#ps whatever you do don't listen to the title song during this i can't be responsible

[aliciameade]

Fade Into You - Ch. 4

Title: Fade Into You (Chapter 4 of 5) Author: aliciameade Rating: T (...still kind of a hard T) Pairing: Beca/Chloe Summary: Tip for newlyweds: send a wedding invite to every billionaire whose address you can find because it's a 50/50 chance their assistants just send you a perfunctory gift without ever wondering who the hell you are. Or: Beca had a really good terrible idea when she got tired of being broke in New York.

Also on AO3 and FFnet, but I probably can’t link there idk.

(Chapter 1) (Chapter 2) (Chapter 3)

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“That’s what you’re wearing to the rehearsal?”

Beca looked down at her dress, a champagne-colored V-neck mini-dress with silver and gold beading and flowy sleeves that stopped above her elbows she’d paired with strappy silver sandals, and she frowned. “What’s wrong with it?”

“Nothing!” Chloe said quickly as she flipped her hair off her shoulder so she could put on her other hoop earring. “It’s gorgeous. I didn’t mean it in a bad way.” Then she winked. “Maybe in a jealous way though; people won’t be able to take their eyes off you.” She turned around. “Zip me up?”

Beca was quick about the zipping and moved her hand to play nervously with her hair only to remember she’d tied most of it back into a low, purposely messy ponytail. She’d given up trying to conquer the humidity and was starting to embrace the underlying natural curl of her hair. “Wait, jealous of who?”

Chloe turned back and only smiled wider.

“Shut up,” she huffed in reply and then gestured emphatically at her friend. “I mean, look at you.”

“What about me?” Chloe said with another smile, hand on the counter to lean against it as she struck a deliberate and dramatic pose with plenty of batting eyelashes.

“You’re...” And if Chloe was going to pose, Beca was going to look. And look she did at the layers of cream-colored lace that hugged every inch and curve of Chloe’s body from the sweetheart neckline to the middle of her thighs (Beca could still remember how the left one looked clutched between Chloe’s fingers) and the way she’d swept her hair up on her left side with a clip to show off the length of her neck that Beca so desperately wanted to kiss. “...stunning.”

Her response seemed to startle Chloe, the playful pose breaking until she was blinking at Beca for a few seconds before coming back to herself with a bright smile. “Thank you.” She reached for Beca’s hand and Beca gave it willingly.

They made their way out and down a path through the rainforest toward the wedding grounds. She knew they both saw a few of the girls not too far ahead, but it was nice that neither of them called out to get their attention.

Beca liked living in their little bubble.

“So, is it new?”

“Is what new?”

“Your dress,” Chloe replied.

“Oh. Yeah, I didn’t really have anything for a wedding rehearsal, so…” She knew full well she didn’t have to buy a dress for the rehearsal when she bought it. Just like she knew neither of them needed to buy a dress for a wedding ceremony that was never going to happen.

And yet she’d done both of those things.

“What about yours? I feel like I’d remember seeing you wear that.” She smiled at Chloe when she said it and gave her hand a squeeze.

Chloe giggled and nodded. “Yeah, it’s new.”

~ ~

“Oh, wow,” Beca said when they rounded the final bend. She should have been more mentally prepared for this specific event, not solely what was coming after it. Because coming around that curve and seeing the dense rainforest give way to a clearing lined with rows of benches hewn from trees and an arch fashioned from bamboo adorned with flowers and vines as though the forest was reclaiming it, and all their friends and parents milling around and Aubrey and a minister chatting in the middle of it…

“Are you crying?”

“What? No,” Beca said hurriedly as she turned her eyes up to the sky and away from Chloe’s inquiry.

“Hey.” Chloe’s voice was quiet and she felt a hand touch her cheek to bring her face back down and around until she was looking at Chloe. She seemed as moved as Beca felt. “It’s going to be okay. Okay? I love you.”

That wasn’t what Beca needed right now. She didn’t need gentility and Chloe telling her she loved her in that voice. It only made the tears well up more quickly and she closed her eyes and nodded, trying to agree that it was going to be fine.

What she really felt like was that she was agreeing to put her heart through an extremely cruel prank.

Talk about a masochist.

“There they are!” Aubrey called out and Beca felt Chloe’s thumbs brushing away the few tears she’d let escape.

“Shit, is my mascara running?” she said with a sniffle as she tried quickly to pull herself together.

Chloe shook her head. “Still perfect. But you should have thought to wear waterproof like I did.”

Beca opened her eyes to see Chloe still looking at her, eyes watery but not spilling, and for one full second, she was sure Chloe was going to kiss her.

“Oh, don’t you two look beautiful,” Aubrey’s voice was louder now and Chloe turned from her, sucking the air out of Beca’s lungs.

“Thank you,” Chloe said as she wrapped Aubrey up in a hug. “For everything.”

Beca knew what that hug really was; it was Chloe apologizing for what would come next.

“Beca,” Aubrey said over Chloe’s shoulder, “you clean up nicely.”

“You clean up nicely,” Beca mocked before deciding to act like as much of an adult as she could. “Sorry. I meant thank you. So, we’re at your rehearsal. Are we here to learn Ace of Base’s latest hit?”

Her wisecrack was to help herself relax more than anything, but Chloe and Aubrey laughed, too.

“No, this is your rehearsal. Nothing major. We’re here so everyone knows where to stand and when to walk.” Aubrey turned to stand between them and she started pointing. Whether or not her use of their two-finger flight attendant gesture was on purpose, it still made Beca smile. “So. Beca, you’ll be on the left and Chloe will be on the right.”

“Why?” Chloe asked. “Just curious.”

“Because every time I see you, Beca’s always holding your left hand. Is that okay?”

Chloe glanced at Beca behind Aubrey’s back and Beca nodded, finding it odd that she’d never noticed that habit herself. “That’s fine.”

“Okay. So, Beca, your parents will be seated in the front row on the right side—”

“You just said I’m on the left side.”

“You are. Your parents will be on the right side so they can see your face instead of the back of your head.”

“Oh.”

“So mine will be on the left side,” Chloe surmised.

“Right. And am I correct to assume your fathers will be walking each of you down the aisle? Or did you have something different in mind?”

“Yes.”

Beca paled. “Shit.”

“Sweetie, what’s wrong?” Chloe asked, taking a step back so she could see around Aubrey.

“I didn’t ask my dad to give me away,” she whispered harshly as though Aubrey couldn’t hear her from a foot away. “Did you ask yours?”

“Of course I did,” Chloe whispered back.

“Shit,” she whispered again. “Um, hey, Aubrey, I need—”

“Go ahead,” Aubrey said with a quiet laugh as she waved toward Beca’s parents sitting on a bench on the right side of the aisle.

“Thanks. Sorry. Shit, shit, shit,” she repeated to herself as she hurried down the aisle until she was arriving with an awkward two-handed wave in front of her father and Sheila. “Heeey, guys!”

“Beca! Don’t you look lovely!” her dad said as he stood and hugged her.

And she let him. She needed all the comfort and support she could get today. When he pulled away she noticed what he was wearing and frowned. His shirt might have been something Quagmire from “Family Guy” would wear and his...well, she supposed his shorts were fine given they were on an island. And his flip-flops were...passable. “Really, dad? A Hawaiian shirt?”

“I think it brings out my eyes,” he said as he popped its collar a little. “Tell her, Sheila.”

“He thinks it brings out his eyes,” Sheila dead-panned. She wasn’t so bad, Beca was learning after all these years. “Your dress, however, is gorgeous.”

“Thank you,” she said, and then remembered why she’d come over in the first place. “Um, Dad, I need to ask you something.”

“Of course, Beca. What is it?”

God, she was such an asshole. What they were doing was going to hurt every single person she cared about.

“Will you—will you walk me down the aisle?” She couldn’t believe she was asking her dad that question. “Tomorrow? Well, today. And tomorrow.” And she couldn’t believe she had to experience the look of pure joy and pride on his face before he hugged her again knowing it was all for naught.

“Of course I will!”

“Okay, cool. So, I guess...come with me because we have to practice...walking.” She felt his hand on her shoulder and hated herself a little bit more with each step. “Got him,” she announced through her guilt when they’d returned to where Aubrey and Chloe were waiting.

“Did she forget to ask you?” Chloe said to her father with a wink to Beca.

He laughed. “I knew she’d get around to it eventually. Are you surprised?”

“Not one bit.” She smiled at Beca again and then shouted, “Daddy! I need you!”

Beca watched Chloe’s father turn in surprise and make his way hurriedly to their small group. She always did like Roger. He was full of dad jokes, but ones that were actually funny, unlike her own father’s.

“Bellas! We need you, too!” Aubrey called out.

Beca had had many internal reservations about Aubrey assigning herself the role of Wedding Planner; Beca had envisioned Bridezilla-levels of control and militant precision, but she’d been remarkably—and thankfully—flexible and low-key about it all. She wielded a clipboard, but not a whistle like Beca expected, and she didn’t bark orders or pile group activities onto them.

It was actually...really nice.

She did assume her role as a natural leader as soon as the rest of the girls joined them, standing in front of the formed semi-circle to run through what she’d told Beca and Chloe about who would be sitting where once down the aisle.

She was about to say something else when she stopped and leaned over to whisper to Beca, “Did you ask anyone to be your Maid of Honor?”

Shit. Again. She wasn’t really getting married; she hadn't thought to go through all the perfunctory motions! Her face must have answered the question.

“It’s okay if you didn’t. I just need to know before I pair off the girls.”

“No, I didn’t,” she admitted, feeling like a lousy bride. “Could you do it for both of us?”

She hadn’t expected it to be a big deal; Aubrey was already standing up for Chloe so what was the big deal about being there for both of them? But Beca was, of course, wrong in her assumption and Aubrey was instantly in tears which she tried to hide as she nodded and rejoined her previous conversation to pair off the girls by height and line them up: Flo and Cynthia Rose, Lilly and Amy, Jessica and Ashley, and Emily and Stacie. Then herself, and Beca and Chloe and their fathers at the rear of the line, quickly deciding amongst themselves the two of them would enter together.

“Okay everyone, we’re just walking. I don’t want any of that step-together-step business. It’s not 1987 and the music is going to be a traditional Fijian choir so no ‘sick beats.’ We’ve all seen how this works. Split off once you pass the front row, Flo and Cynthia Rose, you’re going to have to go wider than you think to let everyone fill in toward the center. I’ll stand on Chloe’s side. Warren and Roger, you will part ways with your daughters at the first row and take your seats. Chloe and Beca will take the last few steps together, and that’s it.”

“And that’s it,” Beca heard Chloe murmur next to her and she glanced over. She seemed pensive, her hold on her father’s arm visibly tight.

“Move out!” Aubrey called toward the front of the line.

Beca watched their friends walk down the aisle in practice for the wedding she would never get to have. She watched until Chloe and she and their fathers were the only ones left waiting.

She’d have forgotten to walk if her dad’s departure hadn’t pulled her along with him. She was pretty sure he was talking to her but her ears were ringing and she tightened her hold on his arm in case she decided to faint. Then he was hugging her and leaving her and she felt Chloe’s hand take hers to lead her the last few steps until they were at the center of their friends, facing a minister neither of them had met.

“Hello, friends,” the man said with a warm smile. He was short, barely Beca’s height, and stout, and she estimated probably in his fifties. “My name is Seru. May I ask which of you is Chloe and which is Beca?”

“I’m Chloe,” she said with a little wave and Beca felt a squeeze on her hand.

“Beca,” she said after clearing her throat.

“Wonderful. We won’t be going through the full ceremony today, because we don’t want to spoil tomorrow’s fun,” he said with a wink. “But once you’ve joined hands here, I will greet everyone and read a passage Miss Posen has asked me to recite. Then we will recite your vows; would you like to follow the traditional statements or have you written your own?”

“Traditional,” Beca answered. She wondered what Aubrey had asked him to read.

“We wrote our own,” Chloe said right over her.

Beca looked at her in shock; she didn’t want to have to write fake vows for her fake wedding and now their mismatched answers looked bad.

“Someone’s going to be cramming tonight,” she heard Amy mutter behind her followed by a few quiet chuckles.

She had instant anxiety over it—that is, until she remembered there wouldn’t be a wedding and she didn’t actually have to write anything.

“Right, I forgot,” she said with an eye roll and a forced chuckle. “You all know how I am. I need to do my homework tonight I guess.”

“That’s perfectly okay,” Seru said with a laugh. “I will have you exchange rings with your vows, invite you to share your first kiss as a married couple, and the ceremony will conclude. Would you prefer Mrs. and Mrs. Beale? Or Mitchell? Or something else, perhaps?”

“Mitchell-Beale,” Chloe answered so quickly Beca had barely processed his question.

It’s what Beca would have chosen, too; she’d thought about it a lot in her imaginary notebook covered in their initials in hearts and all the times she mentally practiced her signature in different variations of her possible married name.

He jotted something down in the book he was holding and nodded. “That’s everything. Do you have any questions?”

The mention of a kiss reminded Beca that Chloe had said people were going to expect them to kiss. It had filled her with trepidation and dread and a fair dose of excitement.

But their friends hadn’t harassed them about it. And, Beca supposed, it was kind of weird if you thought about it. Who bugs their dating friends to kiss in front of them? That’s just...weird. No one had said anything and no one had questioned their legitimacy as a couple. They hadn’t had to kiss to keep up their ruse.

Part of Beca wished they’d had to, though.

She’s been waiting and wanting to kiss Chloe for roughly six years.

But it was probably for the best; all of this was hard enough on her already fragile emotions. Having to kiss...she’s not sure if she’d recover from the fallout.

“Seems easy enough,” Chloe said as she swung Beca’s hand a little. “What about you?”

“Uh no. I’m good. I get it.”

“Great! I’ll let you rehearse your exit and meet you in the back so we can take care of signing your wedding license.”

“Wedding license?” Beca said, looking at Chloe in alarm.

“Of course, dear,” Seru replied. “It’s required for all ceremonies performed in Fiji.”

“Oh, we took care of that in New York,” Chloe lied with a placating wave of her hand.

“Unfortunately, it is required to obtain one here as well. We cannot perform the ceremony without it.”

“You were supposed to go to town to pick one up yesterday,” Aubrey hissed. “It was on your itinerary. They closed at 4:00 and it needs to be issued at least one day before the wedding.”

This was...this was absurd. She was starting to panic over not having a marriage license for her fake wedding that was going to be called off in the next few hours.

“Not to worry,” their officiant said with another warm smile. “Exceptions can be made. And we’re allowed to issue them here with a little extra paperwork that we’re happy to take care of for you. We’ll take a walk to my office.”

“Great, thanks!” Chloe said and Beca could only look at her again and try to convey the level of alarm she was feeling. But all Chloe did was smile at her and squeeze her hand again.

“Okay, you two will depart first,” Aubrey said, apparently forgiving their legal misstep though Beca had a hunch she’d bring it up again. “Then the rest of us will follow in the reverse order we entered.”

At least that was easy. Chloe bumped their shoulders a couple times as they walked up the aisle. She was probably trying to convey that it was going to be fine, but all it did was make Beca want to scream that none of this was fine.

As soon as the group was back at the top of the aisle they broke out into excited, happy chatter. Everyone, that is, except Beca who kept her mouth shut so she didn’t scream.

Seru followed a few paces behind and touched her elbow to remind her of his presence and their little errand. “If you’d come with me? And you’ll need two witnesses to sign with you.”

Oh, my God. They were going to have to call this off in the next five minutes, not the next few hours.

“Bree!” Chloe said with a wave and a grabbing of her hand to pull her into a hug, though her other hand stayed locked on Beca’s. “Be our witness? Beca, who else?”

Beca stared at her for a minute willing and waiting for Chloe to read her mind that they need to end this literally right now, to no avail. “Uh, Ames?”

“Yaaaas!” their loud roommate said with a victorious pump of her fist. “Call me Katy because you can all witness my greatness.”

Beca frowned at her and chose to ignore her ridiculousness. How she was Beca’s best friend, Beca really didn’t know.

“Okay, follow me.”

Seru walked in a slow shuffle and as she and Chloe followed him, it felt a lot like some kind of a death march. At least the initial announcement of the bad news would be to their best friends. It would be a good barometer for how badly it would go when they told the others.

Once in his nearby office, Seru pulled a document from a filing cabinet and placed it on the desk in front of Beca and Chloe where he’d invited them to sit and handed them a pen with a good deal of pageantry.

They were literally staring at a marriage license and Chloe was holding a pen and Aubrey was taking photos on her phone and Amy was humming “Here Comes the Bride” but kept confusing it with “Pomp & Circumstance.”

“Uh, Chloe…?” she said and desperately hoped Chloe would do something, anything to help her figure out what to do. She couldn’t just blurt out that this had all been a joke. They hadn’t even worked out what they were going to tell everyone later as they’d planned to. She looked to her right to see Chloe holding the pen and staring at the paper until Chloe turned to look at Beca.

She was crying.

There were tears running down her cheeks as she smiled at Beca and reached to hold her hand because they’d let one another go when they sat down.

And then she leaned forward and filled in her information on the form.

Beca felt light-headed and confused and hot and cold and then Chloe was holding out the pen to offer it to her with a nod.

She stared at her again, almost smiling in shock, but Chloe just raised her eyebrows and wiggled the pen. It felt like a challenge or a question, but Beca didn’t know what that question was.

“Your turn,” she finally said and Beca took the pen.

Beca took the pen and leaned forward to put her name and birthdate and address and her parents’ names below all of Chloe’s.

And then she signed it.

“We just need your witnesses to sign and you’ll be all set.”

“Uh, here. Amy,” Beca said thickly as she handed her the pen to watch her scribble her name on a blank line before passing it to Aubrey who did so with much more care.

Then she watched Seru sign it. And stamp it. And emboss it and make a copy of it and fold it and put it in an envelope and offer it back to them with his congratulations.

It was Chloe who finally reached out to accept it.

“So that’s...that was legal,” Beca said, feeling like every nerve in her body was ready to break down.

Seru smiled widely from the other side of his desk. “Yes, my dear. Legal and will be recognized in the United States as it is here.”

She turned to look at Chloe again but she was too busy staring at the envelope in her hands to notice.

“Oh, you’re both so happy,” Aubrey said as she paid some kind of a fee to Seru. “I can tell you didn’t know how this would feel. I’m so happy for you.”

“Yeah, what blondie said,” Amy said with a loud sniff.

“Chloe?” she tried again and Chloe finally turned to look at her for a second before darting forward to hug Beca as hard as she could.

“I’m so sorry,” she whispered so quietly Beca knew no one else would hear. “I will fix this. I promise.” Then she kissed Beca’s cheek and said, “I love you so much,” at a normal volume.

All Beca could do was nod and hug her back and say, “I love you, too.”

Because she did. She loved Chloe with every fiber of her being.

And now she was married to her. She was married to her and she couldn’t even enjoy it.

“Can we eat now?”

“Yes, Amy, we can eat now,” Aubrey said with a sigh.

~ ~

All Beca wanted was five minutes alone with Chloe. Or maybe ten to be able to scream and cry and ask what the hell they just did. Beca had no idea how to undo a marriage. Divorce? Did they have to get divorced? She didn’t want to be divorced at twenty-four. Or did they get an annulment? When was it an annulment and when was it a divorce?

But she didn’t get ten minutes alone with her. She didn’t even get five, because Aubrey and Amy walked with them to the Matakau restaurant where she knew they had a private room reserved. She had read that in their itinerary. She had definitely missed the part about the license, however.

Everyone else had arrived before them thanks to their detour to take care of a little legality and cheered when they entered.

It made Beca want to cry.

Instead, she smiled and let Chloe lead her by the hand through the room to what were clearly meant to be their seats, two empty chairs at a table for six where their parents also sat. So that’s where she sat, growing increasingly numb to the buzz around her. She was vaguely aware that someone was pouring her a glass of wine. She went through the motions of eating the salad someone put in front of her. She smiled when it sounded like someone was talking to her.

The ringing in her head was starting to become unbearable when Chloe leaned over and touched her shoulder to get her to move closer.

“I’m going to bring up your job and how your boss treats you.”

Beca had to think for a minute to catch up. “What?”

“I’m going to say your boss treats you badly and that I don’t want you to work there anymore. Start an argument with me about it and I’ll ask you to step outside to talk. Then we’ll come back and explain that it’s been an ongoing point of stress for us and it’s clear we’re never going to get past it and I can’t get in the way of your career.”

“Oh.” She took a deep breath and nodded. “Right, that’s good.” That’s all it was going to be. They were going to have the spat that broke the camel’s back and it would all be over. Tomorrow they would be on their way to their extended vacation for their non-refundable would-be honeymoon on a neighboring island where they wouldn’t bump into anyone they knew and she could wallow in self-pity as much as she wanted.

They could go back to normal.

Chloe patted her knee and sat back, though she left her hand to rest on Beca’s knee.

Now all she had to do was wait for it all to end.

~ ~

“Raise your hand if you were surprised to find out these two were an item,” Chloe’s father was saying as he stood addressing their small party, glass in hand. It was the fourth speech they’d had to sit through, kicked off by her own father and followed by Amy (who mostly cracked jokes about having to share an apartment with them and how much sex they had which was as embarrassing as it was funny—and false) and Aubrey (who was barely understandable due to her blubbering but there was a lot in there about sisterhood and family).

Everyone laughed but no one raised their hand.

“Beca.”

She looked up at Roger Beale and smiled, feeling Chloe’s fingers tracing back and forth at the base of her neck where her hand had come up to rest on the back of Beca’s chair.

“I’ve never seen my little girl so happy around anyone. I’ll be proud to call you my daughter. To you both,” he finished with a raise of his glass that everyone followed with a chorus of “Cheers!”

When things died down again, it was Chloe who took up her glass and stood and said, “Okay, my turn,” while everyone clapped and whistled.

This was it. This was going to be it.

“I want to thank you all for joining us here. I know it wasn’t easy, but it really means the world to us that you came.” She glanced down at Beca so she smiled and nodded in agreement. “You didn’t have to, but you all pitched in to make this a really, really special time for Beca and me.”

“That’s what pitches do,” Amy shouted, her hand to her mouth like it was a megaphone. “We pitch in!”

Her joke was received with groans by everyone except Beca’s dad, who guffawed. Because of course he would.

“We’ve been through a lot together,” she continued, smiling down at Beca. “I know moving to New York wasn’t easy for you.” Here it comes. “It wasn’t where I thought I’d end up either. But being with you makes up for anything I thought I was missing because you’re everything I need. I love you, Beca.” She lifted her glass. “To you.”

Beca watched her drink and heard everyone coo at the sweetness.

Chloe sat down. “It’s bad luck not to drink after a toast. Especially one for you,” Chloe said as she set down her glass and nodded at Beca’s as though she hadn’t skipped over one very important plot point of their evening.

She reached for her glass slowly, still staring at Chloe. “What about—”

“Beca, oh, my gosh!”

Beca barely had time to lift her arm and glass of wine out of the way before Emily basically fell into her lap to hug her.

“I can’t believe you’re marrying Chloe! It’s like a fairytale!” She was borderline wailing.

She caught her around the waist with her free arm to keep her from tipping backward. “Uh, Legacy, how much have you had to drink?”

“Maybe a little,” she stage-whispered before giggling. “Oh, it’s so romantic! You sang and Chloe found you and it’s like you were a siren singing her song and you fell in love and now here we are!” She hugged Beca again and she felt her starting to lean forward to stand up.

“That’s not what happened,” she said as she gave Emily a nudge.

“Well, you were singing my song,” Chloe teased from beside her. “And I did fall in love with you.”

Beca almost did a spit take as she finally took her toasted sip.

She didn’t have a chance to say anything about it because Emily had moved on to fawn similarly over Chloe and her dad was asking her to dance and they were pulled away from each other.

Her dad was asking her to dance?

She looked up at his proud smiling face and proffered hand and...she guessed she could dance with her father at her very real rehearsal dinner for her very fake wedding.

She let him help her to her feet and lead her to an open area in the room and into a slow dance to the tropical music being piped in.

“Don’t worry; I’m not going to say anything sappy. I have a feeling you’ve had your fill of that by now.”

She laughed to herself, still trying to step over what Chloe had said to her, and nodded. “Yeah, that quota’s been filled.”

“But I do have to say, Beca: your mother would be so happy. I wish she could be here to see this.”

That...that wasn’t fair. She’d made it this long without thinking about her mother who would have been the very first to RSVP if she hadn’t...if she hadn’t. The tears snuck up on her, making her choke for a second before she hid her face against her dad’s chest, trying to not let him see.

“You’ve been pretty quiet tonight,” he said after a moment, thankfully ignoring her crying if he noticed it. “Are you nervous about tomorrow?”

Understatement of the century. Nervous? In a constant state of low to moderate panic. Wondering how the fuck she ended up in this position. Wishing she wasn’t a dirtbag who thought up a way to scam people out of gifts. A general emotional trainwreck.

“Different question,” he said before she could answer. “Does Chloe make you happy?”

“Yeah,” she said with a nod. That was an easy question to answer.

“Then you don’t have anything to be nervous about,” he said with a smile before lifting his arm to twirl her like he used to do when she was a little girl.

It gave her a full view of the room again and she saw Chloe and Roger swaying, too, a few feet away. Chloe looked over just then and smiled at her.

So she smiled back.

~ ~

“May I cut in?”

Beca looked to her left, surprised for some reason to see Chloe smiling up at her father.

“Of course, be my guest.”

Her father stepped away and Chloe took his place, a hand on her waist and the other taking Beca’s hand to rest it between them against Chloe’s shoulder.

“Hi,” Chloe said softly as she subtly led them.

“Hi?” Beca was pretty sure her tone said all that was needed.

“I promise we’ll talk about it tonight. Can we just enjoy this for now? Please?” Chloe’s face was a heartbreaking combination of chagrin, fear, and hope.

Beca looked at her until she couldn’t bear the uncertainty in her eyes any longer. “Fine,” she said with a sigh as she settled into their dance.

She always did like dancing with Chloe, though slow dancing wasn’t something they did.

It was nice.

Beca kept quiet, not trusting herself to say something she’d regret so she chose to say nothing at all. She wanted to ask Chloe why she was doing this, how she thought they could ever explain it away at this point. Beca didn’t want it to go so far as one of them leaving the other at the altar, or saying, “I don’t” instead of, “I do.”

But she also really needed to ask Chloe why she felt it necessary to say something as meaningful as, “I fell in love with you,” at that moment. It wasn’t needed to sell anything. Emily assumed it to be a fact already; there was no reason to have to reinforce it. Those words weren’t to be thrown around lightly if you asked Beca. They weren’t to be used as a joke or as a lie or as anything but the absolute truth, and she never would have thought Chloe to be someone who thought anything different.

She focused on Chloe’s eyes that didn’t want to let hers go, and sometimes she looked around to see their guests, some of them talking at tables, a few of the Bellas dancing with the staff instead of allowing them to clear the tables. Her dad and Sheila were dancing, as were Roger and Marie.

All the important people in her life were there, together, happy and celebrating her life with Chloe.

It didn’t feel all that false once she set aside the not unimportant label of marriage. She did love Chloe. And Chloe loved her. She knew that implicitly. And they did have a life together and would continue to. She had been there for Chloe in sickness and in health and Chloe had definitely been there for richer or poorer...which was how they got into this whole mess to begin with. Beca didn’t need anything else to be happy. Everything she needed was in that room. Whether it was an island paradise or a cramped illegal sublet in Red Hook, there was nothing missing from her life.

“Hey, Chlo, I—”

“Okay everyone, these two have a big day tomorrow so it’s time to call it a night!”

Beca closed her eyes and silently cursed Aubrey’s timing. She wasn’t sure what combination of words was about to come out of her mouth, but she knew she’d spent a good portion of her life gathering them.

There was a groan of disappointment and Beca watched Chloe lean in closer until her lips grazed her ear. “Walk me home?”

“Yeah.” She smiled at Chloe when she pulled back. “Of course.”

~ ~

Their walk was quiet. Aubrey had the thoughtfulness to allow the two of them to leave the party first and hold the others back for a few minutes and Beca was eternally grateful to not have to walk the length of the resort surrounded by everyone’s frantic, if positive, energy.

They walked along the path hand in hand until Beca had to let Chloe’s go so she could unlock their villa and hold the door for Chloe to enter.

Chloe didn’t bother to turn on a light, so Beca didn’t either. There was plenty of light from the moon’s reflection off the water and the outdoor lighting to see well enough to move through the house. Beca saw Chloe put her handbag down on the table in the sitting room, the long envelope containing their very legal marriage license sticking out of it. Beca set her own clutch down there, too, and followed her.

Chloe was doing her silent thinking thing again and while Beca had a thousand questions to ask, especially to gain clarification on one important thing Chloe had said at dinner, she couldn’t bear to interrupt the silence.

Instead, she kept following until they were in the lounge on the lagoon-side of the house. She watched Chloe step out of her wedges and then reach toward the back of her dress, only to stop and instead gather her hair to lift it off her neck.

She just stood there, her back to Beca and holding her hair up like she was expecting Beca to—

Oh.

Beca took the few steps forward necessary to be able to reach out with embarrassingly shaky hands to unhook the eyelet at the base of Chloe’s neck and then draw the zipper down until it stopped at the curve of her lower back. She took half a step back. How many times had she seen Chloe’s smooth, strong back? She’d lost count years ago. But every time felt like the first. She ached to reach out and trail her fingers down the strip of skin she’d revealed so instead she curled her hands into fists.

Chloe was still holding her hair up and she turned her head slightly. What she said next made Beca forget her own name.

“I said you could take it off the next time.”

Beca inhaled so sharply she knew it was audible but Chloe only glanced at her sidelong before facing forward again.

What was she getting at? Was she actually asking Beca to undress her? And if so, why? Where was this going? Today—the last three days—had been a confusing, agonizing, chaotic mess and, frankly, she was mentally and emotionally exhausted. She didn’t have it in her to question it. Or contest it.

She stepped closer and lifted her hands again and hoped they didn’t feel as hot as her face did as she slipped them under the cap sleeves of Chloe’s dress to guide them down her arms.

She tried not to touch her but it was inevitable as Chloe lifted her arms a little to slip the sleeves past her wrists.

Beca had noticed it before when she’d unzipped it, but there was nothing else under the bodice of the dress. Chloe’s back was as bare as it had been at the spa.

She had to swallow at the subsequent understanding that that meant her chest was bare, too, and she took her hands back once the dress hung from Chloe’s hips. She knew it could slip down easily if Chloe moved or twisted, but she was stone-still. Beca could see her breathing, the slow, steady breaths expanding and relaxing in her back and shoulders. She was close enough that she could smell the moisturizers and oils Chloe had used that afternoon. She was close enough that if she dropped her chin a little, she could kiss her shoulder.

Chloe was waiting.

Beca held her breath as she reached out again, this time slipping her fingers between the dress and Chloe’s hips to nudge it down.

It fell easily and she heard Chloe’s steady breathing stop in the silence of the room.

Beca didn’t know what she should do. She didn’t know what was okay, or what was even happening. All she could do was what she wanted to do, so she left her hands where they were, holding Chloe’s hips, bare except for an undergarment that Beca could only feel the edge of beneath her hands. All she could do was lean in and touch her lips to Chloe’s neck that was still bared and on display.

She instantly felt dizzy and hot so she stopped and waited out the silence, her lips barely touching Chloe’s skin.

Then Chloe sighed and dropped her hair to reach back until she was guiding Beca closer with a hand to the back of her head.

Beca heard herself whimper as she pressed a bold kiss to Chloe’s neck.

She couldn’t believe this was happening. Never in a hundred thousand years—

“Beca…” Chloe said through another sigh and Beca felt a hand at her waist reaching blindly and pulling until Beca was flush against her back.

God, she felt amazing. Beca started to lose herself. She kissed her again. And again. And again, drawing a slow line down until her lips were on Chloe’s shoulder.

That’s when Chloe broke out of their embrace and strode forward toward the balcony.

She was out and down the ladder out of sight before Beca had even taken a much-needed breath. She heard the soft splash of water next and that’s when she moved.

She ripped at her sandals, fighting with the straps until she was kicking them off to slide who-knows-where. Her dress was next and she was sure she was going to rip it in her haste as she pulled her arms out of her sleeves and yanked the whole thing up and over her head to toss it aside to follow her.

She climbed down the ladder until she was slipping into the lagoon behind their villa. It was darker there than it had been in the house, away from the path lighting. Now it was just the moon and stars and it took a couple seconds of glancing around until she found Chloe a few yards away standing in chest-deep water looking out past the breakwater toward the ocean. Her hair was wet; she’d dove under, and Beca could see the droplets of water clinging to the skin of her arms and shoulders.

The water was a welcome coolness. It might have even been cold, but she was so overheated she wouldn’t have noticed if it was.

Beca pushed off the ladder to swim the few strokes over to her to right herself next to Chloe. She didn’t touch her. She didn’t know if she should, or even if she could. She didn’t know what was going on anymore. And if she couldn’t touch her ever again, she would learn to be content with what had happened. It was more than she could have ever dreamed of.

She finally saw Chloe turn to face her out the corner of her eye so she turned, too. Chloe still looked pensive, but a lot of the fear she’d seen in her earlier that evening was gone.

“I promised I’d fix it,” Chloe finally said.

“I know you will,” Beca replied. She didn’t think they were going to talk about this right this second but—

“I don’t want to fix it.” It was barely above a whisper.

Beca blinked and then squinted at Chloe through the darkness. “What?”

“I don’t want to fix it.”

Beca felt her heart start to give out. Or go into overdrive. Or both.

There was a quick sound of hands lifting out of the water and that’s the last thing Beca registered before Chloe kissed her.

There was a lot about her life Beca didn’t understand. Why she was the way she was. Why some people were dicks and why other people were angels like Chloe. Why she made dumb decisions and why she rarely seemed to learn from them.

There was one thing, however, she always understood, even if she didn’t know what to do with it.

She understood, without a doubt, that she was in love with Chloe.

She may have whimpered, or moaned, or made no sound at all. She did finally realize she should kiss her back.

She reached for Chloe under the water and wrapped her arms around her waist to pull her closer as she kissed her like she’d waited to do for years. She felt Chloe’s arms around her neck, water dripping shiver-inducing rivers down her back, though it might have been the way Chloe’s tongue slipped across her lip that made her shiver.

She tasted like wine and Beca pulled her closer still, her mind finally registering that what she felt against her own chest was Chloe. Nothing but the softness of Chloe pressing against her own and just as she had a fleeting thought that she should have taken off her bra when she took off her dress, she felt Chloe’s fingers pull and twist at the band and then it was gone.

She didn’t know where it went. It would probably sink or drift out to sea.

She didn’t care.

She let her hands start to roam, then. Because if Chloe was going to do that, then Beca could certainly run her hands up her back.

And if Chloe was going to—

“Shit,” Beca breathed against Chloe’s lips and she might have felt guilty about breaking the silence with something so crass if Chloe hadn’t hummed a laugh and ran her fingertips across Beca’s nipples again.

Beca was about to return the favor when Chloe squealed and wrapped her arms around Beca to hug her.

Just to hug her.

But it was everything.

Then Beca had to gasp because Chloe grabbed her shoulders and used her own weight to dunk Beca right under the surface.

“Dude!” she said when she came up sputtering. The full-body soak had rung life and clarity into what had been Beca’s muddled, foggy mind. Chloe wanted her. Chloe had asked Beca to undress her. Had kissed her and touched her and didn’t want to fix this godawful mess they’d gotten themselves into.

“You weren’t nearly wet enough,” Chloe said as she hopped backward a few paces until she was swimming toward the ladder.

“Yeah, that’s…” Beca stopped and considered her response, and then decided to fuck it. All bets were off now. “That’s really not a problem I’m having right now.”

“Ooh,” Chloe sing-songed with a smile. “Beca Mitchell-Beale. You minx.”

That made Beca pause for a second, but only a second. She didn’t want her surprise to come across as anything negative so she grinned and started swimming to catch her, but Chloe was already up the ladder by the time Beca was climbing.

Her heart was pounding.

She felt positively alive.

She thought she’d find Chloe waiting for her in the lounge but she wasn’t there. So, Beca went looking but didn’t have to go far.

She was in their bedroom with two towels in her hands, one of which she held out to Beca as soon as she entered.

“Thanks,” she said as she took it and wiped off her face before heading to the bathroom so she could wring out her hair before it dripped everywhere. She ruffled the towel through it as she padded back to the bedroom right away; she didn’t want Chloe to think she wasn’t coming right back or something and leave.

But Chloe was still there, now bent in half as she dried her legs and feet and stomach and chest until she tossed her towel onto the chair near her side of the bed.

She was naked.

Completely, totally naked.

Beca tried not to stare but she was staring. It was almost impossible given the fact that Chloe was walking toward her until Beca’s towel was in Chloe’s hands.

“Let me,” Chloe said quietly as she started patting it over Beca, starting at her neck and then down her left arm and right, down her chest which made Beca’s breath catch and Chloe wink. Over her stomach and then Beca felt Chloe’s thumbs catch the waistband of her underwear and meet her eyes.

As if she needed to ask?

Beca nodded and Chloe bent a little to slip them down her legs until Beca stepped out of them.

Then the towel was back, brushing down her legs until Chloe moved it behind her to dry the backs of her legs, higher until she was on Beca’s ass which made her wink again, and across her back. She gave the ends of Beca’s hair one more squeeze in the towel and then tossed it aside to take Beca’s hand to lead.

And Beca followed.

She followed as Chloe led her to their bed and up onto it until they were side by side, smiling at each other.

“Did you mean it?” Beca finally said. At this point, she might as well ask all the questions.

Chloe’s fingertips trailed along Beca’s arm, back and forth from wrist to shoulder. “Which part?”

“Um, specifically, first...what you said at dinner. About the siren thing?”

Chloe bit her lower lip and nodded.

“Is that why you haven’t called this off?”

She nodded again and Beca’s heart thumped in her chest.

“Can you—” she swallowed and took a breath “—can you say it? Again?”

Chloe’s smile grew until her lip slipped from her teeth. “I fell in love with you. A long time ago.”

Beca exhaled so hard she was embarrassed. “Okay,” she said after a moment. “Cool.”

“Cool?” Chloe said, eyebrows raised.

“Yeah, it’s cool,” Beca said with a shrug she knew did not come across at all ‘cool.’ “Because...I am kind of...seriously in love with you, too.”

“Yeah?” Chloe said with an adorable laugh. She looked on the verge of tears and Beca understood. She was probably already crying; she didn’t know and didn’t care.

“Yeah, dude,” she said as she reached up to rest her hand against Chloe’s neck, fingertips drawing small circles on the back of it.

“I’d hoped so,” Chloe said with a small smile.

“Tell me about it,” Beca said with a roll of her eyes. “This week has been fucking agony.”

Chloe seemed shocked for a second until she burst out laughing, and crying, and nodding as she rolled onto her stomach and closer to Beca. Beca swept her hand down her back, then, finally able and allowed to do that. To touch.

She could feel Chloe crying and she didn’t try to shush her. She could cry as much as she needed to. It gave Beca time to think and process and start putting the pieces of their six-year-long puzzle together until she was sure in her conclusion.

“Hey,” she said after a few minutes when she knew the tears were subsiding.

Chloe rolled back a little to look at her and despite the tears and towel-smudged makeup, she’d never looked more beautiful. “Hmm?”

Beca reached for Chloe’s left hand where it was tucked between them and laced their hands together, making sure to run her fingers across the pearl Chloe was wearing. “I don’t want to fix it either.”

Chloe stared at her for a solid minute before she burst out laughing again. She laughed so hard she rolled away and onto her back and Beca sat up, smiling but a little unsure what the hysterics meant, to look down at her and appreciate everything about the moment.

“Oh, my God, this is crazy,” Chloe groaned as she wiped more tears off her cheeks. “Hey, Beca?”

“Yeah?”

Chloe turned her head so she could look up at her and she smiled. “Will you marry me tomorrow?”

Beca didn’t know she’d waited her entire life to hear those words until they were on Chloe’s lips.

“You’re such a nerd,” she managed to say despite being unable to breathe. “Yeah, I’ll marry you.”

She leaned down to kiss her fiancée. Her real fiancée.

“Wait,” Chloe said after a few seconds and Beca pulled back.

“What?”

“We’re already married.”

Beca laughed and laid down again, this time as close to Chloe as she could be without being on top of her. “Yeah, I guess we are.” She ran her fingers along Chloe’s stomach and felt her suck it in at the tickle so she smoothed her hand over it instead. “Does that make tonight our wedding night?”

She was teasing. Mostly.

Chloe looked at her for a second before leaning in to kiss her. It was soft this time, and slow, and gentle, and her hand came to rest over Beca’s on her abdomen to pull Beca’s arm around her waist. “No,” she said when they parted. “That’s tomorrow night.”

“Oh.” Beca wasn’t totally sure why that made her breathless. They were in love. And married. And engaged. And naked in bed together. But there was a lot about her life Beca didn’t understand. “Okay.”

“Tonight,” Chloe said as she shifted onto her side until she was the one almost on top of Beca, “we just do this.”

Beca sighed as Chloe’s lips touched hers.

There was no “just” about it.

It was everything.

~ ~

(Chapter 5)

[lovethisletters]

Hi! Again I must say: I’m sorry for taking so long, things got complicated but now I have little bit of time…besides I’m wery picky with translations (as you would see in a moment). Anyway, I was very much excited for and while writing this, since I found myself to be very fond of Faith and her relationship with Tim (they’re the cutest) so I tried my best!

Ps: The title of “Refuge” doesn’t have that much relevance in this scenario, is just the title of the song I was listening to while writing this (I think it describes perfectly how Tim’s and Faith relationship might evolve); in case you listen to it but aren’t really familiar with spanish language, here it is subtitled! But there’s minor errors on the translation:

1.     "Eres como el sol caliente y yo soy marte" wich means "You're like the warm sun and I'm like mars".

2.     "Soy desordenado cuando quiero" the word quiero/querer in spanish can mean several things, normally indicating the yearning of something in a possesive (I want this to myself) or romantic (like: I love you)/aspirational (like: I want to become a writer) way (depends on context) so the most adecute in this case will be "I'm sloppy when I am in love" not "when I want" here is a little deffinition. 

3.     The most correct wording in "let me be, I'll help you" would be in fact: "Let me, I will help you".

 Pairing: Faith O’Neal (@insideoflit OC) x Tim Drake

Summary: Faith is tormented by her past to the point of being unable to sleep and have an anxiety attack, so Tim helps her get through it.

♡♤♡♤♡♤♡♤

 12:22 am

...

1:18 am

...

2:48 am

...

3:04 am

Her head registered every digit drawn on the clock next to his bed, counting every time she woke up;  but something within herself knew that I'd had been more than just 4. Her eyes weighed, but her mind did not stop, she kept thinking ... remembering and everything at the worst moment.

Maybe it had been 5 or at most 8 nights in a row without being able to sleep completely, but in fact, she really didn't remember the last time she had slept peacefully.  Months or even years ago?

She only knew that the situation had gone from bad to worse ...

What she thought was a simple period of insomnia which would most likely disappear a week later, became part of his routine, which had stopped bothering her a long time ago: intrusive thoughts, impossible variations in hidden memories and unanswered questions that would often come and go and multiplied in the dead of night.

And yet this time it was different ... it was a living nightmare.

The intrusive thoughts had quickly escalated and evolved to such extent that they now resonated aggressively, scratching the walls of his head, digging through everything she wanted to forget and shouting at her so that she could feel it in the depths of his being.

An imaginary pain that threatened to break his little head.

In.  That.  Exact.  Instant.

She felt his breath cut short at the thought of having to get used to all this, his chest full of emotions and an uncontrollable feeling of despair.

That's why she didn't think of anything other than running, rising abruptly from the bed, barely giving his brain time to process the situation;  she ran, as fast as his legs allowed her, she didn't care at all if they were going to break… she just wanted to escape from all that and ignore that past she had unintentionally remembered.

The smell of petricor invading her senses causing a feeling of anguish, seeing those memories instantly regain strength and torturing her in such a ruthless way...

—Hey! Be careful!— her thoughts abruptly interrupted to the feeling of his body collide and almost fall to the ground, if not thanks to the arm clinging to her waist preventing her fall.

—Are you ok?—Tim's eyes invaded by an expression of genuine concern, trying to search the answer to her irrational behaviour.

She was so immersed in her thoughts that she didn't even realize the moment she reached the garden and much less had noticed Tim standing in the middle of it…like some creepy scarecrow or something…

—I ...— His mind still not quite at the moment allowed for her words to float in the air in a sloppy way.

Tim looked at the girl carefully, trying to decipher what had put her in that state: her hair slightly disheveled by the gentle flushing of the wind, a cold sweat running down her forehead, eyes flushed, her pajamas had gotten a little dirty  due to his small race in the humidity of the night and his bare feet hugging the muddy floor.

—Come, you're going to get sick like this!— He reproached her gently trying not to overwhelm her as much as possible and guiding her back inside.

The living-room of the mansion was empty, wrapped in the cozy sound of silence; indicating the absence of most of its inhabitants.

Tim told Faith to sit by pointing at the couch with a slight nod, which she obeyed.

—Wait here—he ordered again, before disappearing down the hall that led to one of the many bathrooms and returning moments later with a pair of clean towels, leaving one of them over her head, with a small mischievous smile.

—Don't run like that, Faith, you could have slipped and gotten hurt…—He said kneeling in front of her, his hands on the towel shaking it slightly in an attempt to help her dry.

His calm voice hiding the reality of his restlessness.  She knew…knew she had worried him ... And that look only confirmed it, she had already seen it many times, maybe more than she should;  but it was something she could not avoid and that frustrated her greatly.

But Tim was always characterized by being perceptive and soon noticed the expression of guilt on Faith's face.

—Hey ... It’s ok—The Boy reassured by staring at her, still smiling, because he wanted her to really feel safe.

Tim knew that Faith had trouble sleeping, he knew perfectly the symptoms of insomnia: he had noticed the lights of her room stay on until dawn, dark circles highlighting her beautiful big eyes, her clumsy movements during the day, lack of concentration and had even once heard Bruce scolding her because of her teacher's multiple complaints accusing her of sleeping in class.

But she would never admit it… she "didn't want to be a bother"

Tim allowed himself to caress Faith's cheek, gently and delicately as if she were some kind of porcelain doll about to break.

—Do you want to talk about it?

Faith thought briefly before her eyes began to fill with tears that threatened to slip away.

—No, not really ...— A glimmer of guilt was noticeable in her response.

—It’s Okay. Don't feel like you have to—followed by those words, Tim felt the need to hug her;  his arms carefully surrounded Faith's small figure.

—Just know I'm always going to be here for you — his chin resting slightly on her head partially covered by the towel.

The tears that she had forced herself to hide, began to escape silently with an air of cynicism.

—Dammit— she cursed under her breath.

Noticing this, he quickly bent down again to wipe away her tears with his hands.

Faith was a strong, but stubborn person, many times denying herself the idea of ​​asking for help and this was no exception;  she didn't want Tim to see her that way, in her most vulnerable state;  but she also didn't want to leave, despite all the crying, she found Tim's company very much comforting.

So… she stood there, allowing herself to be vulnerable in front of other people for once in a really long time.

After a few minutes (maybe even more) when she had no more tears left, Tim spoke again.

—It's getting late, you should be asleep and unless Riddler is entertaining the bat, Bruce will be here at any minute and I don't want him to scold you for staying up so late, you have class tomorrow, right?

Faith nodded, releasing a small chuckle upon hearing Drake's motherly but bossy tone.

—Whatever you say, mom — emphasizing the word "mom" on a goofy manner.

He rolled the eyes pretending to be offended but without making the least of attempts to hide his own amusement.

—Go to your room, dummy!—

She raised her hands as if she were being arrested before turning around and running upstairs followed by Tim, who was also heading to his room.  However, something stopped her once she was standing in front of the door of her own room.

She didn't want to be alone ... at least not for tonight ...

A small knock on Tim's door caught his attention off of his monitors, at first he thought it was Alfred about to scold him like every other night for not sleeping or Damian who had arrived from patrol early and couldn't find Titus favorite chewing toy.

But no… there in the door frame stood Faith with a pillow under her arm and a slightly shy smile.

—You're supposed to be asleep.

—Right back at ya — she replayed quickly.

—I’m not the one who has to save his grades on algebra tomorrow, Faith—he said, reminding her of his test in the morning.

—Yeah, well… truth is… I can't sleep…

Her voice barely even believing herself.

—Can I… can I stay here? —Tim flushed wildly almost at the exact moment he heard those words come out of her mouth.

—I… Um.  Yeah  Yeah, sure — tripping on his own words he stepped clumsily into the side in order to let her in.

Tim's room was both a mess and incredibly clean… his desk was the messy part, probably because he spend a lot of his time glued to his computer to the point Alfred sometimes had to brake in and almost drag him outside to eat like a normal human  being instead of just feeding off of energy bars and coffee.

In comparison was the side of the bead, it was so clean. Everything looked almost brand new, since he barely slept and when he did it was just very quick naps before patrol.

—Make yourself comfortable— he signaled the bed before putting back on his headphones and to whatever he was doing.

—Aren't you going to sleep?— Faith asked as she settled between the sheets.

Tim was silent for a moment, trying to find an answer.

—Well ... maybe just for a little while…—

He finally spoke before joining Faith, keeping a adequate distance, which Faith quickly ignored by hugging him unexpectedly, burying his face in the boy's chest.

—Good night, Tim.—

Tim thanked the lights were off, otherwise Faith would have seen his face as red as a tomato.  The girl's touch was comforting and warm so he didn't think twice before reciprocating the hug and planting a small kiss on her head.

—Good night, Faith.