The Right Place

Chapter Thirty-Four

'Hey, babe', Chloe called as she heard the door open behind her. The ginger's attention was centred on a paper she was marking at the kitchen counter for one of her students; she had been hunched over it for half an hour.

Rather than greet Chloe, Beca went like a steam train over to the fridge to fetch a can of beer, which she popped open with a satisfying 'shtssh'. Whilst taking what she felt was a well-deserved gulp, she earned the focus of Chloe's confused eyes.

'...Are you okay?', the redhead asked, furrowing her brow.

'Sure', was the blunt answer Beca gave before another gulp of beer was ingested.

'Alright', Chloe said in an undulating tone, standing up and tucking her chair under the table. 'What's up?', she questioned as she stood in front of the brunette and gently removed the alcohol from her grip.

'I had to spend some time with an asshole today- that's all'

'Who was the asshole?'

The brunette stared up at the ceiling and fiddled with her fingers in discomfort. '...My dad'

'What did you two talk about to make you so...pissed off?'

'Ugh, just...stuff', the DJ told her, brushing it off and turning around with the intention of visiting the lounge.

Before she could get away, Chloe reached out her hand and stopped Beca in her tracks. 'It's not just stuff. Let's talk', she said softly. Next, ignoring her best friend's low groan, she led the way into the lounge, (placing the can on the counter as she passed), and sat herself onto the sofa.

Wriggling into a corner, she waited patiently for Beca to sit in the opposite corner with her knees tucked up to her chest- as they always were. When the brunette indeed tucked her knees up and perched defiantly in her own zone as if she was guarding her secrets, Chloe stretched her legs out to fill some space.

'So what did he say, Becs?', Chloe asked gingerly.

Her false barricades instantly falling down, Beca shuffled closer to allow the girl's ankles to rest atop her knees. She tapped her fingers over Chloe's ankles to entertain the silence before revealing, 'Well he normally calls me a failure...And today was no different'

Despite having heard this a million times, it never made it any easier for Chloe to take in. There were rare times when the redhead enjoyed the vulnerability Beca showed- like when she would make mixes especially for her and then blush profusely as she actually gifted them in person. However, when it came to the issues caused by Beca's family, there was nothing that matched the ache in Chloe's stomach when the DJ discussed them. Once or twice in the time that they'd been friends had Beca actually broken down and cried during one of these conversations, and once or twice, Chloe had to struggle against the will of the lump in her throat in order to be the strong one. Now that their friendship had developed much further, she thought about whether the lump in her throat would grow too forceful to restrain.

'Beca...You're so not a failure'

'Deep down I know I'm not', Beca told her, 'but if my own dad believes I am, then what about other people? Do they think my life is a shitwreck like he does?'

Reacting in the only way she knew how, Chloe offered out a hand, which was held gratefully on her lower thigh. She smoothed over the brunette's knuckles. 'I'm totally biased, but I think your life is pretty awesome'

'Yeah?', Beca replied, tilting her head to show interest whilst not necessarily sounding like she convincingly believed it.

'You've accomplished so many achievements- winning the World's for the Bellas, working on radio, selling out three albums you produced, interning until you became a top name in the industry-'