"It's freezing," Beca whined as she and Chloe pulled off their skates.

"Suck it up, Mitchell. I didn't take you ice skating to hear you complain." the redhead responded, causing her girlfriend to stick out her tongue in protest. "You better watch it, lady, or you'll end up like that kid in A Christmas Story." Beca's brow furrowed in confusion, then shot up as realization hit.

"You mean the idiot kid who got his tongue stuck to a pole? Please." Rolling her eyes, she scoffed, "As if that'd ever happen to me. I'm way smarter than him, and as far as I can see, there are no metal poles around for me to be concerned about." Chloe leaned towards her, only leaving about an inch of space between them, and lowered her voice to a husky whisper,

"Well you might not get your tongue stuck on a pole, but I can think of a few other places it might become occupied." she breathed, causing the smaller girl's eyes to grow wide with shock. "No, you pervert, I didn't mean it like that!" Chloe blanched, starting to chuckle as Beca realized her mistake and turned a bright shade of red. Trying to hide the chink in her badass facade, Beca stood.

"Whatever, dude. Let's just go back to your dorm, and maybe I'll let you help me warm up." she said, turning to wink at Chloe before grabbing her skates and starting to walk away, making it the redhead's turn to blush.

They walked the snowy mile back to Chloe's room hand in hand. It was cute, it was romantic, it was perfect. Beca hated it. Well, she would've hated it, but she loved the girl she was with, so for now, she guessed she could handle it. Once inside Chloe's dorm, they peeled off their coats and assumed their normal routine. Beca started making hot chocolate, while Chloe looked through her stacks of DVDs, trying to find a Christmas movie Beca would stand to watch. "Aha!" she cried triumphantly, pulling The Nightmare Before Christmasfrom the stack. Beca made her way over to the DVD player where Chloe sat, glancing over her shoulder.

"What's that one about? It doesn't look like the usual 'peace on Earth and goodwill towards men' bullshit." Beca joked. Handing her the DVD case, Chloe nodded.

"That's because it's not. This one's about this guy Jack Skellington, who, yes, isan actual skeleton," Chloe said before Beca had a chance to roll her eyes. "Anyway, he basically decides he's getting sick of Halloween Town and tries to take over Christmas, but it doesn't really go as planned. It's kind of a spooky, cynical Christmas story. You'll like it." she finished with grin.

"Let's get it started, then." Beca sighed, falling onto Chloe's queen-sized bed. First the romantic walk through campus, and now this. She was becoming quite the pushover.

Two hours, three bowls of popcorn, and four hot chocolates later, the credits began to roll. Beca braced herself for an onslaught of questions, knowing her girlfriend couldn't resist.

"So…" There it was. "How'd you like it?"

Beca thought for a minute…the animation was cool—a little stilted perhaps, but cool. And she definitely liked the concept of a more morbid Christmas. And it was kind of relatable that the skeleton dude just wanted an escape from his usual routine. So okay, she liked the movie. "Ummm…I thought it was interesting. I mean, as far as I'm concerned, that Tim Burton guy makes the same movie over and over again, but this was a nice break from all the Lifetime holiday movies you've made me watch." she replied rather sheepishly. Chloe began to laugh.

"You loved it! Ha! I knew I could find one Christmas movie you'd enjoy!" To celebrate her victory, the redhead got up and started dancing on the bed. Resisting the urge to get up and dance with her, Beca playfully yelled,

"Save that for the club, woman! You haven't even had any of your jiggle juice tonight." outwardly cringing at her use of the term. With one last giggle, Chloe settled down onto the bed, snuggling up against the petite girl's back.

"You know, it's kind of cute when you say it." Chloe couldn't see Beca's face, but she knew the brunette would be rolling her eyes.

"Yeah, well don't get used to it." Beca mumbled, turning to wrap her arms around the redhead.

"Okay, Ms. Cool. G'night!" Chloe laughed before placing a kissed on Beca's forehead.

"I love you." Beca whispered against Chloe, whose already present smile grew at the words.

"I love you, too."

Beeeeeeep. Beeeeeeeep. Beeeeeeeeeeep.

Beca shot upwards in bed, flailing to shut off her alarm. After groping through the pitch black, Beca was able to find and dismantle the still-blaring torture device. A wave of cold air overwhelmed her, sending her back under the covers in flash. In her still drowsy state she rolled around, expecting to find a sleeping, and hopefully warm Chloe lying next to her but was only met with empty space. She was shocked into wakefulness by the realization that it was only a dream. It was only a dream. The words were stuck on repeat in her head.

With the disappointment only a crushed dream can bring, Beca began to cry. She had been stupid to ever believe—even in her head—that Chloe could ever like her, let alone love her. She didn't stand a chance; Chloe could have any guy on campus, and that was all she wanted, too: any guy on campus, not Beca. Never Beca. Her crying turned into sobs that wracked her body and made her head hurt. Her silly little crush was not so silly anymore.

Through the darkness of her room, a voice was calling her name.

"Beca? Beca. Beca!"

She jolted awake once more, peering through heavy eyelids to see a concerned Chloe perched above her. The redhead's brow crinkled in confusion. "Baby, you were crying. What's wrong?"

Sitting up, Beca leaned into Chloe's side. "I had a bad dream…" she trailed off, not sure if she should reveal its contents.

"What was it about?" Seeing the look on Beca's face, she faltered. "I—I mean, you don't have to tell me..."

Beca paused for what felt like hours. She twisted her comforter in her hands, played with her hair, then began twisting the comforter again. When Chloe opened her mouth to apologize, Beca finally spoke, her voice shaking.

"I dreamt that we never started dating—that you didn't love me, and that made me very sad."

The childlike look of hurt on her girlfriend's face broke Chloe's heart. She'd never seen Beca look so…fragile. Pulling her closer, Chloe stared deep into Beca's tear-filled eyes. "I love you so much. Don't you ever forget that." she assured, lightly kissing Beca's cheek. "Besides," she said, "it was only a dream."

As Chloe's words sunk in, Beca smiled.

"That's right." she thought. It was only just a dream.

A/N: Some straight-up inception shit going on here! :o This was my first Bechloe fic, so comments, criticism, etc. in the form of a review are especially appreciated. :) I hope you liked it, and thanks for reading!