A/N I'm writing like five stories at once right now so there'll be more fics coming soon *wink wink* Anyway, first triple treble fic, slightly rushed, written on Christmas day in an attempt to get in the spirit. Enjoy.
Chloe was excited.
And exhausted, and maybe a little jumpy from the multiple coffees she'd had on the plane (and quite possibly the cocktails before that at the airport). But despite the fact that she's running on three hours of sleep and several caffeine shots, Chloe is beyond elated because she's almost home.Don't get her wrong, she loves Christmas, and her family, and her family at Christmas (although Christmas at the Beale house always takes a lot out of you, especially when the extended family arrives). But despite the constant requests to "stay a few more days! We'll have a classic Beale New Year's!" she had managed to make her flight back to Atlanta. Because as much as she loves her family, she's also spent just over a week without her other family.
And if there was anything that an exhausted and hyper Chloe Beale wanted more at 2 p.m. on the 28th of December, it was to hurry this taxi up and see her girlfriends.
Or at least, girlfriend. Aubrey was not arriving back for another two days due to her brother's recent engagement but luckily for Chloe, Beca had stayed local with her dad and should (hopefully) be in the apartment by now because god she missed her.
After an infuriatingly long time, the taxi finally pulled up to the side of the apartment, and Chloe nearly forgot half her bags in her rush to get out of the car. Dragging all the suitcases up the front stairs (her family gave her an entire extra suitcase for all of the presents) she finally made her way into the elevator. So close.
Beca wasn't really the Christmas type, but as excited and exhausted as Chloe was, she was really just looking forward to cuddling up on the couch and catching up the last few days. So the very, very last thing she expected was what she saw when she finally opened up the door to the apartment.
"Oh."
There were multiple Christmas trees littered around the place, tinsel and bells and lights lining the walls, and mistletoe hanging from the roof. Chloe's eyes were being assaulted from the sheer amount of Christmas as she took in the miniature Santa and reindeer figurines that were spread across the benches.
"B- Beca?" she called weakly, leaving her bags at the door and slowly making her way down the hallway, each step bringing her closer to the smell of freshly baked cookies. She noticed that there was music playing lightly in the background - music she recognised as remixed Christmas jingles - as she turned away from the blinding green and red decorations and entered the kitchen.
"Beca?" she asked again, this time slightly less shocked as she spotted the brunette in the corner of the kitchen taking gingerbread men out of the oven.
"Chloe?" Her head whipped around and a wide grin graced her features. "You're home!" She quickly put the hot tray down onto the stove and then crossed the kitchen and pulled Chloe into a hug, still wearing the ridiculously corny Christmas oven mittens.
"What- what is all this?" Chloe made a vague gesture to the apartment but her gaze lingered on the bench, which was currently sporting three different types of Christmas cookies, all freshly made and decorated.
"Surprise!"
She could only stare blankly at the younger girl as she processed everything, Beca's smile turning into a dopey grin.
"Well I knew you were sad we couldn't spend Christmas together and I know I'm a few days late, but I thought I'd try to get into the Christmas spirit? We'll have to do this again when Aubrey comes home though…"
Chloe started laughing at the absurdity of the situation. "Christmas spirit? Becs I love it-"
"I may have gone a little overboard…"
"Just a little," she teased, "buuuut we should probably tone it down for Aubrey, she prefers the simpler things."
"Definite-" She was cut off, however, by the faint rattling of keys and the light squeak of the front door opening.
"I'm home." Both girls looked at each other stunned as Aubrey's voice reached them from across the apartment. "I couldn't stand to be there any longer listening to how 'I should find a man and settle down too- OH."
Beca bit her lip and turned to Chloe with a wide-eyed expression. "…Do you think she noticed?"