lips were snarled, his neck tight and showing tendons that had yet to be seen by the other man. His chest was swollen, his breathing heavy. The scars along his body might as well have melted into stripes, and Kyle’s blonde hair might as well have turned to the white spots on the behind of a deer. Prey and predator. Nothing less than that as Caspian lifted a hand and pointed at Kyle with more intention than even Emma would have seen in him. 

“I don’t threaten lightly. The last man I threatened is buried back in India with teeth marks on his skull.” He bit those words out with a whispered heat. His gaze never letting go of Kyle’s. “Do I make myself clear?”

and there you have it!!! let me know what u think! I’d love some feed back and comments ♥️♥️♥️

[incredibeale-archive]

Your otp/ot3 is going to adopt/foster a child. They had planned on a baby/toddler but end up falling for an older child /teenager who has been moved in and out of homes their whole life.

So this has been in my drafts for ages – I decided to finish it. Note: I’ve got minimal knowledge of adoption/fostering, so forgive me for any inconsistencies. (Like, I’m not even sure if Polyamerous couples can foster/adopt, but whatever.)

–

Going into this, they had expected to be fostering (and hopefully adopting) a younger child, honestly. And they had every intention of looking through the websites provided, except they’re contacted and asked if they can take on an emergent case. 

They’re wary, but they accept, even though they’re given very little info other then there are no group homes available. The next day, there’s a knock on the door and when Chloe opens it, it’s to reveal a woman in a pantsuit and a young girl who looks to be 12 or 13. She’s this tiny little thing, though – maybe too tiny – and her dark brown hair is pulled up into a messy ponytail, her green eyes downcast. Her clothes are too big and there’s a bruise around her wrist peeking out from under long sleeves, which – worries Chloe. 

But then, Chloe notices the smaller figure peeking out from behind the girl. He’s this precious little thing with shaggy brown hair and bright, blue eyes that are mostly hidden by black rimmed glasses that are a little too big for his face. He looks to be 4 or 5.

The woman smiles and holds out her hand. “Hi, I’m Denise, we spoke over the phone.” Chloe takes her hand and shakes it. 

“Pleasure to meet you. I’m Chloe, and this is Aubrey and –” Chloe glances behind her with a frown before looking back at the woman. “Beca must still be working upstairs, but please, come in.” 

They lead them all into the living room, where Aubrey properly shakes the woman’s hand and everyone takes a seat. “This is Hadley,” The woman gestures to the young girl who sits sullenly, eyes seeming to find her worn down shoes a lot more interesting. “And this is Wyatt.” Denise presses a hand to the little boy’s back, who offers up a shy little smile and Chloe wants to coo because he’s just this tiny little thing and she’s always been a sucker for dimples. 

Distantly they can hear a piano being played, but Chloe knows it’s just Beca trying to finish up a few last minute things for work. Still, she knows that the brunette needed to be down here for this. But, as if on cue, the piano playing stops and she can hear little thuds coming down the stairs, signaling Beca’s arrival. The brunette turns into the living room and pauses. “Oh, uh – sorry. I didn’t realize everyone had arrived.” Chloe can tell she’s nervous by the way she scratches absently at her ear lobe. “Uh, I’m Beca.” She holds out her hand to Denise to shake before settling beside Aubrey. “What’d I miss?” 

Chloe smiles. “Well, this is Hadley and Wyatt and that’s pretty much it, right now.” 

“Cool, nice to meet you guys, too.” Beca says gently, beginning to twist her thumb ring. 

Denise smiles and moves to pull a file out of her briefcase. “I appreciate you taking them on at such a short notice. There was –” She seems to pause as she glances down at Hadley. “Well, I’ll explain that soon… Let’s just get started.” Chloe doesn’t miss Hadley’s little frown deepening. 

When Beca offers to show the kids where they’ll be staying, Denise proceeds to tell Chloe and Aubrey that Hadley and Wyatt had to be removed immediately because there had been an altercation between Hadley and her previous foster father. They had been horrified to learn that he had manhandled her and struck her, all because she had been protecting Wyatt. The wife had called and said she couldn’t in good conscience keep them there any longer while her husband went to jail. 

–

“And this is my studio.” Beca says gesturing to the large room filled with recording equipment and a grand piano.

Wyatt’s eyes are wide as he peeks in. “Wow.” He whispers in awe. “Big p’ano.” 

Hadley looks like she wants to be impressed, but seems to decide it’s more important to keep her look of indifference, which- Beca can understand (and relate to). But she chuckles at the little boy and nods. “Yeah, it’s pretty cool, huh?”

The little boy nods so vigorously that he has to push his glasses up the bridge of his nose.

Beca continues the tour, showing them each their rooms before they head back downstairs to see everyone standing. Beca can already see the mild looks of horror on her wives’ faces, though they’re trying to work to replace them with polite smiles as they offer to give Denise a tour (as it is protocol). 

–

Hadley is waiting for the other shoe to drop. She and her brother have been here for almost a week now, and it’s – well, she doesn’t want to jinx herself, because it’s been so good. They’re all so kind and funny and Hadley is trying really hard not to get attached, because she knows it won’t last. Nothing this good ever lasts for her. 

But on the second day, Chloe and Aubrey had taken them shopping for a whole new wardrobe and school supplies and– she had tried to tell them they didn’t need it– that she didn’t need it, that it was too much. But they’d shaken their heads and told her and her brother to get whatever they wanted. Wyatt had been hesitant, too, but after some encouragement from the redhead, he was picking out clothes and toys and books and– it’s just too good to be true. 

Now, though – it’s their first day of school (the week had been for them to get settled). It’s barely 6:30 AM and she really doesn’t have to be up until 6:45 since they have to be there by 8, so she’s not sure why she’s awake, right now… except the thought of trying to find her classroom and talking to people gives her so much anxiety that her stomach churns noisily. 

She’s not sure how long she’s been laying there when she hears a soft knock on the door. “Hadley, it’s time to get up, sweetie.” Aubrey says gently. “Beca’s got breakfast going, so just come on down when you’re dressed and ready.” She goes to close the door, but Hadley watches in slight amusement as the blonde pokes her head back in and points a finger at her. “And don’t forget to brush your teeth.” 

Hadley chuckles and nods. “Okay, Aubrey.” Aubrey offers the girl a smile before nodding and closing the door behind her. Distantly, she hears the blonde going into her little brother’s room to wake him. 

The twelve year old goes about getting dressed (Aubrey had helped her pick her outfit out the night before and to Hadley’s amusement, the rest of the week), before wandering into the bathroom to brush her teeth and maybe try to do something with her hair. After brushing her teeth and giving up on her hair, she heads downstairs and into the kitchen where her brother is already seated, looking like he’s about to burst with excitement. 

Beca is at the stove, flipping pancakes and Chloe is setting the table. When the redhead catches her eye, she smiles brightly– and Hadley doesn’t think she’s ever met someone who’s smile is so freaking sincere and sweet that it makes her smile back genuinely. “Good morning, Hads!” And then there’s the nickname, Hadley has never had a nickname, but every time Chloe uses it, her heart feels warm and light and for a minute, she thinks– maybe this is it, maybe they’re here to stay. 

“I guess it’s good.” Hadley offers with a shrug. She watches as Beca turns slightly to smirk at her, while Chloe raises a brow. 

“Of course it is, it’s your first day of school, aren’t you excited?” Chloe asks, brightly. 

Hadley settles into the chair next to her brother and smirks. “Excited isn’t really the word I’d use.” She replies, resting her arms on the table. 

“That’s all we need,” Comes Aubrey’s voice from behind her. “Another Beca. Full of snark and sarcasm.” She finishes, lips quirking into a smile as she makes her way to the coffee pot.  

Beca turns and smirks knowingly. “Please, you love me.” 

Aubrey gives the brunette a once over. “Mm, debatable.” She says with an air of indifference, but Hadley can see the smile creeping on the edge of the blonde’s lips. 

For her part, Beca gasps and holds a hand to her heart. “You wound me with your words, Bree.”  

From the other side of the room, Chloe rolls her eyes affectionately. “Okay, you two. That’s enough banter. I’m starved.” She moves to kiss both of them on their cheeks before she starts to dish out food. 

And Hadley’s never really witnessed a love like this– or really at all. Most of the homes she’d been in, they were never filled with warmth and love like she’d experienced, here. They were cold and distant and silent. 

But she supposes that going from houses where two people who are supposed to love and cherish each other that only argue instead, and then coming here– where not just two, but three people love and cherish each other equally and fiercely– well, that’s a really nice change. 

And it gives Hadley a little hope that, not everyone is bad. 

After breakfast is had, and the chatter dies down, the three women help them to gather their stuff and Chloe offers to french braid Hadley’s hair and– Hadley is so surprised by it, that all she can do is nod dumbly. 

“Are all three of you really going to drive us to school?” Hadley asks, trying to hide the amusement in her voice. 

Beca just smirks and nods. “Yeah, dude. It’s an important day for you guys.”

“And we want to show our support.” Chloe adds as she helps Wyatt into his car seat. 

Aubrey nods her agreement with a soft smile before she moves to the driver’s side. 

Hadley nods with a quiet sigh before she slips into the backseat, Beca behind her. 

–

Beca can feel everyone’s anxiety (except for Wyatt’s because he’s more excited than anything) as they exit the car. Aubrey and Chloe are nervous for Hadley and though Beca is pretty sure that Hadley is trying to act like she doesn’t care, she can see in the way that she fiddles with her lunch bag that she’s nervous. 

“Okay,” Aubrey says on a deep breath. “You two have everything? Your lunches?” 

They both nod, Wyatt holding up his Scooby-Doo lunch box and smiling brightly. Beca melts a little at the sight of it because he’s literally the cutest thing. 

“Are you sure you don’t want us to walk you in?” Chloe asks anxiously, lip getting caught between teeth. 

Beca places a hand at the small of her back. “Chlo, they’ll be fine.” 

Hadley offers Beca a small smile. “Yeah, what Beca said.” 

Chloe sighs, but nods. “Okay.”

“You better get going, then. You don’t want to be late.” Aubrey says from Chloe’s other side, her hand reaching out to take the redhead’s. 

Hadley nods and before she can even reach for her brother’s hand, he’s lurching forward and hugging Chloe’s legs tightly. “Bye, Chlo!” He chirps, and then he moves to Beca and does the same, before doing it a third time to Aubrey. 

And Beca thinks that Chloe a little bit might be on the verge of tears, because her bright eyes are suspiciously glassy as she pulls Wyatt back toward her gently to give him a proper hug. “Bye, sweetness.” She says quietly before releasing him and standing back up. 

Beca can’t help but smile at the site. She knows it’ll take a lot more time for Hadley to offer or accept that sort of affection, which– she thinks, the kid won’t last long with Chloe around. Beca is living proof of that. 

Hadley offers a small, shy smile to the three of them before she takes Wyatt’s hand and they head toward the school building. 

“Bye! Have a good day!” Beca calls after them. 

Chloe elbows her gently. “That’s too much pressure!” 

“I–I mean, h-have the day you have?” Beca looks at the ginger in bemusement while Aubrey just shakes her head. 

“C’mon, let’s get home.” Aubrey says, tugging Chloe and Beca by extension, to the car. 

–

It’s been six months since Hadley and Wyatt were brought into Aubrey, Chloe, and Beca’s home and the 12 year old has finally accepted that, maybe they actually do care about them. Because they’re still here. They celebrated Halloween together and Thanksgiving and Christmas and– and it was nothing like they had ever had. 

Hadley had cried on Christmas morning when she had seen so many gifts for them under the tree. 

Yet, apart of her is still a little skeptical, urging her not to get comfortable. That this is only temporary. 

She sighs as she closes her science book before Chloe’s voice fills the hall. “Hadley, Wyatt! Will you guys come down, we need to talk to you.”

Hadley’s heart sinks and suddenly a feeling of dread overcomes her. This is it. They’re going to send them back now. Slowly, she stands and meets her brother in the hallway. He’s humming something happily and Hadley wishes she could keep him from the inevitable pain that’s about to wash over them. 

When they reach the living room, Aubrey, Chloe, and Beca are sitting on the couch looking on edge and nervous. Aubrey gestures for them to sit on the adjacent couch. 

Hadley swallows the lump in her throat– she will not cry. Shouldn’t have gotten attached! She mentally berates. 

Aubrey takes a breath and before she can even speak, Hadley is standing up jerkily, fists clenched at her sides. “If you’re gonna send us back, at least just– consider keeping Wyatt. I know we weren’t what you were expecting or–wanting, but– he–he deserves this and I–I know I’m older and more complicated, so I under–” She can’t fight the tears anymore, or the way she sobs out her words. “–under-s-stand why you’d w-want to se–”

The three adults look equal parts confused and sad, but Beca is the one who cuts her off, shaking her head furiously. “Dude, no!” 

“We’re not sending you back.” Aubrey adds quickly, while Chloe shakes her head, gently, tears streaming down her cheeks. 

Hadley sniffs and swipes away a few tears. “Y-You’re not? Then what–”

Chloe stands slowly and takes Hadley’s hand. She stiffens at first, resisting the urge to pull away. “No, silly.” She croaks, offering this soft little smile. “We want to adopt you.” 

Hadley’s heart seizes in her chest and she blinks up owlishly at the girl. Behind her, Wyatt gasps. “You’re gonna be our moms?!” She watches as Chloe’s smile grows and then she notices Aubrey and Beca both giving watery smiles, but Beca is nodding softly. 

“Yeah, little man. If that’s cool with you– we can be whatever you want us to be.” She says, voice thick. 

Wyatt is out of his seat and rushing toward Beca and Aubrey before he practically flings himself at the two women. Beca chuckles while Aubrey tells him to be careful, but unable to keep serious as he hugs both their necks tightly. “So cool with me.” Wyatt whispers. 

Hadley brings her gaze back to Chloe’s. “Y-you want to adopt us?” She asks again, needing the clarification, because this is– it’s just– it has to be a dream. 

Chloe nods gently. “Yes, Hads. We love you both, so very much.” 

And then something happens that– has never happened before. Hadley lurches forward and throws her arms around the redhead’s waist, burying her face in the women’s abdomen. One of Chloe’s arms wrap around her tightly, while the other gently combs through her hair. “I–I love you too.” Hadley whispers, finally. And she does, she loves all three of them so much. It’s the first time she’s admitted it to anyone, even herself, but she’s never been more happy than in this moment. 

A moment later, she feels another hand on her back and pulls away enough to see Aubrey and Beca smiling at her warmly, Wyatt perched on Beca’s hip and cuddling into her. Hadley finally moves away from Chloe to hug Aubrey, and then Beca. 

“You okay, kiddo?” Beca asks as Hadley pulls back from their hug. 

Hadley sniffs and nods. “I–Yeah. I’m– I’m so happy.” She says, smiling so wide that it hurts her cheeks. 

“I take it, that you definitely want to make this permanent, then.” Aubrey says with a smile. 

“Yes. Please. When, when will it be official?” She needs it to be official. She doesn’t ever want to be taken away from this place. 

Chloe brushes a few stray tears from Hadley’s cheeks and Hadley surprises everyone, including herself as she leans into the touch. 

“We’ll submit the paperwork today.” Aubrey says quietly, voice quivering. 

The room is quiet for a moment, before Wyatt grins down at Hadley. “We have three moms now, Hadley. Isn’t that so cool?”

Hadley chuckles. “Yeah, that’s– that’s pretty cool.” 

Later, Hadley will think back and realize how fitting it is. They started out with nothing and no one. No love. And then here came Aubrey, Chloe, and Beca – their parents – so full of love and goodness that sometimes Hadley forgets that there was a time she wasn’t loved or cared for.