Studio 22

Chapter 10:

Beca:

Was this the right thing to do? I had never been with anyone else than Jesse, let alone with a woman. My body was tense. Was she even asking me to spend the night with her?

"Chlo, I..." I took a deep breath. She just looked at me, waiting for an answer. "I don't think we should be doing this yet." My voice was laced with insecurity. Not because I didn't want to be intimate with her, but because we should really take things slow.

"Hey,", she softly said. "no need to feel bad. It's okay. Do you still want to come in?"

I just nodded and we went inside. I wandered through her living room, admiring the artwork, when my gaze landed on a photo standing on the side table. It was a photo of Chloe and another woman kissing. I assumed that this was her ex-girlfriend. I was getting insecure. She still had photos of them. Was she sure about her feelings for me? Chloe entered the living room with two glasses of wine and saw me looking at the photo.

"Is this Thea?" I asked.

"Yes. That's her. I don't know why this photo is-" I didn't hear what Chloe was telling me anymore. I was looking at the photo of them, intimidated by Thea. She had long, shiny brunette hair, her figure was absolutely perfect and her skin was tanned just right. I couldn't compete with that.

"What's wrong?" Chloe asked when she noticed I hadn't been listening to her.

"Why me?" I wanted to know.

"What do you mean, Becs?" She looked at the photo and then it hit her. "You're not seriously comparing yourself to her, are you?"

I just shrugged.

"Oh, Beca."

"Can you blame me for it? I mean...look at her. She looks like a goddess... and then there's me." My insecurities really got the best of me sometimes.

"Stop! Yes, she's beautiful," My heart stung at those words. "but so are you! Your smile is so cute. Your eyes are stunningly gorgeous and your curves are top shelf. You're just.. Did you look at yourself in a mirror lately?"

"So you just want me for my body?" I jokingly asked to conceal my nervousness.

"Obviously. I mean look at you!", she said laughing and gestured to my body. "Seriously though, you don't think I just like you because you're good-looking, do you?"

I didn't know how to answer that, so I stayed silent. Chloe handed me a glass of wine, "Enough! Stop being so insecure about yourself."

We sat down on her sofa and she turned on the TV. We talked for a while, the TV only a background noise, drinking quite a bit of wine. I wanted to be closer to her, so I cuddled into her side. The tiring effect of the wine got to me and my eyes fell shut.

"Becs?" Chloe's soft voice woke me up.

"Sorry, I fell asleep."

"Do you want to stay here? It's late and you drank quite a bit of wine...You shouldn't be driving home anymore.", she told me softly- one of her hands resting against my cheek.

"Hmm." I was still sleepy and my eyes kept closing, so I appreciated her offer.

"Let's go to bed." Chloe softly said.

Fifteen minutes later, I was lying in bed under the covers. My eyes were really heavy and I was so sleepy. A few moments later, Chloe crawled into bed next to me. She got comfortable on her side, facing me.

"Goodnight, Becs.", she whispered.

"Goodnight, Chlo."

My heart pounded rapidly in my chest. I was really going to spend the night here. I was overwhelmed by my feelings and although I was super tired, I lay awake, unable to sleep. Chloe had closed her eyes and her breathing was getting more even, telling me she was falling asleep. Chloe's deep and even breaths were calming me down slowly. My eyes closed and I began drifting to sleep. Right when I was about to fall asleep, I felt Chloe's arm wrap around my waist, pulling me closer. She cuddled into me, her breaths still deep and even. I gently kissed the top of her head and fell asleep.

I was woken up by a tender kiss on my cheek the next morning. My eyes opened, slowly adjusting to the light.

"Morning, Becs. Did you sleep well?" Chloe was lying next to me, her head propped up on her arm, her elbow pressed into the mattress.

"Hey, Chlo. Slept like a baby." My voice was still raspy.

"Are you hungry?", she wanted to know.

I just shook my head. I wasn't hungry. My stomach was already full. Filled with butterflies because of Chloe. I gazed into her eyes and a smile spread on my face.

"What is it?" Chloe asked.

"It's y-" I couldn't finish my sentence before the bedroom door flew open.

"Hey, honey!" A brunette woman suddenly stood in the bedroom.

"Thea?!" Chloe asked with a mix of shock and surprise in her voice.

"Who is this?! What is she doing in our bed?" Thea asked angrily. What exactly was going on here? My sleepy brain wasn't ready for this yet. Chloe had told me that they had broken up a few days before we saw each other for the first time in Studio 22. That was weeks ago.

Chloe got up from the bed, put her hands on her hips and looked at Thea angrily. I was just intimidated by the situation. Why was I so insecure? I just sat in bed, not daring to say a word.

"Our bed? You've got some nerve, Thea! This isn't our bed anymore, remember? You decided to leave."

"And then you go and screw someone else?!" Thea asked with the most hurtful voice.

"You broke up with me! And may I remind you that you were the one to screw someone else first?" Wow. I had never seen Chloe this way. So upset, so snarky. "What are you even doing here?"

"As I said. I'm back, honey." Thea said and walked up to Chloe. Chloe's face gave away her discomfort. Now I had seen enough. I got out of bed and stepped between Chloe and Thea.

"What do you think you're doing?" I asked sternly.

"I'm kissing my girl 'good morning'. And who are you exactly?" Thea grabbed my arm and wanted to push me aside, but I withstood her grip. I had no answer to her question. Chloe and I hadn't talked about labels yet.

"She's my girlfriend! And you're completely delusional. How can you possibly think that we're still a thing? You left me. Now live with it. Get out!" Chloe said loudly from behind me and wrapped her arms around my upper arm lovingly. I looked at her for a second and smiled. Then I turned my attention back to Thea.

"Give me the keys and leave." I told her coldly.

Thea gave me a deprecating look, handed me the keys and left. After the door fell shut, Chloe turned to face me, her arms still wrapped around mine.

"I'm so sorry, Beca. I had no idea she would do something like this.", she apologized while moving in front of me, looking into my eyes. I didn't care that Thea had barged in on us right now. There was something more important on my mind. I just waved it off.

It was silent for a moment before I dared to ask what was buzzing through my mind.

"Girlfriend?"

Chloe looked at me insecurely. "I know we haven't talked about this yet, but I didn't know what else to tell her. It felt wrong to say something like 'fling' or 'hook-up'... That's not what I want this to be."

I answered by pulling her closer and sealing our lips. I didn't want this to be a hook-up or a fling either. I wanted a chance to be with Chloe.

"Me neither." I breathed out once we had parted and gazed into Chloe's eyes, my hand tenderly caressing her cheek.

"So, what does this mean?", she asked, looking at me softly.