Chapter Text
Her head is pounding, and her mouth is dry. Before she even opened her eyes, Beca knew she was in for quite the hangover.
How can I be sweating and cold at the same time??
Beca groaned, rolling out from under her comforter and slowly making her way to the bathroom. She could feel her heartbeat pulse with every step. Through every limb. In the pit of her gut and the back of her throat. She stuck her head under her bathroom faucet and sucked down a mouthful of water, but it was no use.
If only I’d thought to do this last night.
Beca splashed some of the water from the faucet on her face, scrubbing at her own frown. Belatedly, she realized that she could’ve thought of a lot of things last night.
Like, maybe when a hot woman that you happen to be dating starts feeling her way up the back of your shirt, you let her??
Beca sighed.
Shower first, self-deprecation later.
She turned on the water, cranking up the temp until the mirror was certain to fog. She pulled the scrunchie out of her hair and began to work at the knots.
She saw the texts from Chloe this morning, and to be honest, she was terrified. She felt like everything was going so quickly - especially at the club - and all she wanted to do was keep going. She’d never felt like this. Every part of her brain and her body and her soul was excited when they so much as texted each other. And now that she knew Chloe felt similarly, she didn’t know what to do.
With the hangover though, she could only do one thing at a time anyway.
So she showered and tried not to think about Chloe.
And then she ordered breakfast and tried not to think about Chloe.
She checked her socials - thanking the universe that there weren’t any photos of her or blind items that seemed to be about her - and, while she had the time, she tried not to think about Chloe.
And then she opened her texts.
She was feeling a little better, so instead of trying to wade through her conflicting thoughts with a series of bumbling texts, she hit the FaceTime call button instead.
It took a few rings, and Beca was starting to second guess her approach when Chloe picked up.
“Oh, god, I can call back later-“ she gasped, covering her eyes.
“What? No, Beca,” Chloe laughed. “I’m at the pool. I have a bikini on, see?”
Beca peeked through her fingers and was graced with a visual of a tanned, toned stomach and a bright purple bikini.
“Ah. Uhm,” Beca stuttered. “Hi.”
Chloe giggled nervously as she re-oriented the camera on her face.
“Hi,” she parroted back, a tight smile pulling at her features. “How are you feeling?”
“Like shit. You?”
Chloe frowned, and Beca couldn’t help thinking that she still looked so cute with the little furrow in her brow and the pout to her lips.
“I’m okay, actually. When you do these things, like, every weekend, you start to get pretty good at them. Get into the rhythm,” she replied as she pulled her earlobe. “It’s, like, second nature for us ladies. Water, Advil, jog in the morning. Some hot yoga if we can swing it. Then we sit by the pool all day. The sunshine is good for the soul. It’s really cool, because actually-”
Beca watched as Chloe continued to ramble, but eventually her own nerves got the better of her.
“Did I freak you out?” she cut in suddenly.
Chloe immediately stopped fiddling with her earring.
“What?”
“Last night, and yesterday. We’re good? I know we’re moving fast, like, emotionally. That’s okay? We’re okay?”
The nausea was back. She felt like her heart was going to merge with her appendix.
Stupid stupid stupid.
“No, I-“ Chloe started, the stopped. She took a deep breath and smiled a real, genuine smile.
“Thank you for saying something,” she said when she spoke again. “I didn’t know if we were going to ignore it or whatever. Gosh, that would’ve been awful. Sorry- yes. We’re okay. We’re good- great even.”
Beca felt herself smiling too, and she cringed against the pain in her eyebrow.
“Can I take you out to lunch?” she asked. “Sometime when I’m not dying? Maybe tomorrow or in six months?”
Chloe giggled as she responded.
“Well, we still have a matinee tomorrow, but I could do dinner?”
“It’s a date,” Beca confirmed.
“Do you want to come down here now? I could get you a chair. It’s really nice out here!”
“Oh, no, the sun hates me,” Beca replied, and she smiled as she watched Chloe laugh again.
I’ll never get tired of that, she thought suddenly. I could spend the rest of my life trying to make her laugh.
Woah.
That’s kinda scary.
“Seriously though, I’d burn like a- like a muffin in a pizza oven,” Beca joked as she tried to shake off the intense emotion. “And I think I’m staying in tonight, because there’s no way I’ll live through this hangover if I drink again. I’ll see you tomorrow?”
They said their goodbyes, and Beca was left smiling in the silence of her room. She was still reeling from her physical and emotional hangovers, but she did feel a bit brighter than she did before.
Well, Chloe was right about one thing, she thought as she fished some ibuprofen out of her bag.
A little sunshine was good indeed for the soul.
*****
The show went fine.
She slept okay - got more sleep than she normally did, too.
And she was right on schedule with her piss-off-the-waitstaff-with-her-voucher bs.
But Beca could feel it.
She was nervous.
This was their first real date - one without other Bellas around or nearby at the very least. One without fans who might interrupt for an autograph or a selfie.
Just her and Chloe.
Two women who liked each other and apparently sucked at dating.
The emotional intensity seemed to crank up the nerves factor in the last day, and Beca wasn’t feeling quite like herself. She threw on a baseball cap, some glasses, and - even though it was well over 90 in Vegas - a hoodie, and she took to The Strip.
It was midday, and hot, so while there were tourists and promoters walking around between the shops and restaurants, there wasn’t a lot of idlers. She let herself blend into the flow of traffic, not stopping until she was at least a mile from where she started - and there was still casinos and restaurants before her.
In LA, there wouldn’t even be a mile to walk, unless you were doing something awful like going on a hike. There weren’t places where you could wander or disappear into a group. Everyone was everywhere, on purpose, all the time. You only went places to be seen.
New York was like Vegas. Anonymity arose from the sheer number of people.
But Vegas was different - it was the spectacle of LA, that kind of “be seen” attitude, but being surround by so many flashing lights and wealth disparity and impulse was… well, different. Overstimulating. And in spite of that - or maybe because of that? - relaxing. Nothing here was like it seemed, and yet that felt like the most authentic way it could be. She wondered what Chloe thought. She’d have to ask her.
She made her way back to the hotel just as the Bellas matinee was being seated. She greeted one of the ticket sellers with a humble smile, nabbing one of the seats way far in the back.
Unlike Beca, who played in illicit’s club on the weekend nights, The Bellas played in a lounge. There were tables throughout and drinks being served, and Beca loved to observe without them knowing she was there. There wasn't much else to do in a place like this during the day - or, at least that's what she told herself before she admitted she liked Chloe.
She was sure she could sing every part to every song at this point- though she was still a little lost with the choreography. She looked up and practically drooled over Chloe at center stage, wearing a neckerchief and the biggest, best performance smile that Beca had ever seen.
And then, it was like the light went out of her eyes.
Beca blinked, thinking maybe she was seeing something, but when she refocused on her girlfriend, she saw that she wasn’t mistaken. She followed Chloe’s eye-line to a woman sitting towards the front.
Beca could only see her profile but she could tell that whoever she was, she was gorgeous. Blonde hair and a wide smile, and expressive, bright eyes. Older than them, but still stunning.
At first, Beca felt herself bristle. Was this an ex? Or some kind of old flame? Or was it-
And then she stopped.
She herself was technically still dating someone publicly, and Chloe had been nothing but cool about it.
Whoever this person was, Beca would be chill. If Chloe wanted to be with someone else, she would. No ifs, ands, or buts about it. Chloe could have whomever she wanted, and that was Beca, not some random hot blonde.
Even then, when Beca saw Chloe talking to the woman after the show - eyes flat, and mouth in a firm line - she felt herself bristle again. It wasn’t jealousy, but there was a twinge of discomfort. Like something wasn’t right. People weren’t allowed to make Chloe upset.
“Hey!” Beca said loudly as she approached. “Great show!”
She slid her arm around Chloe tightly, squeezing her to her side, and she felt Chloe’s stiff body relax into her.
“Can I walk you back to your dressing room?”
“Sure- uh. Sorry,” she said, directing her attention to the blonde. Up close, Beca could see that her bright eyes were also blue - not electric blue like Chloe’s, but pale and pretty. “I’ll call you?”
“Can we have dinner tonight?”
“Uh-“
“Sorry, she’s already booked,” Beca chimed in. She tried her best to put on an apologetic smile. “We’ve got reservations for two at the steakhouse. We’ve had this date on the books for hours.”
The blonde smiled, not unkindly.
“How sweet,” she cooed. “Well, enjoy yourselves. I’ll catch you later, Chlo-chlo.”
She turned back to where Beca could see a much younger man waiting, and he gave them a small wave before escorting her out onto the casino floor.
“Steakhouse?”
Beca stopped watching the retreating form of the blonde and returned her attention to her girlfriend.
“I hope that’s okay?” she asked, and Chloe nodded. “I just wanted to do something low-key.”
Chloe sighed and leaned her head against Beca’s shoulder.
“That sounds heavenly,” she whispered. They stood there for a few moments, with Beca holding her and Chloe just breathing evenly, before Chloe spoke.
“I’m sorry, that was so rude of me. I should’ve introduced you.”
“No, it’s cool,” Beca replied. “I don’t need to know all of your - I dunno - hot mysterious old flings? Just a shot in the dark.”
Chloe let out a helpless sort of chuckle and began to lead Beca to The Bellas dressing room.
“Yeah, that wasn’t an old fling,” she sighed. “That was my mom.”