A/N Just a quick note to say… I was overawed with the response to this… Thank you guys ;)
Post-dare Day 1:
After a pretty good day singing and dancing, their routine for the next event was down, and the ladies had set off to the park around the corner from the Bella house for a night of bonding, scary stories and roasted marshmallows.
Chloe couldn't help meeting Beca's eyes over the campfire that night. They sang so well together, a perfect harmony that was perfectly reminiscent of how they were together. As friends, Chloe reminded herself. Yet the intensity with which Beca held her gaze made the red-head's heart beat faster.
Although to be fair, a lot of things Beca did made Chloe's heartbeat quicken. The way the brunette stood so close a kiss would seem almost accidental, to the way she had held her hips when they were drunkenly dancing together last weekend. Even those intense, unreadable looks Beca often sent her way, ruffled Chloe's feathers in the best possible way.
Beca had only auditioned for the stupid choir because of the bright-eyed and utterly distracting older woman. She had been curious, then invested, and now three years later she was bearding with some random acapella guy to stop herself ruining the best friendship she had ever had. She poked at the camp-fire with her marshmallow, and it burnt quickly, dribbling its way off the wooden stick into a gooey pile on the log below.
Stupid marshmallow.
She had been so caught up in her thoughts and cursing burnt marshmallows, that she had missed the arrival of a presence just behind her. Beca nearly jumped a mile high when a hand offering her an exquisitely toasted marshmallow appeared out of the darkness at her side. Chloe grinned and bent down.
"I just wanted to give you a marshmallow… not a heart attack. Promise"
The older woman teased her gently, she wanted to get Beca out of her own head. Being left alone with her thoughts, these past few days especially, didn't seem to be putting the brunette in the best of moods. Beca rolled her eyes and hit her lightly on the arm.
"You know I'm not a fan of the dark…"
Chloe made Stacie scoot over, and sat down next to her on the log. Stacie waggled her eyebrows at Beca while Chloe was distracted, getting settled.
They talked for a while, as the others started retiring to the house, until they realised they were the only ones still outside, along with Stacie and Fat Amy.
Amy got up and headed across the grass towards the road and then home, mumbling something about having to choose between wrestling alligators or kangaroos. Milliseconds later, Stacie faked a yawn and followed suit, sending Beca a wink and a cheeky thumbs up on the way.
Beca rolled her eyes, but was forced to quickly turn it into a yawn at a confused look from Chloe.
The red head wasn't fooled.
"What was that about?"
"Er… oh nothing"
"Uhuh."
Chloe folded her arms and fixed Beca with her special I-know-that's-not-true look.
Beca cringed. Why was she such a terrible liar…
"Well… alright. I had a thing with Stacie. That's all I can say really…"
Chloe turned away from Beca and back towards the flames in front of them.
"I… I thought you were seeing whats-his-name?"
"Oh god no! I mean, I am. I am totally into that dude. Totally. I meant no, as in no-I-didn't-have-a-thing -thing-with-Stacie… I'm not explaining this very well am I…"
Chloe grinned
"Not at all. But I still get you Mitchell."
Beca smiled slightly at the comment and nudged Chloe's elbow with her own.
"So you're not allowed to tell me what this thing with Stacie was about?"
"Nope."
"Not even if I never tell anyone?"
"Nope."
"Even if I promise?"
"Nope"
"Not even… if I was dying?"
"What?!"
Chloe laughed, and Beca glared back.
"Dude. Seriously"
"Okay, okay, I got it. This is definitely gonna make you tell me"
A wicked smirk adorned her features, along with a glint in her eye that would not, by any definition, be classed as innocent.
Beca paused
"Go on…"
"What if…"
Chloe didn't finish her sentence. Instead, she had launched a tickle attack on the extremely ticklish Beca.
"Tell me!"
"Nooooo"
Although she was close to begging for mercy already, the stubborn younger woman held her own.
What could she even tell her best friend. That she had been dared to seduce her? Yeah, because that made a lot of sense and would go down so well. No, the truth wasn't truly an option.
But Beca had to think of something fast. Her tummy hurt from laughing, and she was desperate for air.
As though she could read her mind, Chloe paused, hands hovering close.
"Do you surrender?"
Beca looked between the hands, and the beautiful blue eyes
"Never!"
As she spoke, she rolled off the log they were sitting on, and attempted to scramble away.
However her foot had gone to sleep, and had other ideas. Hobble as she may, the brunette barely made it two feet (hobbles?) before she was pinned down, and being straddled by Chloe.
"You were saying?"
Before Beca had the chance to think of a witty reply, a shout rang through the night. The voice sounded male, and hostile.
As though it were instinctive, Chloe leant over Beca, shielding her and effectively hiding them both from view behind the log they had been sitting on a few moments ago.
A group of male voices answered, from further away. After a brief pause the first voice rang out again, closer to them this time.
"Probably just drunk teenagers"
Beca tried to make light of it, but this was more than a little terrifying. Although it was hard to make anything out in the dark, it sounded like there were a lot of them, and they didn't sound friendly.
Chloe turned away from scanning the dark to look at Beca, noticing for the first time that they were only a breath apart.
"I've got you, okay?"
Beca didn't trust her voice, completely distracted from the situation by the person literally on top of her. Chloe smelt so good… and her freckles were just so perfectly sprinkled across her nose and cheeks….
Although she was more aware of the potential danger in the situation, Chloe couldn't help keeping Beca's gaze. The brunette had such captivating ocean-blue eyes….
Both froze at the sound of the voice ringing out once more, and both sighed together realising that the voice sounded much further away.
Chloe sent a beaming grin at Beca, throwing her completely off guard again.
Man she had it bad.
Chloe started to lift herself up. Beca grabbed her arm.
"Wait"
Chloe paused, her smile faltered and she looked around
"For what?"
She needed to tell her. She needed to tell Chloe that she wanted to be so much more than friends. And she needed to tell her before she found out about the dare from Stacie. Beca knew the other Bella well enough to know that Chloe would definitely take it the wrong way. This way… she only had to lean up slightly and their lips would touch.
Her heart jumped at the thought, butterflies flittered through her and a smile broke across her face unbidden.
God, she wanted to kiss her.
Her eyes flickered to slightly parted pink lips.
Even tearing her gaze away and back to those gorgeous blue eyes was proving tricky.
She needed to tell Chloe, and she needed to tell her now.
"I…."
Her voice froze. She couldn't do it.
Beca thought back through their friendship, through the good times and bad. From the first time they met, to their first sleepover. The time she had lost faith in herself, and Chloe brought her back. The time when Chloe had rescued a wounded budgie and it had recovered perfectly, only to make them chase it around the apartment for three days. There were so many memories.
Beca couldn't tell her. She would lose Chloe… and no matter how good those memories were, they would be all she had left of the crazy awesome nerd in front of her.
Chloe raised an eyebrow at the tidal wave of intense emotions running across her face.
"Thank you, I just wanted to say, thank you"
"Of course"
She rolled to the side and offered her best-friend a hand
"Anything for you"