Bechloe - One For My Baby

Chapter XXXI

The day finally came where Randall had to leave for Florida. He left on Friday, promising his daughter that he would spoil her when he got back. When the man walked through the door, Chloe felt a sense of freedom. She knew that was probably the last time she was going to see her father or the last time she was going to see him in a long time. She was a little sad about it but she was more happy than sad. She was going to be free and she was going to begin the next chapter of her life with Beca, the girl Chloe absolutely adored. Beca counted down the days until it reached Friday and she couldn't wait to get her girlfriend out of her dreaded house and into her own.

Since Chloe was going to be on her own on Friday, Beca offered to stay the night with Chloe and help her pack up so by Saturday, the redhead was all ready to go. Chloe was reluctant to let Beca come to her house and said that she would be fine but Beca persisted. Chloe still didn't want her girlfriend to come over but if she was going to move on Saturday, Beca was going to go to Chloe's place eventually. So with that information in mind, Chloe agreed to let Beca stay over Friday night. Once school had finished and after quickly checking in on Stacie, Beca went home with Chloe and it's only then that Beca realised that she had no idea where Chloe lived.

"Hey, are you okay?" Beca asked as she and Chloe were walking to the redhead's house. "You've been really quiet ever since we left Stacie's."

"Oh, it's nothing. It's just hard seeing Stacie like that."

"I know it's hard but... something tells me that's not what's really wrong with you."

Chloe sighed.

"It's okay, babe, you can tell me."

Chloe looked at Beca briefly before speaking.

"Becs, I don't live in a very nice area. I don't live in a nice house and... I don't really want you to see where I live. I don't want you to see where it all happened and-"

"Hey," Beca stopped walking and faced her girlfriend. "You don't need to worry about that, okay? I don't care where you live or anything like that. I know everything about you, Chloe, and nothing is going to scare me away, especially where you live. You've told me what your dad has done to you and that hasn't scared me away so what makes you think I'll walk away when I see where you live?"

Chloe breathed a laugh. "It's just embarrassing that's all."

"Hey," Beca placed her hand on Chloe's cheek and stroked it gently. "There's nothing to be embarrassed about, okay?"

"You're so good to me."

"Look who's talking. Now, let's go." Beca squeezed Chloe's hand and continued walking.

The walk was peaceful. It was quiet but it wasn't awkward. Beca just walked with Chloe and noticed that they were heading out of Beca's known area. There were less and less two-story houses and it didn't take long until those houses were gone and replaced with one-story houses. The area wasn't a bad area but it wasn't the rich area that Beca lived in. Beca was waiting for Chloe to pull her into any house at any moment but she didn't - they just kept walking. The luscious green trees that surrounded the area were begging to thin out and the grass was losing its colour as it began to turn brown and yellow. The area was now unfamiliar to Beca and she was starting to feel a little uncomfortable when she saw houses that were poorly looked after with rubbish and beat-up cars out the front.

Beca was hoping that Chloe didn't live in this area and that they were just taking a detour or something but unfortunately, Chloe turned off the sidewalk and made her way towards a small house that needed serious repair work. The windows were dirty, the paintwork was cracked and peeling off, the brickwork was chipped, the pipes were corroding, the lawn was dead, and the waist-high fence looked like it had been gone at with bolt cutters. A strong unsettling feeling arose in Beca's gut but she didn't stop walking. Chloe walked up to the front door and opened the damaged fly-screen door before opening the main door. Beca swallowed nervously then walked inside Chloe's house.