Studio 22

Chapter 11:

Chloe:

"I guess it means we both want to be together." Beca shrugged with a smile on her face.

"Yeah. I guess it does..." I thought out loud. We would really be doing this. She wanted to be with me. She really did. The biggest smile appeared on my face and I hugged Beca tightly. Her arms wrapped around my waist, her hands were resting at the small of my back and I felt home. I didn't know how to describe what I was feeling. I felt safe, comfortable, happy, excited; I felt everything at once.

"I'm going to go home, take a shower and change. See you at rehearsal?", she asked with the sweetest voice.

"Yeah." I had to grin widely.

A few minutes later, we were standing at my front door, the door already open, Beca ready to go.

"I'm going to go now. See you later.", she said and leaned forward for a kiss goodbye, but once we parted made no effort to leave whatsoever. Her hand rested on my cheek and she just gazed into my eyes.

"Didn't you want to go?" I asked her with a little giggle.

It looked like she came back to reality from wherever she had been. "Yeah, right. Sorry. I got lost in your eyes."

"Don't be sorry." I said, smiling from ear to ear.

"Okay, see you later.", she quickly mumbled before kissing me again. Then she left.

Did this really just happen? Were we a couple now? What a crazy morning. I decided that I needed a coffee after all this excitement. Thea barging in on Beca and me could've seriously ruined everything. The realization hit me hard now and I was glad Beca wasn't mad at me. But then again, why would she be mad at me? If anything, she would've had a reason to be mad at Thea. I was worrying too much again. To shut off my brain for a few minutes at least, I took a shower. After I was done showering, I called Aubrey. I had to tell her. She knew, that Beca had tried to blame me for her break-up, but I hadn't updated her on what had been going on between us after.

"Hey, Chlo." Aubrey greeted me.

"Hey Bree. How are you?"

"I'm fine, but I'm working right now, so I don't have much time. Sorry."

"It's okay. I just wanted to talk to you about Beca really quickly. You know how she blamed her break-up with Jesse on me?" I asked her, already knowing the answer.

"Yes. And?" Aubrey played along.

"She apologized for everything. Well, except for the kiss and told me she had feelings for me. Then I saw her kissing Jesse a few days later an-"

"Stop right there! You saw her kissing Jesse? I thought they broke up?" Aubrey interrupted me.

"Yes. They did. I was just as confused as you are, but I gave Beca a chance to explain everything. It's a long story, I'll tell you another time. Anyway, a few days after that, she planned this totally sweet surprise for me by the lake. You remember how Tom pushed me into the lake in senior year? She wanted me to have a do-over. We kissed and when she dropped me home, I asked her to come upstairs with me." I could practically hear Aubrey's jaw drop to the floor.

"We just ended up sleeping next to each other and that's fine, but you know what? Thea marched into the bedroom this morning, stating that she was back, totally convinced that we were still a thing."

"What?! But she was the one who dumped you!" Aubrey exclaimed.

"Yes. And she wanted to kiss me, like nothing ever happened, but Beca stepped in. When Thea asked her who she was and she didn't answer, I told Thea that she was my girlfriend. I didn't know what else to call her. We weren't exactly together, but it felt wrong to call her a 'fling'. After Thea left, I talked to Beca about the girlfriend-thing and she said she doesn't want this to be just a hook-up either. So, I guess we're in a relationship now." I insecurely ended the story.

"Wow, Chlo. What a way to start your morning. And what hell of a way to kick off a relationship with Beca! I'm sure she was pretty shocked when Thea just waltzed into your bedroom." Aubrey laughed.

"She was." I had to laugh too.

"I'm happy for you, Chlo. Just be careful, okay? I don't want you to get hurt again. Take it slow for once.", she said with a little chuckle. Taking things slow wasn't my forte. Regardless which aspect of my life we were talking about.

"I will, Bree. I promise. By the way, Beca also wants to take things slow, so.."

"Okay, Chlo. I need to go. I'm sorry. Talk some more tomorrow? I could come around your place with some take out." Aubrey suggested.

"Sure. See you tomorrow, Bree." I trilled into the phone and hung up.

                                       ~

"Five, six, seven, eight and one, two." I heard Beca's voice echo through the club when I arrived a few hours later. She was rehearsing the new number with the lift that we had practiced that one time. She was teaching the others the choreography now. I got changed and went on stage with the others.

"Chloe. You're late.", Beca sternly stated.

"I know, I'm sorry."

"Chloe? I need to talk to you in my office. The others keep rehearsing please.", she ordered.

"Why does she talk to her in private? When one of us is late, she just talks to us in front of everybody." I heard Stacie say. I'm sure Beca must've heard it too because she shot Stacie a death glare and she went back to rehearsing her steps.

I walked into the office, Beca directly behind me. When she had entered, she closed the door and stood right in front of it. I stepped in front of her, wanting to kiss her, but she held me back.

"Chloe, don't. Why are you late?", she seriously asked and I was disappointed. I had thought that 'talking in her office' was a code to spend some time away from everybody.

"I got held up. I'm sorry."

"Chlo, just because we're a couple now, doesn't mean you can do whatever you like. You understand that, right?"

"I know, Beca. I'm sorry. It won't happen again." I sadly said, wanting to push past her to get to the stage. Beca held me back by my arms.

"Oh and Chloe? Please don't tell any of the others about us. Not yet, okay?" I knew Beca was dead serious about this. She looked into my eyes, waiting for my answer.

"I promise." I said while deeply looking into her eyes. Her gaze softened and a little smile appeared on her face. She opened the door for me and I went on stage to rehearse with the others. Beca followed a few minutes later and instructed the others about the lift. She wanted to show them what it would look like and I got nervous. We hadn't rehearsed this after what had happened the first time. Beca motioned for me to get ready and we danced four bars before she initiated the lift. My heart was pounding heavily. I was scared to let her fall, or even worse, that I would fall onto her and hurt her somehow. We managed to do it accident-free. I was happy that we had done it, when I realized I wasn't going to do this with Beca during the show. I had to learn how to do this with someone other than her.

"Linda, I want you to take my part in the lift for the show. Since I will be singing, I can't simultaneously do an aerial. Come over here."

Linda was a small, blonde woman. She was even smaller than Beca. Her wavy hair was cut into a long bob, framing her delicate facial features.

"Chloe, remember that you have to have a safe stand, at least hip-wide. And Linda, you're doing an aerial, but you hold on to Chloe's arm with your hands." Beca explained.

"Stacie, can you please get the safety mats?", she demanded and Stacie went to get them. We laid out the mats and then it was time to practice it. The first try ended very similar to Beca's and my first try. I lost balance when Linda was halfway through her aerial and we landed on the mats. After hours of trying, I still couldn't do the lift with Linda.

"I've seen enough. I'm not taking that risk. I'll do the lift with Chloe myself." Beca stated.