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Beca hasn’t watched a lot of movies in her life but she does know that what is happening right now is painfully typical of a boring high school scene.
The Trebles house is packed with people she’s never even seen before in her life even though she’s well into her senior year. Red cups everywhere, couples making out in every corner and at least one lamp has been broken so far. People are squished together as they jump and down, making the house shake with every beat of the bad techno music playing.
Beca thinks that an acapella house letting such bad music play is inexcusable but she doesn't want to get into it right now.
Besides, she feels good at the moment; she’s just drunk enough to let go of her usual awkwardness that follows her around most of the time. She has an easy smile on her face as she dances with Chloe, feeling Cynthia-Rose’s back right behind her. The front of Chloe’s body is pressed on hers from the limited space they have as they get lost in the rhythm of the song.
She’s sweaty and her feet are aching but Chloe doesn’t look like she wants to stop dancing any time soon so Beca has no desire to leave her best friend alone. Chloe’s face reveals a playful smirk as she sways her hips from side to side, Beca matching her movements as if it’s second nature.
They’re partying just for the sake of it. Jesse had called her earlier and he had barely said the words “party” and “alcohol” that she was already in. The start of her senior year had been pretty rocky and she deserved this break. Everything had been pretty chaotic; juggling the internship, her studies and the fact that the very thing she had poured her sweat and blood into for the past three years was now despised by the whole world and turned into a joke.
Chloe had also been pretty stressed out about all of it so Beca took advantage of the time she could spend with her best friend where they didn’t have to worry about the Bellas (and Beca didn’t have to deal with the overwhelming guilt she felt over not talking to Chloe about Residual Heat).
Right now, Beca lives in the moment, refusing to worry about the future and how stressed she is about all of it. She focuses on how everything that she knows and loves is around her. She has Cynthia-Rose behind her, Stacie right next to her amongst most of the Trebles. She can see Benji awkwardly dancing next to Emily and Jesse near the stairs leading upstairs and most importantly, she has Chloe in front of her.
By now, Beca is no stranger to Chloe’s wandering hands whenever the super senior gets a little tipsy so Beca leans with ease into the hand on her waist and doesn’t break eye contact with the girl’s blue eyes that sparkle with the flickering lights of the party. Chloe’s touch is something that Beca is more than familiar with after 3 years of being friends with someone that has no sense of personal boundaries.
Beca had never thought she was the kind of girl to have a best friend that knew all her secrets and with whom she could silently communicate with but Chloe had slipped into that role way sooner than either of them could have expected and Beca had stopped questioning it a long time ago.
Chloe’s mouth moves as she speaks but over the sound of the music blasting in the house, Beca can’t hear so she frowns in question and gets closer. Chloe leans forward, her lips touching her ear as she practically shouts so Beca can hear her.
“I’m gonna go grab a drink! You want one?”
Beca looks down at her empty red cup that she almost forgot was in her hand and nods at Chloe, handing it to her. The redhead flashes her a smile before turning on her heels and disappearing into the sea of people. Beca doesn’t even have time to wonder who she's gonna hang with in the meantime that she feels two hands on her shoulders, forcing her to turn around.
She’s suddenly face to face with Fat Amy who leans close to yell in her face.
“We’re gonna play truth or dare!”
“Pass!” Beca shouts back because there’s nothing worse than a game of truth or dare with drunk college students.
Amy smiles devilishly. “Not an option,” she exclaims before putting an arm around Beca’s shoulders and dragging her along.
The captain feels hands on her back pushing her towards the backyard where there’s slightly less people and they can actually hear each other talk and she glances back to see who it is. She’s met with Stacie who winks at her before walking around them to grab Emily, Benji and Jesse.
Jessica, Ashley, Flo and Lilly are already waiting outside, sitting on the grass with their red cups in their hands. Beca grumbles at the fact that she got roped into the game without her consent but still sits down, facing Flo.
“Hey!” she hears from the right and she tilts her head upwards to see Jesse sitting down next to her. The way he stumbles down lets her know he’s also a bit tipsy but no one seems drunk to the point of passing out. “Haven’t seen you in a while.”
Beca accepts the clumsy kiss he gives her on the corner of her mouth and smiles apologetically. “Yeah, sorry. Chloe wanted to dance.”
He pinches his lips together at the words but she doesn’t have time to ask him about it because Emily calls out for her, waving a hand in the air.
“Beca! You look so good right now. Like, super- super cool,” she says, stumbling over her words and she pulls a grimace at the end of her sentence like she’s embarrassed. Beca awkwardly looks down at herself to see she’s wearing a simple flannel with a tank top.
“Uh thanks,” she answers, feeling Jesse’s eyes on her chest and she frowns, nudging him on the arm and he looks back at her with a smirk.
“You look r-really good too, Emily!” Benji speaks out sheepishly way too loudly and his face turns beet red right after. Emily’s cheeks twinge pink too and she smiles at him shyly which makes Beca chuckle to herself.
Fat Amy is standing in the middle of the circle, waiting for the rest of their group to get here and shoos this random guy that tries to join them off. Beca leans back on her hands and right at the moment that she thinks she wants another drink in her, Chloe appears along with Stacie and Cynthia-Rose. She has two drinks in her hands and she has a smile on her face as she walks towards the circle, engaged in a conversation with her fellow Bellas.
Beca keeps her attention on her until Chloe’s eyes flicker to hers and the co-captain’s grin automatically gets bigger when she spots Beca. She lifts the cups in the air as she enters the circle sideways by passing between two Bellas and immediately rushes to Beca.
“Hey you,” she says smoothly as she sits down on Beca’s left and hands her her cup. Beca lets a crooked smile creep on her features and puts her hand on the small of Chloe’s back when the girl almost falls backwards as she plops down.
“Hey. What’d you get me?”
“Whiskey with ginger ale.”
Beca frowns, looking down at her cup because she doesn't want to seem ungrateful but it’s not her usual drink of choice. Chloe suddenly starts laughing and gets closer to Beca, making their knees touch.
“I’m just kidding. It’s a rum and coke.”
Beca instantly relaxes her face and rolls her eyes, annoyed that Chloe made fun of her. Chloe winks at her and Beca leans on her left hand so her body is tilted towards the girl.
“You do know me.”
“Oh Becs, I know everything about you,” Chloe teases back immediately in a low voice and Beca feels a flash of guilt wash over her because no, Chloe doesn’t know everything .
She’s gonna tell her about the internship, she is.
Just… not now.
She takes a sip of her drink and almost chokes on it when Jesse suddenly speaks from behind her. She had completely forgotten he was on her right.
“Hey Chloe,” he says in a weirdly calm voice that makes Beca look at him in confusion.
“Hey Jesse,” Chloe greets back politely and Beca feels a heavy tension fall on them that she doesn’t know how to dissipate so she just continues drinking silently in the middle.
Thankfully, Amy takes that moment to start the game.
“Alright, pitches. We’re playing truth or dare. I’m not explaining the rules because if you don’t know how to play already, I’m gonna kick you in the teeth until you bleed to-”
“Amy!” Beca interrupts because this sentence was taking a weird turn and she doesn’t like the way the girl was looking at Emily as she spoke. The younger Bella shoots her a grateful smile and Beca winks at her in response.
“Let’s just play!” Stacie says happily and Fat Amy takes a seat next to her as Beca prepares herself mentally for what’s about to happen.
Last time they played truth or dare, it ended with Jessica in tears after she swore she saw a figure moving in the basement of the Bellas house. Beca was a skeptical person but even she had slept in Chloe’s bed afterwards, not wanting to sleep alone after that.
“Who wants to start?” Cynthia-Rose asks the group and Emily lifts up her hand.
“I’ll go,” she says, eager as always to prove she’s a part of the team for real.
Things happen quickly after that. Emily reveals that the last time she wet the bed was at 12 years old, Jessica licks a bar of soap, Chloe takes off her top for a full round which makes Beca focus all her attention on the cup in her hand and downing it, unable to look directly at her best friend even though it’s nothing she hasn’t seen before. Jesse and Benji share the most awkward kiss of all time which only makes her laugh, not feeling bothered at all to see her boyfriend kissing somebody else. He takes her by surprise by kissing her right after to “wipe off Benji’s kiss” which she doesn’t appreciate that much.
Beca’s drink is empty but she’s too lazy to go fill up her cup so she stays seated, just thankful that Chloe puts her top back on after Ashley admits that she’s never watched porn in her entire life. Jesse puts his heavy arm on her shoulders at one point and she’s just grateful when she gets dared to go plunge her head in the pool so it gives her an excuse to shake the arm off.
She’s just not a big fan of PDA. She’s been with him for three years. How exciting. Everyone knows they’re dating, no need to remind people.
The cold water sobers her up and she’s thankful she remembered to put waterproof mascara as she walks back to the circle. When she flops down, she makes sure to flick some of her wet hair in Chloe’s face which makes the redhead giggle and shove her away. Beca crashes into Jesse before straightening up with a smirk.
“What?” she says innocently and Chloe rolls her eyes.
“You’re annoying.”
“You love me,” she teases with her tongue sticking out and Chloe opens her mouth to answer but Jesse cuts her off.
“Bec, it’s your turn to ask someone truth or dare.”
Chloe’s smile falls slightly and Beca looks back at the circle where everyone is waiting for her. Stacie is snickering with her forehead resting on Cynthia-Rose’s shoulder and she ignores them to look at Benji because he hadn’t gone in a while.
“Truth or dare?”
“Uh truth,” he says and she could have predicted it because he’s been choosing truth since the beginning.
She meets Chloe’s eyes as she gets an idea and Chloe wiggles her eyebrows in approval, like she knows exactly what Beca is thinking. Benji and Emily have clearly been crushing on each other for a while and Chloe and her have been betting on when they’ll kiss for the first time.
“Who do you think is the prettiest girl in this circle?”
There’s a light laughter heard amongst the group and Emily looks down at her lap as Benji’s cheeks turn red. Jesse gets close to her and whispers in her ear, startling her.
“Good one.”
She jumps back in surprise and then relaxes under his familiar smile. “I wonder who’s he gonna say,” she jokes and he chuckles before turning back to Benji, his hand moving to Beca’s knee.
“Well I really don’t believe that beauty is what’s important about a woman, you know? I just think beauty is so subjective, what’s really important is what a woman has inside. Like, is she kind? Is she into magic? Is she-”
“Oh my God, just answer the freaking question!” Stacie cuts him off rudely and Benji’s mouth snaps shut. They all stare at him in silence, the sound of the party still going on around them being the only thing that they can hear until he speaks up in the littlest voice.
“Emily.”
Everyone coos loudly, making the boy bring his knees to his chest self-consciously and Emily just clears her throat and tells him it’s his turn to ask now. Beca glances to her left to see Chloe looking at the two with a soft expression and it makes Beca smile.
“I’m totally gonna win the bet,” Chloe says even though she doesn’t divert her gaze away from Benji as he asks Lilly the question.
“Pff,” Beca answers. “I still think they won’t get their shit together before Worlds.”
“Becs, look how much she’s blushing. She loves him.”
“They’re in love now?” Beca asks playfully and Chloe turns to her with a shrug.
“Why not? It’s fun being in love when the person you love loves you back.”
Beca is surprised by the seriousness in Chloe’s voice but she doesn’t have time to dwell on it because everyone starts shouting at Lilly to put her pocket knife down after she cuts a strand of her own hair even though Beca’s pretty sure she chose truth.
They go for more rounds; Stacie admits that her body count is in the triple digits, Cynthia-Rose drinks a mocktail that Chloe prepares, Jesse does a handstand that leads to him throwing up in a bush and Beca cringing, Flo serenades a guy in a spanish lullaby that Beca has never heard before and finally, it’s Fat Amy’s turn to ask a question.
She instantly turns to Beca and it makes her heart skip a beat, suddenly afraid of what the girl has in store for her.
“Beca effin Mitchell,” she says slowly to create suspense and Beca rolls her eyes.
“Yes.”
“Truth,” she states, lifting a hand in the air. “Or dare?” she continues at an attempt of a mysterious voice, bringing her other hand up.
Beca thinks about it for a second. She doesn’t trust Amy in the slightest and her roommate happens to know way too much about her personal life to pick truth. Amy has an evil smile on her face and Beca can already see her asking a question that will lead to Beca admitting to her internship or worse, confess that her relationship with Jesse is boring her out of her mind.
“Dare,” she decides on after she figures it’s the safest choice but Amy’s smile stays on her face and it makes Beca gulp.
She doesn’t even have to think about her dare which makes it even more scary.
“I dare you to kiss the person you’re the most attracted to in the circle on the lips. The only exception is me because let’s face it, I know you’re into it but I’m really not interested, Shortstack.”
Kiss the person she’s the most attracted to.
Okay.
Without giving it much more of a thought, she turns to the left and leans forward. Before anyone can even react, she plants a kiss right on Chloe’s lips. She lets her lips linger for a second because the contact immediately sends a wave of electricity throughout her body. It’s only when Chloe makes a surprised noise and pulls away with wide eyes that Beca realizes what she just did.
Everyone is staring at them in silence and Beca takes a moment to look at each face one by one. Chloe’s frozen in place, her lips still slightly parted, Jessica and Ashley are looking at each other and Beca back in forth and Lilly’s face looks… like it always does; perfectly neutral. Flo is grimacing, an uncomfortable smile on her face with Cynthia-Rose next to her who’s shaking Stacie’s shoulder to make her stop laughing which the latter is trying to hide behind her hand but failing miserably. Fat Amy looks proud of herself, like she wanted that to happen and Emily and Benji are both looking at the sky, pretending they didn’t see anything.
“What the fuck!?” Jesse says after getting over his shock and Beca’s forced to make eye contact with him. His face is hardened, letting everyone know that he clearly doesn’t appreciate what just happened.
Which Beca understands, she has no idea what came over her.
“Jesse. Holy shit, I-I’m so sorry,” she stammers, wondering how the hell she’s supposed to fix this situation.
She wishes she could blame it on the alcohol but she hasn’t drunk in a while and the dip in the pool had sobered her up. She’s tipsy, yes but not nearly drunk enough to kiss someone else other than her boyfriend who, you know, she’s supposed to be attracted to the most.
Not her best friend.
“Why the fuck did you kiss her?” he says, not accepting Beca’s apology in the slightest. “Are you actually kidding me?”
Beca shakes her head nervously. “Dude, no. I’m just-- I don’t know, okay? It was- It was an impulse thing, I didn’t think about it.”
“So you just kiss someone else other than me on impulse?” he counters back, his voice raising. “You’re dared to kiss someone you’re attracted to and you don’t kiss your fucking boyfriend?”
“Aca-awkward…” Fat Amy says and Beca glares at her before turning back to Jesse, a desperate look on her face.
“I don’t know! Look, I’m so sorry. Please, I-”
“I’m done, Beca,” he suddenly announces standing up and Beca has to lean back to see his face. “I’m fucking done. Everyone here knows you care more about her than me and I’m tired of pretending I’m not aware that my girlfriend’s best friend wants to fuck her!”
“Damn,” Cynthia-Rose murmurs, which just reminds Beca that she’s being very publicly broken up with right now and that embarrasses her to no end. She jumps to her feet so Jesse’s posture doesn't feel so imposing and lowers her voice even though everyone can still hear what they’re saying.
“Okay, you don’t know what you’re saying right now. Let’s go talk about this somewhere-”
“I know what I’m saying!” he cuts her off and turns to Chloe who’s still sitting on the grass, looking like she’s on the verge of tears. “You know what? She’s all yours now. Have fun dating an emotionally closed off girl who doesn’t care about anyone other than herself.”
Beca’s face hardens and she clenches her jaw, hurt by the words. “Dude.”
“We’re over, Beca.” He lifts his hands in the air, taking a couple of steps back before turning around to walk back inside the house, closing the glass door behind him with force.
Beca stands there, mouth agape as her brain is trying to catch up over what just happened. She can still feel the tingle on her lips because of the kiss but she doesn’t know what she’s supposed to do now.
She’d like to say that if she were to go back in time, she’d kiss Jesse but that simply wouldn’t be the truth.
The truth is that she kissed Chloe because she is the person Beca is the most attracted to. Even if their lips had touched for only a second, it had ignited a fire in her that Jesse had never been able to make her feel in a 3 year relationship. The worst thing is, she had clearly just hurt Jesse but the only person she’s worried about right now is Chloe.
She ignores everyone in the circle looking at her and swallows through the tension that could only be cut by a knife. She turns to her best friend, wondering how she feels about all of this. Chloe’s face is devoid of any emotion and it takes her a moment before her eyes settle on Beca’s.
“Chloe, I-” she tries to say but Chloe suddenly gets up and walks past her without saying a word. Their shoulders bump into each other and Beca is forced to turn around as she sees a second person walking away from her in less than 2 minutes.
Except, Chloe being the one that does it this time hurts Beca in ways that are unfathomable. Every step that the girl takes that creates more distance between them is like she’s being stabbed in the stomach over and over again and she doesn’t know what she’s supposed to do now.
This all just happened way too fast and she can’t wrap her head around it. She had just kissed her best friend in front of everyone and then her boyfriend of 3 years had just broken up with her but the part she’s the most affected by is that Chloe walked away from her.
“Go after her, you idiot!” Amy shouts after a moment like she’s reading her thoughts and Beca looks back at the group, only now noticing Benji is gone since he probably went after Jesse. She hesitates for a second and everyone starts yelling incomprehensible things all at once that basically amount to her having to run after Chloe.
Her legs start running on their own accord because it seems like her body is choosing to stay disconnected from her mind tonight. She runs in the direction of the Bellas house, where Chloe had just disappeared to and she pokes herself everywhere in the bush that separates the houses but she doesn't feel any of it. The adrenaline is pumping in her veins and she doesn't know what she’s going to say to Chloe when she gets there but she knows that it can’t end like this.
She enters the house, slamming her shoulder into the door and skips upstairs, taking the stairs two by two. She runs down the hallway and she barely stops in time to not collide with Chloe’s closed bedroom door.
“Chloe?” she calls out, her hand on the knob.
“Go away Beca,” she hears muffled back and Beca doesn’t know if it’s a good idea but she’s on a streak of bad decisions tonight so she twists the doorknob and steps into the room.
Chloe immediately stops her pacing and Beca stands at the door, her heart breaking at the sight of the tears on her red cheeks. She’s seen Chloe cry countless times and it’s just as sad every time but there’s something about knowing that it’s her fault that makes it worse than anything else.
Except, there’s tears on her face but her expression is angry. She takes a step towards Beca as soon as she walks into the room and Beca takes a subconscious step back, hitting her back on the doorframe.
“Why? Why did you do that?” Chloe spits out in clear anguish.
Beca has no idea. She knows she should still come up with something, though, and answer Chloe’s question but she opens her mouth only to have nothing come out.
“Is this some sick joke to you?” Chloe continues, her voice shaking. She taps her finger on her chest as she keeps walking forward. “You think you can just kiss me after- after everything?”
“After-” Beca starts to question but then she shakes her head. She just needs to tell Chloe how the kiss made her feel and how she doesn’t care about Jesse breaking up with her. “Chlo listen, I’m so sorry but--”
“Do you know what it’s like?” Chloe cuts her off, now standing right in front of her. “Do you know what it’s like to see the person you’re in love with dating someone else while she only sees you as a friend?”
Beca’s mouth snaps shut, now realizing that Jesse’s words from earlier might actually be true. That Chloe does have feelings for her and that maybe, they’re not as one-sided as one would think.
“The number of times I kept myself from kissing you and you just do it like it’s nothing? You just kiss me and embarrass me in front of everyone when it was something that didn’t mean anything to you. I just can’t be--”
“What?” Beca suddenly says, interrupting her because what Chloe is saying is definitely not true. She straightens up with a sudden burst of confidence. “Chloe, I didn’t kiss you to embarrass you. I kissed you because you--” Her voice cracks and she stops for a second to calm herself down. “I don’t know what this all means and I’m all fucked up in the head right now but I do know that it… meant something to me.”
Chloe freezes, her face shifting into a confused expression instead of an angry one. She takes a step back, allowing Beca to push herself off from the doorframe digging into her back.
“It did?” she asks, her voice laced with insecurity.
“Yeah,” Beca breathes out as if a weight gets lifted off her shoulders with the confession. “I regret the way it happened but I don’t regret kissing you.”
“But Jesse--”
“Is not the person I’m the most attracted to,” Beca finishes for her, taking a step towards her. “I was dared to kiss the person I was the most attracted to and that wasn’t him.”
She hadn’t been attracted to him in a long time and she honestly doesn’t know if she had ever been but now was not the time to be thinking about this. Chloe is looking at her, evidently dumbfounded and Beca lifts a tentative hand to wipe Chloe’s cheek with her thumb.
The girl lets her do it without saying a word and Beca even feels the way she slightly leans into her hand which makes her heart flutter. Chloe visibly swallows and she opens her mouth before closing it again and Beca figures she can keep talking.
“I’m aware this is messed up. I wish it hadn’t happened that way and it’s even more confusing for me but-” Beca says quietly, moving her hand to Chloe’s shoulder. She scrunches her nose as she tries to figure out the best way to say what she wants to say in a way that doesn’t sound embarrassing. “If you want, I’d be, you know, willing to… try kissing again or whatever. For real, this time.”
Chloe’s eyes widen a little and Beca pulls her hand away, suddenly hit with a wave of doubt. Maybe she had misinterpreted Chloe’s words? What if this was all a mistake? She’s about to spew out an apology but the redhead’s face softens and the corner of her lips curl up.
“I’d like that.”
Beca feels the relief all over her body and she lets herself smile. “Yeah?”
Chloe’s eyes are twinkling as she reaches to pull Beca closer by the hips. She’s leaning forward, slowly nodding. “Yeah,” she whispers before her lips are on Beca’s.
Beca’s eyes flutter closed, moving so she can wrap her arms around Chloe’s neck so they can be pressed against each other. Chloe’s lips move skillfully against hers like their bodies already know what to do even though it’s the first time they kiss for longer than a second. Chloe takes her lower lip between hers and all Beca can think about is that this is what she should have felt the whole time with Jesse.
In the kiss, she can feel all the trust and love there is between them. The passions they share and the things that make them different. Their lips fit together in the same way Beca and Chloe have always complemented each other in every aspect of life.
Each time Chloe’s lips brush against hers, it feels even more right than the last time and it’s clear in the way that they both take short breaths when they change angles that neither of them want the kiss to end. Air becomes something superficial that Beca would rather be without if it means Chloe’s mouth can stay hers.
She likes Chloe and that’s clear now. She’s probably liked Chloe for a long time, even maybe in love with her but Beca knows that she has all the time in the world to figure it out now. The best part is, she knows Chloe’s hand will be in hers while she does.
Chloe pulls away and pecks her lips when Beca subconsciously tries to follow after her. Beca backs away when she comes back to her senses and spares a glance at Chloe’s swollen lips before looking up at her eyes. The blue of her eyes is almost completely gone from how dilated her pupils are and the thought of Beca’s own face looking similar to this thrills her to no end.
“So…” Chloe says slowly. “I’m the person you’re the most attracted to, huh?”
Beca’s mouth tugs into a smirk and she licks her bottom lip, tasting the chapstick that used to be on Chloe’s lips.
“Are you gonna let that go to your head now?”
“Oh, totes.”
Chloe’s shoulders shake with a quiet laughter before she closes the distance between them again. Beca kisses back instantly and blindly guides them to the bed so they can be more comfortable. When the back Chloe’s knees hit the bed and Beca stumbles on top of her without breaking off the kiss, she realizes that this wouldn’t be happening if she hadn’t participated in that stupid game of truth or dare.
She guesses she has Amy to thank for that very messy dare and Jesse for breaking up with her but she’s not thinking about either of them right now.
All that exists is Chloe, how right this feels and how now that she knows what it’s like to kiss her, she doesn't plan on ever stopping.