Behind Enemy Lines

Chapter 13

Chloe runs her hands over the jacket again, watching the action through the mirror in front of her. Her fingers trace along the edges of the opening, bumping softly over the zipper as she sighs happily. She's never really worn leather quite like this; she just never had the confidence for it. The way it fits on her so well though, makes her smile as she drops her hands away from the material. She reaches up and grabs a collar with one hand, pulling it up to her nose. She takes in the scent of it, feeling a sense of familiarity rather than any distinctive smell.

It reminds her of Beca's car, and how the girl devotes her concentration in pleasing Chloe each time they lay down in the backseat; or of the girl's room, where Chloe had first woke up to Beca holding her. It also reminds her of the Art room, where she sits and glances over at the brunette's hands; watching them as they create beautiful strokes over the thin paper. And despite the activity's effect on her own work, she's too addicted to it. There's something about Beca's hands that is just so mesmerizing to her sometimes.

Looking down at the piece of clothing though, reminds her of something else too. Memories a smell can't take her back to, considering she was never there to experience it. Memories of Beca standing in the halls at school, laughing with her friends as Chloe longs behind the walls of her own insecurity; watching from a distance. Beca always looked so cool at times, running her hand through her unkempt hair, hanging her sunglasses off the collar of her shirt, pushing her tongue against her cheek before pressing in on whatever she is determined to conquer. Not a day passed over the last four years where Chloe didn't notices these things, giving the redhead something to look for in each day.

Chloe loves this jacket, now more than ever now that she's wearing it. She's seen it so many times over the past few years, never understanding why the girl wore it so much. Having it on her own back though, she can feel a sense of poise and pride. The pride swelling from the thought of whom the jacket belongs to though. It's just a piece of clothing, but Chloe feels like she never wants to take it off. She never wants to forget the feeling she had when Beca told her to take it.

Beca had gotten her home in the middle of the night, sneaking her in through the back door. Chloe was still trying to rid of the alcohol in her system as Beca led her up to her room, they're just lucky Chloe's family had neither an alarm system nor a dog.

Beca stayed the night due to the redhead's drunken insistence though.

Chloe woke with a raging headache, but the arm wrapped around her waist made it a lot more tolerable. Beca left not too long after, needing to run home to change before school that morning. Chloe tried to give her the jacket she fell asleep in, but Beca just gave her one of those smirks. "You can hold onto it for me, maybe it'll keep you from shivering all the damn time in Art." Beca said before she kissed Chloe one last time and left before anyone else in the house had woken up.

Chloe sat back and pondered the girl's words for a long moment after that. She knew she was reading way too much into it, but she concluded that Beca wanted her to wear it at school. Wearing the jacket was a simple thing, but she knows people would catch on quickly, especially Aubrey. Was Beca implying she was ready to be public with their relationship? Whatever that relationship might be, Chloe doesn't know yet.

Once again, Chloe tended to overthink statements often.

Chloe continues to stare at her reflection though, wondering what would happen if her best friend saw her wearing it; she was going to pick up Aubrey in ten minutes, it was their morning routine. It's not like she could just avoid the blonde for the day, especially since they had practice after school too.