Shoot me down

chapter 8

Chloe woke up to the sound of her phone ringing, and the warmth of Beca in her arms. She felt Beca stir at the noise and she turned round so they were face to face. "Mmm make it stop," she groaned sleepily, and Chloe reached across her to pick up her phone. She saw her dad's number on caller ID, and hung up. "Who was it?" Beca asked as she nuzzled into Chloe's neck. "Wrong number," she replied, deciding that this moment was too perfect to ruin and was worth facing the consequences later. "Good," Beca said as she wrapped her arms around Chloe's waist, "Because I love lying here next to you."

Chloe pulled Beca closer so their bodies fit perfectly together and placed a kiss on top of her forehead. "I love it too." Just as her eyes started to drift shut again, the moment of bliss was disrupted by the phone ringing a second time. "Maybe you should answer it baby..." Beca said, placing her lips tenderly against Chloe's neck. Accepting that he would keep ringing until she answered, Chloe answered the phone and brought it up to her ear. "Hello?" she said. "Chloe, I haven't seen you in a while. Come over, say hello to your old man," and just like that he hung up without even waiting for a response. "Was it a wrong number?" Beca asked. Chloe nodded, and then snuggled further into her girlfriend's arms searching for safety.

Eventually they dragged themselves out of bed and walked into the kitchen to find some breakfast. Chloe's phone rang a third time and Beca said, "Seriously? Who dials the wrong number that many times?" Chloe laughed, but still picked up. She wandered into the living room hoping to be out of Beca's earshot as she listened to her dad's voice on the other end of the phone, "Where are you? I expected you to be here by now." She replied in a quiet tone and explained that she'd be there soon, and then hung up. "Who was that?" Beca called out from the kitchen. "Wrong number... again," Chloe said. Suddenly Beca turned around and asked, "Really? You said that you'd be over soon, to a wrong number?"

Struggling to come up with a believable lie, Chloe let out an exasperated sigh and confessed, "It was my dad. I've got to go over there." Beca's eyes widened and she stared at Chloe, waiting for her to finish the sentence and explain that she wasn't going to go. When she remained silent, Beca said defiantly, "I'm coming with you." Chloe shook her head and began to protest, but she was cut off by the fiery brunette, "Listen, either I come with you or you don't go at all." After some consideration, Chloe picked up her phone again and rang her dad back. "Hey dad, my friend Beca's going to come with me over to yours. She's a really good friend and I told her about your music collection, I hope that's okay?"

Beca looked on hopefully as Chloe nodded a few times, said 'okay' several more times, and then hung up. "He said it is fine – he thinks you're coming over because I told you he has a stack of CD's and vinyl discs," Chloe explained, and Beca breathed a sigh of relief. Hopefully, as long as she was in the house Chloe would be safe. Not wanting to keep him any longer and shorten his temper, they hurriedly got changed and headed out to Westwood Drive.

Nerves plagued both their minds as Chloe raised a shaky fist and knocked on the door. A man in his mid-50's opened the door and invited them both in with a smile. "It's lovely to meet you Mr Beale," Beca said politely and shook his hand. He grinned, and instantly whisked her into the living room to show off his vast music collection. Chloe silently followed behind, crossing her fingers and hoping that everything would go smoothly. Once they had exhausted every possible conversation about music Chloe spoke up and said, "Well we better head back to campus. It was great to see you dad, I'll pop by again soon." Beca said her farewells and thanked him for his hospitality, and both girls raised their hopes as it seemed as though they would get away without any trouble.

Just as they stood up, Mr Beale returned pleasantries with Beca and said, "Before you go Chloe, can you just help me lift some bags upstairs? Your old man's back isn't what it used to be." Knowing exactly where this was headed, Beca offered to help as well, but the offer was rejected. As Chloe and her father left the room, Beca sat there anxiously in silence, waiting for their return. Her heart was pounding as she walked up the stairs behind her father, but Chloe was determined to stay strong. They reached the top of the stairs, and her dad launched into a rant about how he knew she had missed some of her classes recently.