'I feel like I've run a marathon and lost a boxing match all in the same day', Beca groaned, holding her aching head.
'I told you not to go to work tonight, Becs'
'You know I had stuff to do. I couldn't just take time off- you know that'
'Yeah, but if you really feel this sick...', Chloe tried to reason.
The brunette made an exasperated, childish sigh. She held her head in her hands as she sat at the kitchen countertop, Chloe standing on the opposite side. Attempting to lighten the mood, the redhead switched on the radio; but as soon as the little stereo popped into life, Beca scowled at it like it had threatened to burn her precious laptop.
'Sorry, do you want me to turn it o-'
'I want some peace and quiet, Chloe', Beca snapped through partly-gritted teeth. 'I've got a huge headache'
'Okay', Chloe replied quietly, biting her tongue and keeping her cool.
Chloe Beale had many desirable traits, and patience was one of them. She knew that her girlfriend's temper was being caused by tiredness and sickness, so she refused to be tempted into an argument. Instead, she calmly walked over to a kitchen cupboard, took out a glass, wandered over to the fridge, then poured out some cold, fresh orange juice. After that, she brought it over to the counter in front of Beca and fetched the girl some pain relief medication as well as a cool flannel, which she had wet in the sink of the upstairs bathroom.
'I'll be doing some work in our room', she told her, rubbing the brunette's back once, then taking to the stairs.
'Uuuugh I feel like shit', Beca moaned, her voice husky and low, her nose sounding blocked.
Willow the kitten weaved between her legs, making her look down momentarily.
'I'm not cuddling you right now, Willow'
The creature meowed back.
'I'm gonna take a nap in the lounge. You can sit on the floor and...I don't know...do whatever a cat does'
With that, Beca heaved her lead body into the lounge and slumped onto a sofa, pulling a blanket over her and sniffing deeply. Willow joined her when she was fast asleep, and sat on the carpet as she was told.
-----------------------------------------
A couple of hours later, Beca woke up feeling sleepy but a tad less achey. When she rubbed at her eyes, she saw that Chloe was in the arm chair opposite with Willow in her lap.
'Hey, are you feeling any better?', Chloe asked once she had noticed Beca looking in her direction.
'A bit', the DJ yawned, bringing a hand to her mouth. 'Can I have a hug?', she added; she was feeling jealous of the attention being given to the kitten.
Chloe gently eased her little friend off her lap, sending her away with a stroke on the head. Then, she went straight over to her poorly girlfriend.
Kneeling on the floor, she leaned over to wrap her arms around Beca's neck, who was wrapping hers around the redhead's back. They held each other tightly and warmly, snuggling into one another's necks.
'Do you want another drink, or something to eat?', questioned Chloe in a whisper.
Beca breathed in the comforting smell of Chloe's hair as she smoothed the red waves with one hand. 'I'm fine thanks, Chlo'
'I hope you feel better soon'
'...I love you'
'I love you too', Chloe replied quietly.
'I don't want to make you sick'
'You've been hugging and kissing me for the past couple of days- I think it's a bit late for that'
Softly, Beca giggled before landing a kiss on the girl's forehead.
'Thank you for looking after me, Chloe'
'That's what I'm supposed to do'
'You're not supposed to do anything. It's not like we're a married couple'
The redhead pulled back from the embrace and knelt on the floor, holding one of Beca's hands and stroking it with her thumb.
'Just because we aren't married, doesn't mean we don't look after each other'
'You know what I mean..."in sickness and in health"...'
'I'll still care for you in sickness and in health, and even when you're'- Chloe puckered her lips and kissed Beca once for every next word- 'Just. Plain. Grumpy'
She leaned forward to give her girlfriend another hug, not letting go as she continued, 'I'll always be here- even if we never get married'
Beca smoothed one hand in circles around the top of Chloe's back while the other hand rested at the small of the ginger's back. She sighed as if she was holding something back- not a cough, as she originally thought, but a feeling.
-----------
Later that night, Beca and Chloe lay next to each other in bed, each of them doing their own thing. The brunette was on her laptop as usual, making mixes with her headphones fixed on her ears. She had a box of tissues on standby on her bedside table in case her nose started to run again, and a full packet of throat lozenges by her side. Chloe meanwhile was reading a book called 'Push' by Sapphire. She had read it a couple of times already, but loved it so much that she couldn't resist another read.
PING
A message came through on Chloe's phone, which was on her lap, but just as the girl picked it up to inspect it, a call came through.
'Hello', she answered.
Beca wasn't even aware that her girlfriend had been talking to someone on the phone for a few minutes, (she was too involved in her music), so she was surprised when Chloe tapped her arm and told her who she had just been chatting to.
'They've invited us to come to their wedding party next weekend'
'Oh cool', Beca replied with headphones hanging idly around her neck, '...What do I wear?'
'Nothing smart- it's a party, not the actual wedding'
'Why did they ask us to come to the party and not the service?', Beca wondered, raising an eyebrow.
'Because we're such party animals, obviously', winked Chloe.
'It would have been nice to at least consider us though...We are sensible adults after all'
Chloe put a playful arm around the DJ, then rested her head on her shoulder.
'Since when was badass Beca Mitchell ever sensible?'
'Since...Okay, never, but I think I might have enjoyed watching the ceremony'
'I thought you hated watching things like that because they "go on forever" ', Chloe said, planting a small kiss on her shoulder before laying her head down again.
'I've never seen anyone get married though. I wanna know if it's as magical as everyone says it is'
Smiling warmly, the redhead tightened the arm around Beca's waist and gave the girl another kiss on the shoulder.
'Anyway', Beca said, trying to diffuse the moment with a clear of the throat, 'That's cool, we can go. And uh, I'm going to put my headphones back on for a while'
'Okay', Chloe giggled.
After ten minutes of mixing, the brunette switched off her laptop and packed everything away, as did Chloe. Once they both wriggled back under the bedsheets, Beca took her place as the big spoon. She nestled into Chloe's neck, leaving a warm, deep breath on the skin, before kissing her cheek, which always made her girlfriend tremble to bursting point with happiness.
'So Becs, you'll be my date for the wedding party next weekend?', Chloe asked, still beaming.
'I'll be your date, Beale'
'I'm looking forward to it, Mitchell'
'Are you more excited for our anniversary?'
'I think you know the answer to that', Chloe answered, tilting her head back slightly to lock eyes with her girlfriend.
Beca met her lips with a delicate kiss, then smiled, 'Goodnight. I love you'
'I love you too', replied Chloe, who returned the favour.