It Was Inevitable

Chapter 25.

A/N:
Man my updating schedule has gone to sh*t... I'll try to correct it!

Chloe had called Ashley and the pair were now sat on the couch on Saturday morning, coffee's in their hands, a blanket covering their feet as they giggled and chatted.
"So what's happened with Beca?" Ashley asked, her tone turning suddenly serious. Chloe groaned as she brought up her name, she'd called her the night after she broke it off with Beca and had explained what had happened up to that point, but Ashley was still unaware of the outburst Beca had the previous week.
"She went off on one," Chloe smirked.
"And you're happy about that Chlo?" Ashley asked, a raised eyebrow.
"Ugh I know Ash. I guess I was in the wrong but she didn't need to shout at me," Chloe sighed, "she basically told me that I hurt her, when I cut it off,"
"Can you blame the woman though?" Ashley said, shrugging her shoulders lightly.
"Yeah I know and I understand, but it hurt me to do it. But then I assumed she fucked this Sam girl without even letting her explain. And then she blew up, saying she's going to 'live a normal student life' and do whatever the fuck she pleases," Chloe groaned, "Ash my heads so messed up," Chloe leaned her head on her shoulder.
"How long until she graduates, it's in July right? And we're at the end of January?"
"Yeah," Chloe nodded.
"Then you need to make up your mind. Have a think, do you want to start back up with Beca to stop her wandering away from you and you risk putting your heart out like normal to get it broken. Or do you wait it out and go normally about your life and then reassess afterwards? You need to like talk to her Chloe, try and tell her where you're at," Ashley smiled sympathetically.
"But I don't know what I want to do," Chloe moaned as she rested her head in her hands.
"Well that's a great start," Ashley smiled, "look Chlo, you'll figure it out, you don't need to worry right now. You'll know what you want sooner or later," she rubbed her hand along Chloe's forearm with a shake of her head.
She felt sympathy for her friend and the situation she was in. She knew that Chloe really liked Beca, but she also knew how hard Chloe worked for her career and how much she could lose if it all went wrong.  She knew that whatever Chloe decided, she would know the consequences and she felt confident in her redhead friend that she would make the right decision.
"Come on, let's use retail therapy to distract you, we're going to the mall," Ashley smiled as she pulled on Chloe's arm and shoved her towards her bedroom to get ready. "10 minutes and we're gone Beale."

- - - - -
The weekend had passed and not only did Chloe have around 10 new outfits and no closet space. She had to teach Beca's class first period on Monday. The redhead had braced herself for the surge of feelings and thoughts that would cloud her vision the moment she saw Beca sat at the front of her class, but what she had not prepared for was the sight she was met with on her way to her first period.

Across the campus, Chloe could see Beca with her usual group of friends: Jesse, Stacie and a blonde she knew as Amy, but who she hadn't seen before was anotjer blonde haired girl who was also stood with the group. She had her hair cut to just over her shoulders and paired jeans with a white tee. Chloe could only see the back of the girl's head, but she could also see the arm of the petite brunette of the group, draped around her waist and pulling the blonde close to her side. Chloe's walk had drastically slowed until she was now basically stopped, hidden almost behind a tree as she watched the group. Her face dropped and smile faltered even more when she saw Beca pull the blonde in and attach their lips with a smirk, much like she used to do to Chloe in the moments the pair shared in their apartment.
It happened in a flash as she bore holes into the back of Beca's head, her heart wrenching and stomach twisting. She shouldn't of cared at all, she knew that in Beca's mind, the pair were over for now and she just wanted to live a normal student life. But she couldn't help herself becoming overwhelmed with feelings of sadness and confusion. It was only the previous Friday that the brunette had admitted to having feelings towards the redhead, only a month ago were they happy as they stole kisses and watched movies in Chloe's apartment.
Only on Saturday, that Chloe had spoken to Ashley, who had assured her that she would know what was right, that she would know what she wanted when the time came.
But she knew what she wanted. She wanted Beca. To be her girlfriend, to hold her hand in public without getting whispered about. And to bake pancakes with in the morning.
But it wasn't possible right now and she knew it. She had realised it certainly wasn't possible as she watched the blonde haired girl, who Chloe had grown to hate in the past minutes, lean to whisper something in Beca's ear with a smile, causing the brunette to place a lingering kiss on her forehead. She realised it wasn't possible as the penny dropped in her head that Beca had gotten over her basically over the weekend.

It hurt. And Chloe hadn't realised that her eyes had glassed over as her hand fell on the tree in front of her. Hadn't realised that Stacie's eyes had been watching her for the past few minutes and were full of worry and sympathy. Hadn't realised that Beca's best friend had started to walk towards her at a hurried pace before Chloe swiped her eyes and walked away from the girl, from Stacie who was coming to talk to her. And from Beca, who's hand was still around the blonde's back, a smile on her face as her hand tucked neatly into the girl's jean pocket. Chloe turned, and didn't look back as she headed to the staff toilet to tidy herself up before she had to face the brunette again.

Stacie had stopped as she got halfway towards the redhead. She knew that Chloe hadn't seen her, hadn't realised that she was coming to talk to her. So she stopped, she watched Chloe's red hair bounce on her shoulders as she walked briskly into the school building, trying to wipe her eyes without drawing any attention from the few students surrounding her.
She knew what the redhead had seen, what she'd witnessed. She could only imagine the things going through the woman's head. Beca had told Stacie all about what happened with the pair on Friday. And Stacie had watched Beca at a party on the Sunday night, watched her leave with a blonde called Jackie, and Stacie had not heard from her until the following morning when Beca had approached their group, her hand interlinked with Jackie's and introduced her to everyone. Jesse and Amy had no idea, no idea about Chloe and Beca, so had just assumed that Jackie was a nice girl that Beca had met. She was, she was a nice girl that Beca had met, but Stacie couldn't help but feel that Beca's head wasn't totally screwed on right, that she was still letting her feelings for Chloe effect her. That the brunette was just trying to find a way to heal for a while.

And Stacie didn't know what to do about it.