You're My Exception

The Barden Bella's had just won the ICCA's. Beca Mitchell's new and improved arrangement of songs from the last decade rather than the last century had been met with an overwhelming response and they were now the official champions of a cappella, or so the large trophy currently held proudly in Aubrey's arms said, anyway.

The Bellas, who had been somewhat taken aback by the offer, were now sat in Aubrey's and Chloe's dorm after the blonde insisted they should have a victory party of sorts to celebrate their success. Beca had raised her brows at the proposal, trying to bite back a smile. Her plan of ditching hadn't quite worked out as she'd hoped, with Chloe catching onto her and promptly linking their arms together, pulling them both in the direction of the other Bellas, insisting that the night would 'be fun and she would regret missing out on it'. The brunette quickly relented, as she often did with Chloe Beale, and allowed herself to be pulled off with the rest of them, squirming slightly every now and then at Chloe's insistence of some kind of physical contact with her. She didn't really mind. In fact, she secretly enjoyed the contact with who she considered to be the closest friend she'd ever had, but she had a bad-ass DJ reputation to uphold, didn't she?

So here they all were, two hours into the 'celebration', quietly scattered about the room with iconic red drinks cups in hand. Fat Amy had managed to position herself nicely next to the table holding the drinks rather early into the evening, not wasting any time in topping up her cup every time the contents so much as dropped a few millimetres below the halfway point. Needless to say the best singer from Tasmania, with teeth, was now rather drunk. Aubrey and Lily sat off to the side of the room, having a quiet discussion of sorts that Aubrey could actually understand. Apparently intoxicated Lily was quite loud (for her standards, anyway.)

Stacie sat in one of the chairs at the edge of the room, and where there was Stacie, Cynthia Rose was found nearby – In this case in the chair beside her. Prime position for a good view when anyone asked Stacie to pass them a drink from the bottom shelf located next to her. Beca had laughed at this when Chloe happily pointed it out, going into a fit of giggles herself. The other Bellas filled up the rest of the seats, occasionally conversing but most often seen drinking.

Then there was Chloe and Beca. The redhead had opted to sit on the sofa and, of course, had dragged Beca to come and sit with her, too – though not so much dragged as Beca easily agreeing with the suggestion. They'd been there most of the evening, talking and laughing about whatever came up, drinking steadily as the conversation flowed easily between them, like it always did. Chloe had decided to lie down at one point after returning with another drink for the both of them, resting her head directly on the DJs lap. The redhead carried on saying whatever it was she was saying, completely unaware of the slight discomfort she'd caused the brunette when she had so casually entered her personal space for the thousandth time since they'd met.

It didn't take too long for Beca to relax, and in all honestly she kind of liked having her friend so close to her - which is why she didn't even flinch as Chloe's arms reached up towards the headphones hanging loosely around her neck, gently fiddling with them in fascination. Pulling them off and handing them over to Chloe, Beca watched with a curious smile as the taller woman sat up briefly to hang them around her own neck before repositioning herself comfortably on the brunettes lap, a large grin now spread across her face. Beca smiled back in approval, quite surprised at how good her favourite pair of headphones looked on Chloe. They'd probably look all right on the other Bellas, too, she considered, not that they'd ever be allowed to wear them, of course. Chloe was the only exception as Beca had come to realise only a few weeks into their friendship when the redhead insisted on wearing her favourite oversized black hoodie, the same one she hadn't worn since because Chloe kept making excuses on why she couldn't return it.

The DJ smiled to herself as she watched her friend talk, hands becoming more animated as the story went on, threatening to spill the cup held loosely in her grip. Beca smirked before reaching down and taking the drink away, lingering a few moments as their fingers brushed together, forcing her to hold back and ignore the jolt of electricity she swore happened every time they made the slightest of skin contact, or the way her stomach tensed with sudden nerves. The reasons she'd kissed Jesse earlier that evening, desperately hoping that the other feelings would be over-run and she'd get lost in the predictable ending.

Beca glanced away as she placed both of their drinks down, using it as an excuse to take her eyes off of the woman still nestled in her lap. The same woman who had just sent butterflies running through her stomach with the briefest of touch, something that Jesse hadn't managed to do with a kiss. The woman who, In Aubrey's words, Beca had a massive toner for. The DJ was glad the words weren't literal, or the Bellas definitely would've noticed it a good six months ago.

"You okay, Becs?" Chloe asked her friend with a small, concerned frown. She'd asked the DJ a question that was met with silence and looked up to find the brunettes attention far from her.

The younger woman had a distant look on her face, one that Chloe had noticed every now and then whilst the two of them were together. She knew her friend well enough to know when she was distracted by something else and whatever it was had definitely been affecting her more lately. Maybe it was her relationship with Jesse, she considered. She hadn't believed Aubrey when the blonde told her that there was something going on between the Bella and the Treble, she remembered telling her that that was stupid, that Beca wouldn't fall for someone like that. Needless to say any refusal or denial on the subject had been shaken when she had turned to give the DJ a victory hug only hours earlier just to see her with her arms wrapped around Jesse and the two of them locked in a passionate kiss.

The next thing she remembers is a hand resting lightly on the top of her arm giving a small, comforting squeeze. She'd turned around to the sight of Aubrey giving her an apologetic smile. Her best friend had been more in tune with her feelings then she had only now registering the heart-wrenching disappointment and jealousy flow through her as she once again turned to look at the sarcastic, alternative girl she'd fallen in love with.

"I'm sorry, Chlo." Aubrey had said, turning the redhead back around so that she could wrap her arms around her, the hug significantly softer and longer In contrast to the celebratory ones surrounding them, Chloe's sobs muffled out by that of Aubrey's shoulder and the sounds of laughter from the other Bellas.

Beca glanced back down after a few seconds, offering a small smile. "I'm fine. Just tired, I guess," she shrugged.

Chloe hesitated slightly before sitting up, resting herself comfortably next to Beca. Pulling one of the DJs hands into her lap, she gently began fiddling with the fingers, tracing each one carefully before interlocking their hands together.

"Let's go and get some fresh air, to wake you up a bit," Chloe suggested with a small smile, eyes glancing across to the darker ones looking back at her with a slight uncertainty to them.

"Sure," Beca eventually nodded, allowing herself to be pulled up and across to the other side of the room, hand still firmly placed in the redheads grip, even after the two of them momentarily separated to put on a jacket – or Beca's favourite black hoodie in Chloe's case, which earned a small smile from the brunette.

Chloe glanced back into the room as she opened the door, catching Aubrey watching them both leave. With a small smile and a gentle nod of encouragement from her best friend, Chloe pulled the brunette out of the room and lead them both out into the night air.

The two of them walked around the college campus which was now near empty as most of the students had already head back home for the break already. Both of them remained quiet, neither quite sure what to say to the other. Chloe had huddled into Beca's side, gripping onto the DJs arm with her free hand, the other still firmly holding the smaller woman's.

Beca had stuffed her other hand into her free pocket, not quite sure what else to do with it without dropping her friends hand. The contact was making it hard to suppress the overwhelming feelings she had developed, but the warmth and security she wasn't used to felt too good to just let go.

"What are you thinking about?" Chloe's voice broke the silence that had built up around them. She'd noticed the pensive expression appear on the DJs face again and was too curious to find out what exactly had been playing on her friends mind recently not to ask.

"Nothing," Beca shrugged, her vague answer already expected from the redhead.

"I can tell when you're lying, Beca Mitchell," Chloe grinned, pulling them down onto a lone bench nearby. "You know you can tell me anything, right?" she asked in a softer tone.

The sincerity and care that went into the question made Beca flinch slightly, knowing that Chloe was the one person she couldn't talk to this about as much as she maybe wanted to. Then again, what could be the worst that happened if she did tell Chloe? The rational part of her knew that the worst possible outcome would be Chloe not returning her feelings. She knew her friend well enough to know that she wouldn't get mad or feel awkward about it. The completely irrational part of her, however, was screaming at her, telling her how humiliating the rejection would be, how Chloe would hate her and that she would lose the closest friend she'd ever had.

There was of course a third option. One that had briefly entered Beca's mind, only to be pushed out again at the sheer absurdity of the thought. Maybe, just possibly, Chloe liked her back. The line between platonic touches of affection and that of attraction was hard to determine when it came to Chloe Beale, and Beca found the whole thing to be rather frustrating.

"I know," Beca nodded, attempting a reassuring smile before glancing away. She couldn't handle the blue eyes looking directly at her, etched with concern.

Chloe frowned at the two worded response. That wasn't what she'd been hoping for. Maybe she'd underestimated their friendship. She thought that her and Beca could talk about anything, and it disheartened her to see the DJ so closed off even when it was just the two of them out here. She tentatively reached over and placed a hand on the younger woman's arm, squeezing gently.

"Could you not do that?"

Chloe flinched at the harsh tone.

"Do what?" Chloe asked, completely confused and now worried by Beca's apparent anger. Not having understood what the brunette had asked her not to do, Chloe's hand instead moved further down, taking the DJs hand in hers once again like it had been earlier.

"Jesus Christ, Chloe!" Beca pulled her hand away as soon as she felt the warm contact and quickly pushed herself off the bench, shoving her hands back into her front pockets. "What part of 'could you not do that' did you not understand?!"

Chloe swallowed hard, cautiously moving her hand back into her own lap. Had she done something to upset Beca? The idea of her friend being upset with her made her stomach drop.

"I'm sorry.." she whispered out, glancing away from the shorter woman now stood a few metres away from her, quietly fiddling with her fingers. She bit down on her lip, trying desperately to blink back the tears that had suddenly appeared.

Beca sighed, shutting her eyes to try and think. "I didn't mean to shout.." she apologised, eyes still firmly closed. "I'm just.. frustrated. I shouldn't have taken it out on you. I'm sorry, Chlo."

Chloe looked up, watching the DJ silently, the other woman seemingly lost in her thoughts. The silence lingered around them for a few minutes, Chloe hoping that maybe it would encourage her friend to speak again and tell her why she was so frustrated.

Beca let out a deep breath before turning around and retracing their steps. "Come on, everyone's probably wondering where we are."

"Is it Jesse?"

Beca stopped in her tracks as she heard Chloe's voice call out to her. She turned around to find the redhead stood nervously by the bench, not having followed her at all.

"Why you're frustrated, I mean." Chloe clarified as she glanced down, staring at the ground.

Beca slowly made her way back over towards her friend, not quite sure how to react to that question, trying to understand why it had even been asked in the first place.

"Jesse?" That was the response Beca settled on.

"Yeah.." Chloe nodded, briefly looking up to meet Beca's gaze for a few moments. "I just thought, with your new relationship and all, that you might be..." she trailed off, not entirely sure what she actually wanted to say.

Beca furrowed her brows, taking another step closer. "Who told you I had a relationship with Jesse?" The question was accusing, her tone verging on angry for the second time that night. Jesse was the last person she wanted to think about right now.

Chloe's eyes snapped up, a sudden anger filling her. "No one had to! I'd say that kiss earlier was a good enough indication, Beca!" She didn't know if the jealousy in her voice was obvious, but she was sure the hurt in her eyes was. "Why didn't you tell me?"

A piercing, unfriendly laugh unwillingly forced its way out of Beca's mouth, breaking Chloe's previous confidence and causing the senior to tense at the harsh sound that filled the silence around them.

"Not that it's any of your business on who I kiss," Beca started, "but me and Jesse aren't in a relationship. Nor will we ever be in a relationship."

Chloe stayed silent, opening and shutting her mouth as she tried to think through the answer she had just been given. How was it possible for a single person to be so damn complicated? There were times she thought she'd finally managed to figure Beca out, but every now and then she'd be thrown a curve ball and was left feeling completely lost.

"Then why did you kiss him?"

Chloe's tone was soft, curious even as she asked Beca that question. Why did she kiss Jesse if she didn't feel anything for him? If she was so sure that they would never be in a relationship, why would she do that?

"Because.." Beca trailed off, sighing. "..I don't know."

Of course she knew exactly why, but now she was back in the predicament of not being able to tell Chloe what the hell was going on with her.

"There must've been a reason," Chloe pressed, albeit gently, taking a few steps forward so that she was in reaching distance of Beca again. "You don't just kiss someone for no reason, Beca."

Beca stayed quiet, her eyes trained on the ground as she watched her foot awkwardly kick at a few stones, not exactly sure how to answer Chloe's question, or even offer any sort of response at all. Instead she shrugged, stubbornly pursuing the already prolonged silence which just earned her an exasperated sigh from the redhead

"It felt like the right thing to do at the time," Beca muttered quietly as the seconds ticked by. "I thought it would be the right thing to do. He likes me, and I thought that maybe I might like him.. but it just.." she trailed off, sighing. "It was wrong. It felt wrong."

"Why was it wrong?" Chloe pressed.

"I know it's cliché," Beca started, already withholding the eye roll at the lameness about to exit her mouth, "but there were no fireworks, no sparks.. no nothing." She glanced up at the redhead. "I mean, there should be, right?"

Chloe paused. "I think.." she started, "If you like someone.. really like them, I mean.. then you should feel that before a kiss even happens."

"How are you supposed to feel it before?"

"Well.. with the little things. Brief touches, lingering stares, stupid conversations," she laughed softly. "Borrowing their stuff and knowing you're the only one with that privilege," she added with a slight blush, digging her hands further into the pockets of the black hoodie. "Stuff like that."

Beca nodded briefly, a small smile tugging at the corner of her lips. Yeah, she definitely knew what Chloe was talking about.

"Have you ever felt like that?"

A smile made its way to Chloe's lips as she nodded.

"And what do you do about it?"

A thoughtful expression appeared across Chloe's face as she thought about it, letting out a deep breath. "Sometimes it's hard to know what the other person's thinking," she frowned. "But you have to decide whether it's worth the risk.. and if you think it is, just go for it."

"Just go for it?" Beca laughed. "It's a little more complicated than that, isn't it?"

Chloe shrugged. "It doesn't have to be."

Beca bit her lip. "Have you ever just.. gone for it?"

"I've thought about it," she replied honestly.

"What's stopped you?"

Chloe let out a small laugh. "Things just get in the way. Or sometimes other people." She forced a smile.

Beca took a few hesitant steps forward. "What if there were no other people in the way?"

Was she really doing this right now? For whatever reason, Beca Mitchell had gathered enough courage to keep moving forward, her steely blue eyes solely focused on the brighter ones in front of her.

Chloe watched tentatively as Beca slowly approached her. She didn't know what was happening, or what was about to happen. She'd basically just told Beca how she felt, or at least indicated it, she was just hoping the DJ was listening enough to put the pieces together.

"Why did you kiss him, Beca?" Chloe asked again in a small voice. It hurt to even think about it but she needed to know. Why him? She knew there was more to it than Beca had said.

Beca sighed as she stopped in front of the taller woman, dropping her head to look at the ground again.

"I was scared." She replied honestly.

"Scared of what?"

Beca laughed quietly as she looked up to face Chloe again. "I don't do feelings. You know me, Chlo. I can't deal with them and half the time I don't understand them." She paused briefly. "I was scared of what I felt. Of what I feel," she corrected herself.

Chloe tilted her head. "And what's that?" She asked again.

The brunette exhaled a long breath, trying to think of something to say

"Of what this means," she eventually replied, hand reaching out and trailing down the pocket of her favourite black hoodie and then up to touch the headphones that were still hanging delicately around the redheads neck. "Or this."

"Beca.." Chloe says slowly. She doesn't fully understand what the brunette is trying to tell her, she's only hoping it is what she thinks it is. Chloe needs the confirmation, she needs reassurance that this isn't just her hopefulness putting ideas into her head and misinterpreting everything.

"What I'm trying to say," Beca starts slowly, as if she's still trying to figure it out, too, "Is that.. you're my exception."

Whatever it was she expected to come out of Beca's mouth, that wasn't it. "Your exception?" Chloe asks slowly.

Beca laughs. "Yeah. You're my exception. I'm myself around you. Like, completely one hundred percent Beca Mitchell. You make me feel things I've never felt before, Chloe... and it scares me. I kissed Jesse because I didn't want to deal with what I felt. I hoped It would fix everything."

"But?"

Beca smiled and shrugged a little. "There wasn't anything to fix. I don't like Jesse and I was stupid to kiss him. I should've kissed someone else."

The brunette stayed silent after the words finally left her mouth, watching Chloe closely as the redhead seemed to process what had just been said. The nerves inside the brunette built as the silence dragged on for what felt like an eternity.

Although the silence technically wasn't broken, Beca's anxiety drained as soon as she felt Chloe's lips latch onto her own desperately. The brunette was taken aback at first, but quickly kicked her brain into gear and responded to the kiss, her hands finding their way back to her favourite hoodie and pulling Chloe closer.

It was Chloe that pulled away first with a large grin on her face. "I really hope you meant me, otherwise this is going to be real awkward," she laughed.

Beca grinned back at her. "I meant you."

Chloe smiled as she leant in again to brush her lips against Beca's in a simple kiss. "Good," she responded.

"I meant what I said before about the others wondering where we are though," Beca said reluctantly with a small sigh.

Chloe smiled at the smaller woman and nodded her head. "We should be getting back."

Beca's wasn't sure who it surprised more, but she watched as her hand slipped down into Chloe's to entwine their fingers again - the first time she'd ever initiated the contact between them. The redhead grinned but didn't say anything as Beca pulled the two of them back towards the apartment to catch up with the rest of the Bellas.

"There you are!" Fat Amy slurred as Beca and Chloe eventually returned to the apartment. "We were about to- to send out the party."

Chloe giggled.

"Search party, Fat Amy," Aubrey rolled her eyes as she corrected the Australian and watched her finish yet another drink.

"Well we're back now, no need to sent out the party," Chloe giggled again.

"Are you ever giving me that back?" Beca asked with a grin as she watched Chloe pull off her hoodie and hang it up.

"Mmm...no."

Beca laughed, "fine with me." She leaned up to peck the redhead but retreated quickly as a blush spread across her cheeks, realising the other Bellas may have seen.

"Awwww yeah! Pay up aca-bitches!" Fat Amy announced loudly, pointing at some of the Bellas with a knowing grin.

Beca and Chloe watched in confusion as a few of the girls each rolled their eyes and passed notes to either Fat Amy or Stacie.

"Um, what was that?" Beca asked what she knew the both of them were thinking.

"You guys have been eye-fucking for like six months straight now," Stacie answered bluntly. "It would've been stupid not to make an investment on the inevitable."

Beca frowned and Chloe laughed. "You guys bet on whether or not we'd get together?" She asked with a raised brow and smile, her look directed more to Aubrey than anyone else.

"Not all of us," Aubrey defended. "I had no part in this whatsoever."

Chloe laughed as she pulled the two of them back over to the sofa and haphazardly threw herself down beside Beca, cuddling up the brunette when she felt an arm move around her shoulders and a hand gently stroking her arm. She tried to bite back a smile when she caught Aubrey's stare but to no avail. Chloe Beale was ridiculously happy right now and she couldn't even attempt to hide the bursting smile as Beca held her a little closer.

The redhead leant up and kissed Beca's cheek softly, feeling the brunette's forming smile on her lips.

"I could get used to this," Chloe commented quietly as she snuggled back up to the brunette and rested her head in the curve of Beca's neck.

"Me too." Beca admitted easily, planting a lingering kiss on top of Chloe's head.

A/N. So this fic has been sat in my folder half written for a while now, so I decided to try finish it quickly. This is the most angst I'm capable of writing haha. Hope you enjoyed and feedback is appreciated :)