shoot me down

“I know,” she corrected herself, letting out a short laugh as the hand closest to Chloe’s head gently started to tangle in her scalp. When she pulled her head back, Beca turned hers to look up at Chloe and furrowing her brow. “Get that dopey look off your face, Beale,” she mumbled against her lips before pulling Chloe closer to her within the kiss.

Beca was relieved that Chloe agreed to change the subject into something more entertaining for both of them, but the thought of her accidental admittance was weighing on the back of her brain. Did she now suddenly believe in soulmates? She was still on the fence about it, but she couldn’t deny the way her mark would flare up whenever she was around the redhead. It wasn’t just chance, it couldn’t be. But she was still reluctant to say it out loud, in fear that her pride would be bruised with “I-told-you-so’s”. “I think you’re off to a good start,” she whispered as she took in a sharp breath, allowing her eyes to flutter closed and a soft smile to play on her lips.

“Nope, no I didn’t,” she shook her head, adamantly denying anything as if she’d be arrested (again) if she admitted it. She felt Chloe lie down next to her, flinching at the word ‘cute’ and turning her head away from the other girl’s as she moved her hand away. “I’m feeling a lot of things right now that I’m not willing to name, so how about we just...not? We can go lie down and watch some TV or something, anything other than talking.”

“Don’t make me admit you’re my soulmate,” she whined playfully, bringing both of her arms up to cross over her face before chuckling. Deep down, Beca had admitted to herself that Chloe’s name on her wrist wasn’t just happenstance. Actually, she’d done that a while ago. Probably the morning that they first fought. But out loud? Beca almost didn’t even know how to say it. “No, you make me forget how to talk like a normal fucking human, I don’t appreciate it,” she moved her arms over her head and pouted up at Chloe before scoffing again. “Why the fuck do you make me feel things?” She whined again, covering her face with her hands.

Beca quickly made a face at the mentioning of soulmates, a shiver going right down her spine. “I don’t...this is...I don’t know, Chloe,” she shook her head and sighed softly under her breath. “It’s been a whole school year and I still have no idea how any of this even works and I...” She looked back up at Chloe as she sat next to her before withdrawing her hands and clenching them in her lap. “This is why I don’t like talking,” she mumbled under her breath before lying on her back on the bed with a huff, “I sound like an idiot when I try to talk around you.”

As they started to backpedal towards the bed, Beca licked her lips as her eyes locked onto Chloe’s lips. “What?” She whispered teasingly, absentmindedly tracing shapes on her abdomen before looking up to her eyes. “I’m not big on talking, you know that. Why do you even want to talk so badly?”

Beca grinned at the thought of Chloe being jealous of Jesse, because once again, something that shouldn’t bring her uncountable amounts of joy was making her happy. The brunette tilted her head like a confused puppy when Chloe said they had to talk, even though she knew fully well what she meant. She’d wormed her way out of this talk before, and she was ready to do it again. “Or we can kiss on your bed,” she shrugged, stepping a little closer into the redhead’s space and resting both of her hands on her waist, hesitantly moving to slip her fingers just underneath the hem of Chloe’s shirt to ghost over her skin. “I like that idea better, let’s do that.”

Beca raised an eyebrow with a knowing smirk on her face. “Sure, sure...” She shook her head, moving her eyes over to Chloe’s arm with the mark. “Do you remember that night after the riff-off, when me and Jesse were left alone, and you and I were literally rushing to each other to get them to stop hurting?” She shrugged a little, putting her hand on the marked wrist and gently rubbing her thumb over her skin. “It happened again. That was part of what made the kiss uncomfortable.”

“Yeah,” she nodded, rolling her bottom lip between her teeth. The awkward air in the room was slowly dissolving as she cleared up what actually happened between her and Jesse. Before she knew it, the brunette was being tugged forward into Chloe’s space. “Don’t feel like an idiot,” Beca shook her head, reaching her hands down to squeeze her sides playfully, “and definitely don’t be jealous, which I know you were feeling, Chlo.”

“Chummy? No,” she shook her head, peering back up at the redhead, “I was going over to gloat about winning and he just sorta...did it.” The thought of the kiss was enough to make Beca’s mark sting almost painfully, rocking in her place before walking over to sit on the foot of Chloe’s bed. “It was...weird,” she chuckled softly, wrinkling her nose. “I don’t know why I thought that it’d be the same as kissing you. The technique wasn’t even the same, I was out of my element.” One of the strings of her hoodie started wrapping around her finger as she looked up at Chloe. “So, I mean, yeah, that was a thing but...I like kissing you more.”

“Maybe another year is going to be good for you. Plus, it’s another year with the Bella champs, can’t be too bad!” Beca grinned, sticking her hands in the big pocket of her sweatshirt as she mused the idea of sharing a room with Amy. Wouldn’t be ideal, but would also be very much worth it. Beca was about to open her mouth and reply when Chloe brought up Jesse, feeling the wind get knocked out of her gut. “What? I...whaaaat?” She tried to hold the syllable in a singsongy tone and laugh lightly, although it came across more awkwardly than cool. “You saw that,” she stated, shaking her head, “after the...ICCAs. That was all him, he’s a lot bigger than me, it was, uh...it was a lot of tongue, I was...” Her tone of voice deflated as she watched Chloe’s unamused look despite her attempts at lightening the mood, biting her lip before looking down at her shoes, “...uncomfortable.”

“Wait, you failed? Chloe, that’s sort of a big deal.” She shook her head at how apathetic the redhead sounded about her being remedial, not really understanding it but accepting her attitude nonetheless. “I...no, I haven’t chosen mine yet. Is the room next to yours going to be open?” The brunette asked, probably a little too eagerly as she went back into the hallway to look at the door a little ways down from Chloe’s. She shouldn’t be excited her someone failing and having to spend more tuition money on school, but Beca couldn’t help it. There was something in her that had turned on the little kid response, suddenly becoming aware of how not only she’d get to spend more time with Chloe, but they’d be a lot closer than when Beca shared with Kimmy Jin. She looked back at Chloe, who was probably confused as hell as to why the brunette was so happy. “I mean...now it’s just not as long of a walk to hang out with you. No biggie.”

Beca looked on to the redhead as she waited to be let inside to go pack, shifting in her stance at the silence that fell between them. Once Chloe finally spoke up, her eyebrows immediately furrowed. “You’re what?” As she moved aside, Beca walked in, scanning her gaze over the corners and not seeing a single box in sight. Everything was exactly as it was left. She turned back around to face Chloe, tilting her head in confusion. “Next year? I thought -- you and Aubrey both said you were in your last year...and she’s leaving soon.” Her hands dug into the pockets of her jeans, trying to hide the smile creeping onto her lips just at the thought of getting to spend another year with Chloe.

“Hey,” Beca chirped happily, searching her friend’s face for any semblance of her usual excitement, “no, we didn’t have plans. I just wanted to see you and, you know, help you move out. You’re on to bigger and better things outside of Barden, I bet you’re excited.” It was odd, as Beca reached the end of her sentence, she noticed a complete role reversal. Usually Chloe was the one too perky for life itself, and Beca was the one looking unimpressed. The tables had definitely turned, and it made the brunette feel uneasy. “I mean, if it’s okay to help you move. I get it if you want some, like, alone time to decompress. Graduating is probably hard on you.”

Now that all the celebration of their win had worn off, it was rearing the end of May and Beca wanted to help Chloe move out of the Bella house. With her graduating, she figured that she’d need to move all of her stuff out of her place and Beca was the one to want to help. Of course, Chloe hadn’t been too keen on replying to her texts, but that didn’t stop her from standing outside the redhead’s door, knocking three times before taking a step back and waiting.