Mixed Tapes

Chapter 4

Maybe that's because you've already answered it yourself.

Chloe repeated what Beca had said to her three days ago in her head 24/7. She wanted to know what she meant by that. Did she like the redhead? No, that couldn't have been it. She obviously had a toner for Jesse, but she just didn't want to admit it.

The Annual Fall Mixer was just around the corner - before lunch this afternoon, to be exact - and the Bellas were anything but ready to perform.

"1, 2, 3, 4," Aubrey whispered. The girls started to sing and dance wildly and out of sync.

Members of the Sigma Beta Theta fraternity talked in soft murmurs and a minute later, one of them spoke up. "Stop. Just stop! We wanted the hot Bellas. Not this.. barnyard explosion. We're not paying for this."

The girls began to walk off, led by an embarrassed blonde senior. "Girls, you better feel extremely embarrassed right now! Remember this as a lesson. Don't screw the choreography up!"

"And Chloe, you sounded like you smoke three packs a day!" she yelled at her friend. When she didn't turn around to reply, she shouted again. "Chloe!"

The redhead turned to face her fellow Bellas and said, "I have nodes."

Aubrey gasped and held Chloe's hands. "Oh my god."

Beca looked at the rest of the group, then at Aubrey and Chloe. "What are nodes?"

Aubrey and Chloe explained that nodes were vocal nodules that "sit on your windpipe and crush your dreams."

"But isn't that painful? Why do you keep singing?" she asked, looking at Chloe with concern.

Maybe that's because you've already answered it yourself.

Beca's words from before flashed into her mind as she looked down and replied, "It's because I love to sing and I'm.. persistent."

Beca smiled a little as Chloe looked back into her eyes and the girls began to comfort the redhead.

****

"Aren't you going to have something to eat, Chloe?" Aubrey asked her friend as she made her way from her bed to the door.

The redhead closed her eyes from where she lay on her bed and shook her head.

"I'm going to take a short nap before my next class," she mumbled as she turned on her stomach and sinked her head into her pillow.

"Okay. I'll be back before 1 to make sure you're up."

She heard the door close shut and Aubrey's footsteps getting softer as she got further and further away from their room.

Chloe sighed and let her mind float back to thoughts of her favourite brunette. Did she actually like her the way she wanted her to like her? And god.. now she had her nodes to worry about too. Would she ever be able to sing the way she used to again?

She sobbed silently, soaking her pillow with tears.

There was a knock at the door and Chloe sat up, frantically wiping away her tears before saying, "Uh, come in."

Beca came through the door with a laptop in her arms and her smile faded when she saw the redhead's tear-stained pillow and wet cheeks. "Hey.. what's wrong?"

"Oh, hi Beca. Nothing's wrong... I was just going to take a nap. Shouldn't you be out having lunch?" Chloe asked, trying to blink back her tears.

"I'm not too hungry, so I thought I'd come over to... are you sure you're alright?"

The redhead nodded. "Okay. It's just that you seem a little upset. With the soaked pillow and everything," Beca gave her a small reassuring smile. Chloe felt the butterflies in her stomach flutter. The brunette genuinely cared about her.

"Um, it's just... I might never be able to sing again unless I go through a surgery for my - my nodes," Chloe stuttered.

Beca sat next to the redhead and placed her laptop on the empty spot beside her. "Right, your nodes... Are you considering going through with the surgery?"

Chloe shrugged and inhaled deeply before letting out a giant breath of air. "I mean, singing is my absolute favourite thing in the whole world, but I don't know..." Chloe trailed off.

The two girls stayed silent for almost a minute. Beca looked down at her laptop and immediately broke into a smile. "I've got something I'd like to show you," she said, grabbing the laptop and turning back to Chloe.

The redhead waited patiently as Beca scooted closer to her and opened up the laptop. A window was already on the screen and it looked like some sort of music-mixing application.

"I, uh, made this for you. It's just a little mix. I sort of forgot to bring my headphones, though. Have you got a pair?" Beca asked.

Chloe's eyes widened as she blinked her baby blue eyes at the brunette and said, "You made a mix for... me?"

The brunette nodded slightly with a smile. "Haha, yeah. I wanted to - since you share my love for David Guetta - make one for you. It didn't take too long."

Chloe smiled and searched the brunette's eyes for any sign of wanting to lock lips at that very moment. Beca broke the eye contact. There was none.

"So, um... headphones?" Beca laughed nervously.

"Headphones! Right. I've got a pair in here somewhere..." Chloe replied. She slid off the bed, pulled out a box of things from under her bed - a few of them being the whole Harry Potter series, a dusty teddy bear & an unnecessary number of pens - and rummaged through it.

"Ah, here they are," she grinned, holding up a pair of white (and a hint of red) Beats headphones.

Beca complimented the redhead's choice of headphones and plugged them into her laptop. "Tell me if it's too loud or soft."

Chloe sat on the floor with crossed legs, her back against her bed and put the headphones on.

The tune of Titanium flowed into her ears and she covered her mouth to hide her wide grin. "This is my lady jam!" Chloe shouted.

Beca brought her index finger to her lips and hushed her friend before bursting into laughter.

"Bulletproof! How'd you know that I like this song?" Chloe asked excitedly, but quieter than before as Bulletproof by La Roux began mixing perfectly with Titanium. Beca smiled at the redhead's enthusiasm and said that she didn't.

The mix slowly faded into nothing and Chloe took off the headphones, leaving them hanging around her neck and smiled up at the brunette. "That was incredible, Beca."

Beca mumbled a "thanks" and offered her hand to help Chloe stand up. They both stood in the middle of the room. Beca holding her laptop like it was the only thing that mattered to her, trying to think of what to say and Chloe with her lips slightly apart, headphones still around her neck and plugged into Beca's laptop.

They looked into each other's eyes like they were the only ones in the world for just a moment. Before they knew it, the tension broke and they couldn't hold it in any longer.

Their mouths clashed into each other in the most beautiful way; passionately and without any hesitation.