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Chloe and Beca sat shoulder to shoulder, leaning against Chloe's bed head.
Their legs were tucked in Chloe's floral blanket. The room was lit only by lamp light and the laptop screen currently perched on Beca's thighs.
After the longest week of late night study sessions, back to back lectures, Bella's rehearsals and homework, Chloe felt the exhaustion in her bones.
Now, she was pressed up against the love of her life. In bed, not a centimetre separating themselves as she was finally full-body laughing the week away. The only thing that could possibly make this better is that if Beca actually knew she was in love with her. But that tiny detail didn't actually matter right now.
Chloe needed this night. No responsibilities. With her best friend. With old home videos. Chocolate. And no pants.
She had fully expected to return to the Bella house at 5pm, consume a well balanced dinner (which turned into whatever she could forage out of the pantry), have a soak in the tub (which then was a quick bubbly shower), put on her favourite pajamas (she found an old shirt of Beca's and a pair of underwear) and pass out in bed (Beca knocked on her door).
When Beca creeped in her room at an early 8pm, Chloe considered politely turning her away to allow for sleep.
However, what ended up coming out of her mouth was “jump in, but don't put your cold feet on me!”
Beca had looked offended for all of one second before sliding in next to Chloe and staring at her expectantly and smiling.
Despite Chloe's exhaustion, Beca's enthusiasm was all she needed to get on the same vibes as the brunette.
“You're vibrating Becs, out with it.” Chloe pushed.
“Soo, I was at Dad and the stepmonster's for dinner and guess what…” Beca said excitedly.
“You're never this happy after seeing Sheila, I'm intrigued.”
“Well, Dad was clearing out old cupboards, and he found these old home video tapes I used to make when I'd visit him on school holidays…” Beca started. Chloe sat bolt upright.
“Stop it, tell me you have a copy.” Chloe buzzed.
Beca didn't respond but brandished a USB from under Chloe's comforter. She held it up with a giant grin on her face. Chloe's eyes set on it as though it was the holy grail.
“Tell me we can watch Baby Beca.” Chloe insisted.
“We can watch Baby Beca.” she paused. “...well, Tween Beca.”
Chloe squealed. She started pushing her feet into Beca's legs and waist under the blankets laughing. Beca looked confused and started trying to fend off the attack by grabbing Chloe's ankles and feet.
“YOUR feet are cold!” She shrieked, continuing to slap away Chloe's now poking toes. “Dude, what are you doing!?”
Beca gasped as she almost fell out the side of the bed.
“Go and get your computer!” Chloe laughed, stretching her legs further into the brunette. “...and put on Jammies.”
“You could have used your words!” Beca said, fake exasperated as she slid out of the bed. She finally took note of Chloe's attire, who was repositioning herself after her attack.
“You're not wearing bottoms…” Beca said awkwardly. She then paused. “...and you're in MY shirt!”
“So observant.”
“I'll take it back, thank you.” Beca crossed her arms defiantly.
Chloe raised her eyebrow, playing along with the argument. Silence fell between the two as she knelt up on the bed, the blanket falling away from her. The shirt fell just past her hips, leaving her thighs on full display as well as a portion of her simple black cotton underwear.
She saw Beca's eyes briefly flick down to her legs, before reconnecting with hers. She now had a faint pink tinge dusting her cheeks.
Chloe pushed her luck, letting her arms fall, grabbing the hem of the shirt and start lifting. She didn't break eye contact with Beca as the shirt made it past her lower stomach.
Beca's eyes looked down again before fluttering shut. She seemed to kick back into gear and looked at nothing in particular in the corner of the room. Her cheeks now pinker than before.
“Dude…I didn't mean right now…” she managed.
Chloe smirked before plopping back into the bed and wiggling under the covers.
“Good, I need to see my little Tweenie Weenie!” Chloe teased.
“I will burn this USB if you call me that.” Beca threatened.
“You wouldn't, now go!” Chloe watched Beca's retreating form leave the room before she called out “...my Becky Wecky!”
The retreating form flipped her the bird.
Chloe snuggled into the blankets reflecting on just how quickly one Beca Mitchell could flip her mood. Her exhaustion seemed like a distant memory as she patiently waited for who is arguably her favourite person to return.
She remembers a time when she would struggle to get Beca to open up about her day. Now the brunette is about to share voluntarily, what Chloe knows are probably mortifying moments from her past.
It's times like this that Chloe thinks maybe Beca could possibly feel the same way about her. Chloe isn't oblivious. She knows Beca isn't like this with everyone. It makes her feel special to know she gets pieces of Beca even Jesse never got.
There's also a tiny smug voice reminding her of this every now and again. She knows it is a bi-product of the little green monster. However, that particular voice has been significantly quieter since Beca and Jesse broke up 4 months ago.
Since the break up, Chloe feels that she has gotten more of Beca's attention than ever before. She is basking in the extra evenings together, spontaneous dinners that Beca will bring home for them and random events that Beca invites her too.
The little gifts are another favourite. Three nights ago, Beca even left one of her favourite red velvet cookies on her desk after she returned from her late lecture. A little note accompanied it stating ‘your favourite red, for my favourite red’. Chloe couldn't wipe the smile off her face.
But Chloe still couldn't bring herself to confess her feelings. What if she had read too much into everything and Beca was horrified. What if Beca wasn't even into women. She had never given Chloe the indication she was anything other than straight. But she had also not batted an eye when Chloe had told her she was proudly bisexual.
Her thought train stopped as Beca walked back through her door, laptop under her arm, chocolate in hand and in sleep shorts and a baggy shirt. Chloe couldn't help the smile.
Beca slipped into the bed next to her again and handed the chocolate to Chloe as she opened the laptop and organised the USB.
Chloe opened the chocolate, ate a square, and smiled at the adorable concentration face Beca was wearing.
When the tinny sound of recorded guitar strums filled the room, Chloe curled into Beca's shoulder and set her gaze on the screen.
Hours passed as Chloe and Beca watched what looked like home concerts, video style blogs, Beca trying new musical instruments and ‘studio tours’ that were basically Beca's childhood bedroom.
The chocolate was gone, Chloe had cried with laughter at the overzealous ‘Tween Beca’ and Beca was currently doubled over at the final video, which happened to be a ‘Macarena’ dance tutorial.
“My abs, they hurt, make it stop!” She exclaimed through the tears. Chloe paused the video and attempted to stifle her own laughter.
Beca reclined back against the bed head, flushed from laughter and took deep breaths trying to calm herself back down. Chloe pushed any inappropriate thoughts from her mind.
“I officially love tiny Beca.” Chloe said, reclining back too. She turned her head to smile at the brunette.
“Wow, so what about current Beca?” Beca whined.
“Current Beca isn't teaching me 2000's bangers, or the Macarena sooo.” Chloe teased.
The room got quiet as Beca looked at her lap. Chloe couldn't peg why the air shifted.
“I bring you treats and videos.” Beca said after the pause. Her eyes made their way back to Chloe's, flicking across her face as though searching for something.
Chloe furrowed her brow as she tried to read the brunette.
“You do spoil me Becs, and I'm so grateful for you.” Chloe said sincerely.
“I do?” Beca asked quietly.
“I don't think anyone has ever treated me how well you do.” Chloe said simply.
The brunette smiled and looked down at her lap again. Chloe felt as though she had done something wrong and was racking her brain to figure out what.
“Have I done something? Do you not think I appreciate everything you do for me?” Chloe asked softly. Beca's eyes quickly widened.
“No, dude, no, nothing like that.” She said quickly and Chloe could hear the honesty in her voice.
Chloe nodded and looked at her own hands. She went to ask more questions, but didn't know exactly what to ask.
She looked at Beca again, who was staring at Chloe's lips. At the turn of her head, Beca's eyes shot back to her own.
“I uhh, I don't know if you've noticed, but I have really been trying to show you, um, how much, I ahh.” Beca swallowed and broke eye contact. “Never mind.”
Chloe's heart was beating fast. She turned her body to face Beca, desperately wanting to show how much she was ‘minding’ the direction of this conversation.
“Talk to me Becs.”
Beca shifted her own body to face Chloe's a bit more. It was just a smidge, but Chloe noticed. Chloe also noticed her struggling to find words. She reached out to hold Beca's hands, which had been threading around themselves. They stilled and loosely wrapped around her own.
“I broke up with Jesse.” Beca stated. Then silence.
She wasn't expecting that.
“...I know Becs.” Chloe paused and looked curiously before continuing. “Just before the holidays, right?”
“Yeah… but... I didn't have those feelings for him anymore.” Beca paused again. “... I don't know if I ever did.”
Chloe didn't know what to say to this. She didn't know if Beca wanted her to say anything to this. Or where the brunette was even going.
But the silence continued, and Chloe's nervous anxiety didn't let her be patient for too long. She tapped their joined fingers together.
“What do you mean by that?” Chloe said delicately. Her calm tone betrayed her rapid heart rate as she prompted the brunette to go on.
Beca looked at her imploringly and Chloe felt at a loss. She was now fiddling with Chloe's thumb.
“...I didn't want to get Jesse cookies.” Beca said quietly.
Chloe blinked. Surely Beca wasn't implying what Chloe thought she was.
“You didn't want to get Jesse cookies?” Chloe repeated dumbly.
Beca shook her head.
“...but, you got me a cookie.” Chloe continued.
Beca nodded.
“I'd get you a cookie every day.” Beca said slowly, looking at their joined hands.
“Becs?” Chloe said, her voice shaking as her nerves finally crept to the surface.
Beca looked up again and Chloe could see her eyes were glassy.
“I've been trying to show you…” Beca breathed. It was shaky. “I've been trying to show you how much I care about you.”
Chloe couldn't possibly be reading this wrong. No matter how much she had always let her hope cloud her interpretation of Beca's action, there was surely no other way to take this.
Her heart felt like it floating in her chest, but her brain needed to be sure.
“Becs…are you trying to tell me you have feelings for me?”
The tears finally left Beca's eyes as her face crumpled and she looked away again.
“No no no, come here” Chloe used their hands to pull Beca into an embrace.
She felt Beca's tears on her (well Beca's) shirt as the other girl took unsteady breaths. She didn't mean for the brunette to fall apart. Chloe knew it was her time to be brave.
“I'd let you get me a cookie everyday.” Chloe frowned, trying to think of a better response. This was hard. She tried again. “I’d also get you a cookie.”
Beca pulled back slightly, staring at Chloe through shiny eyes.
“...I don't like cookies.” Beca said slowly.
This was going terrible.
“No. I know. Sorry.” Chloe breathed. Another try. “... I would get you doritos, or chocolate cereal, or cheese toasties, or a sneaky vanilla latte instead of black coffee, or those random ice creams that Amy brought home, or…”
She was cut off by Beca's lips pressing against hers.
Chloe didn't hesitate in sinking her fingers into the brunette locks like she had always wanted too. She kissed Beca back, firm enough that the brunette would know she meant it.
Beca shifted in closer and held Chloe's cheek gently in one hand, the other arm propped her up against the bed head while their lips worked together slowly.
Chloe tried to ignore their bare legs wrapped together as she moved to suck on the brunette's lower lip.
Beca let out a soft moan before pulling back. She was still holding Chloe's face.
Chloe slowly opened her eyes and met Beca's. She smiled brightly.
“Wow.” Smooth, Chloe. Beca returned her smile.
“So, what I'm getting from this, current Beca isn't so bad either?” Beca teased, brushing her thumb over Chloe's cheekbone.
“Eh, you're more surly now.” Chloe smirked.
Beca gasped in mock offense.
“And grumpy…” Chloe teased.
Beca raised an eyebrow, mouth agape.
“There's also no way you're putting on mini concerts for anyone.” Chloe continued.
“...I perform in actual concerts with you!”
“You would never wear blue eyeshadow like that again.” Chloe added.
“...well no, but…”
“But I am in love with you, yes.” Chloe cut her off.
For the second time that night, Beca joined their lips. This one quicker, softer but it still set Chloe alight.
“I love you too.” Beca spoke softly when they pulled apart. Chloe felt like she was floating. “..even if you're a meanie.”
“Was ickle Chloe being a meanie to Tweenie Weenie.” She mirthed, not being able to help herself.
Beca pushed her back, and she felt an ice cold press to her legs under the blankets. She screeched, trying to wiggle away from Beca's cold feet whilst laughing.
“...and no cookies for you.” Beca stubbornly added, mid-foot attack.
“What!? Not even one?” Chloe said in offence, laughing from the safe distance from Beca's feet.
Beca paused, considering. Her toes edged towards Chloe under the blanket.
“Maybe one.”