bechloe ~ high school

Chapter 19 (The Teasing)

It had been the most bizarrest of evening's for Beca and Chloe. Following the relief that had been their respective mothers and Chloe's father being okay with the idea of them dating, the two teens had settled in the lounge, tucked up on the couch together to watch TV. The parents had gathered in the kitchen to drink herbal tea, laughing and reminiscing about their days together at Barden High when they'd been teenagers.

Beca sat on the couch, stroking the fingertips of her left hand through Chloe's red hair while the older teen lay out on the couch, her head in Beca's lap. Beca's right hand was entwined with Chloe's. The brunette had a calm smile on her face, looking down at her girlfriend when she felt the girl's head become heavy in her lap and her fingers slowly release hers. Chloe had fallen asleep.

The younger teen couldn't believe how happy she felt. If someone had gone up to her at the beginning of the week and told her that by Thursday evening she would be curled up on the couch at Chloe Beale's house, with Chloe Beale then Beca wouldn't have believed them. But here they were.

"Right kiddo, we're gonna have to make a move." Melissa said, stopping just inside the lounge door and throwing her daughter an apologetic expression when she realised that Chloe had fallen asleep. Beca quickly looked from her mother over to Chloe's parents, who had followed Melissa into the room, and she felt a little nervous once again. Sure, they'd allowed her to start dating their daughter, but that didn't necessarily fill Beca with total ease around them just yet.

So Beca released the final grip she had of her girlfriend's hand and gently nudged her shoulder, looking down at the girl with a soft smile, "Chlo?" she whispered, and the redhead inhaled deeply through her nose before slowly sitting up. She looked at Beca with a drowsy smile, saying in a quiet groggy voice, "Mmmsorry..I must've drifted off.." and she brought a hand to her eyes to rub them gently.

"Beca's got to go home, sweetheart." Dee Beale said kindly, and Chloe jumped at the sound of her mother's voice, looking over to the door of the lounge and seeing her parents and Beca's mother stood looking at the two teens on the couch.

"Yeah sorry Chloe, she's got school in the morning. You both do." Melissa said, giving the girls a smile.

Chloe slowly got to her feet with a tired sigh and Beca eased herself off the couch. The brunette began to follow the adults out of the lounge but she felt a hand tug her backwards. She swallowed loudly, a calm smile on her face as she looked at the redhead who was beaming at her.

"So..I guess I'll see you at school huh.." Beca said quietly, both her hands having been taken by Chloe's.

"I guess you will." Chloe said with a wink and Beca's heart felt as though it was ramming hard against her rib cage. That was the effect the older teen had on her. She couldn't believe her luck. That a girl as beautiful as Chloe wanted to go out with her. Actually chose her.

And before they could say anything more, Beca gently tugged Chloe towards her, and kissed her softly on the lips.

They abruptly broke their kiss as someone could be heard loudly clearing their throats and Beca turned to see that her mother had returned to the doorway, a big grin on her face.

"Come on Beca, Chloe's Dad might change his mind if you stay here kissing his daughter for much longer.." Melissa said with a wicked grin, winking at Beca, whose cheeks immediately flushed bright red with embarrassment.

"Mom!" Beca hissed under her breath, noticing how Mr Beale shuffled a little uncomfortably by the front door while both Chloe and Mrs Beale giggled at the way Melissa was teasing her daughter.

"Right!" Beca's Mom exclaimed merrily, wrapping her arm around her daughter's shoulders and guiding her towards the door, "Greg, always a pleasure. Dee, I'll catch up with you over the weekend no doubt. And Chloe.." the woman glanced over her shoulder as the teen slowly wandered to the door to stand by her parents, "..I look forward to seeing more of you over the coming weeks. You're welcome at ours any time!"

"She's still got her studies to focus on, Mel.." Mr Beale said in a low serious tone, raising his eyebrows.

Beca's Mom gasped, "Oh, right, yeah." then turned from The Beale's to Chloe again, giving the redhead an encouraging smile, "Okay well, you're welcome at ours any time your Dad will let you!"

Dee Beale let out a loud giggle, smoothing her hand over her husband's back to try to prevent him from taking her friend too seriously. Melissa always had been one for teasing, even back in high school.

Melissa and Beca said their final farewells to The Beale's, then the two wandered down the street and around the corner to get to Beca's car.

"I'll tell you what kiddo," Beca heard her mother say as they slid into the car, and Beca turned to see the woman grinning at her, "You don't half surprise me sometimes." And Beca couldn't help rolling her eyes at her mother whilst starting the ignition.

Despite the embarrassment and the crazy events of today, Beca couldn't help the goofy grin on her face. And she couldn't wait to see Chloe at school tomorrow..

-

Chloe slammed the door of her car closed and took a deep happy breath. She pulled her handbag up onto her shoulder, a smile spreading across her face and began walking through the school car park. She hadn't slept much again last night, having been texting Beca from the moment the brunette had gone home until around 4am when she has fallen asleep mid-text. She'd felt so guilty when she'd woken up at 7.30am that she'd immediately texted several apologetic messages to the girl, only for Beca to call her and assure her that she hadn't needed to apologise in the slightest because she'd also fallen asleep. Chloe had felt stupid, but Beca had found it sweet, and they'd ended their long call just as they were getting into their respective cars to drive to school.

The redhead filtered through the school doors with several other students of Barden High, heading straight for her locker as usual. She heard mutterings and excited whispers between younger students of a fight happening somewhere down one of the corridors, but Chloe was in too much of a blissful trance to process the information properly.

So the eighteen year old swanned up to her locker, ignoring the sounds of jeering and yelling and some kind of brawl that was happening round the corner, while students shoved past her in the busy corridor to catch a glimpse of the fight themselves.

Suddenly Chloe froze, her smile immediately dropping as she saw the words "Chloe Beale: Property of Beca Mitchell" scrawled on her locker door in permanent black marker pen. Her heart stopped momentarily, her stomach twisting while she read the words over and over again.

And that was when she became fully aware of the sound of her ex-boyfriend yelling something above the jeering crowd of school children, around the corner from her locker. She began to join the swarm of students that were making their way towards the fight and her mouth went dry with fear as she thought she heard someone in the year below her say to their friend, "It's Mitchell!"

Chloe found herself at the back of the crowd of Barden High students, but her heart was now racing as she heard Drake yelling at someone, "Get the fuck up!" And in her heart Chloe knew. She knew that someone was Beca. And the thought brought tears to her eyes as she began desperately squirming her way between the students. By the time she had got to the front, a cry fell from her mouth, muffled by the sounds of the crowd watching the scene before them.

And, within the circle of students, was a furious Drake standing over Beca. Chloe's girlfriend was clambering to her feet, a stubborn, angry expression on her face. But to the redhead's horror, Beca was currently sporting what appeared to be a black eye and a bloodied broken nose..