"I thought you promised me a trip free from being forced to go shopping?" Beca sighed dully, as she allowed herself to be led through the department store.
"Next time I'll leave you with my family then," Chloe countered easily, smiling over her shoulder at her friend when her comment was met with silence.
"Touché," Beca nodded eventually. "What're we looking for anyway?" She added after a moment, only just realizing they'd been wandering for at least an hour now, yet had failed to buy anything.
"Uh…" Chloe hesitated; casting a long eye over the clothes section they were in to find something she could use as an answer to the question. "We uh… headpieces," She concluded eventually.
"Headpieces?" Beca quirked her brow. "We're going to get you a headpiece for the rehearsal dinner. Is it the royal family I'm meeting?"
"I just… I really like them," Chloe defended weakly, picking up a blue headpiece, with what looked like half a peacock stuck to the side.
"Name one time ever that you've worn a headpiece," Beca challenged.
"All the time…" Chloe replied, fastening the head piece in her hand to the side of her head and examining herself in the mirror.
"See, I know that's a lie," Beca laughed, looking with Chloe at the red heads reflection in the mirror.
"Oh? Why's that then?" Chloe glanced at her through the reflection.
"Because headpieces for sure do not suit you." Beca was laughing harder this time when she spoke. "You look like you're mother had sex with a tropical bird," she giggled helplessly.
"Yea well I doubt they're much better on you," Chloe countered, unclipping the headpiece and turning to try and place it instead on Beca's head.
"Well unfortunately we're not going to find that one out," Beca replied hastily, dodging Chloe's hands as she took full advantage of her height and ducked out of the way.
"Come on, I'm joking," Chloe giggled, making another move to grab Beca's head. "I bet you'll look amazing in one. I bet you've actually been a headpiece person your whole life and you just don't know," she sniggered, her laughter only increasing when Beca pulled a disbelieving face.
"I have a big head Chloe!" Beca fought, her hands now swiping Chloe's away relentlessly. "It won't even fit me," She promised, losing her balance momentarily when she swerved away from Chloe's hand, only to realize she was dangerously close to the hat stand.
Chloe used this slips up to her advantage though, reaching out with her free hand to grab Beca by the side of the face, holding her head still as she stepped in front of the young DJ to try and fasten the clip in in place.
"Hm!" Chloe stated smugly, stepping back to admire her handiwork. "No you're right… definitely doesn't suit you," she nodded, sucking in her lip to avoid laughter (and also just maybe to avoid awing at the childish scowl on the brunettes face).
"Thank god you cleared that up for me," Beca rolled her eyes, her hands moving instantly to the clip to try and remove the headpiece. "Oh, ow! Jesus! Oh my god I'm going to have to get this thing surgically removed, did you shove it into my scull or something?" She gasped; face contorting in horror and pain.
"You're such a baby!" Chloe snorted. "Here show me, it's not rocket science you know," she added, stepping up next to the brunette again (maybe a little closer than was necessary, but that doesn't really count anyway), and beginning to unknot her hair from around the clip.
"You're hurting me…" Beca huffed out, wincing as her scalp was tugged at.
"Maybe if you'd stop squirming like a five year old…" Chloe rolled her eyes, continuing to pull at her hair.
"Whatever," Beca shot back, none the less standing as still as she could until Chloe finally did manage to unknot her.
"There… now was that so hard?" The red head smiled, gently pulling the hair piece out of Beca's hair and fixing her brunette locks back in place before looking into the DJ's steely blue eyes.
Something weird happened when their eyes locked though. It was something about the way Chloe was grinning down at Beca with a gentle half smile that Beca was returning with a bemused look (that she was desperately trying to control from morphing into a similarly mushy expression). There was just something oddly intimate about it.
One of Chloe's hands was still in Beca's hair too, and the other had somehow managed to position itself in a way that her and Beca's hands were brushing together down at their sides.
It felt oddly raw. It felt venerable. It felt like something that two people pretending to like one another should definitely not feel, like ever.
It was Beca that eventually cleared her throat.
"It was hard," she murmured, her cheeks flushing after what had happened (though she noticed Chloe was a little red looking as well, so maybe it was just the heat in this shop?). "You're in no way gentle."
"God you're such a pain," Chloe teased, rolling her eyes, yet silently thanking the gods for having that moment played down so easily (the feelings she may or may not have for Beca was probably something she should consider looking into any time other than the one week she's making the girl pose as her fake girlfriend in front of her family).
"Don't I know it," Beca agreed. "Now are you getting that or not?" She pointed to the offending item, still in Chloe's hand.
"Uh… no," Chloe smiled weakly, placing the head piece back on the stand and leading the way out of the store.
"So wanna tell me why we're here then?" Beca returned to her original question. "And this time if you try and lie to me at least do it well," she added, already seeing the clogs in Chloe's brain turning.
"I thought maybe you might want…" Chloe began in a rush, not getting very far before Beca silenced her.
"Chloe," the younger woman warned, stopping in her tracks and spinning the red head on the spot so they were face to face again. "For serious just spill. Don't make me use my "you made me come all the way down here card" so early in the game," she warned.
"Promise you won't question it?" Chloe sighed, averting eye contact with Beca.
"No," Beca shrugged.
"Fine then," Chloe rolled her eyes, suddenly annoyed. "Just forget it," she mumbled, turning again and making a move to get away from Beca.
"Chloe," Beca sighed, the puff of air that left her mouth turning into a soft sort of growl as she tried to pull the red head back. "Don't get pissy with me."
"Then don't question me." To be honest Chloe wasn't even one hundred per cent sure herself why she was so mad, she just suddenly felt comfortable with Beca's attack.
"I didn't say I'd question you, I just said I couldn't promise I wouldn't," Beca countered reasonably. "I mean I probably won't," she added.
"Well Jesus would it kill you to just make the trivial little promise and not be such a pain in the ass?" Chloe snapped, rolling her eyes.
"Okay what's the problem here?" Not that Beca hadn't sensed the hostility in Chloe's tone from the offset, but now it was just getting on her nerves. "Why am I suddenly public enemy number one? All I did was make a throw away comment and suddenly I'm getting my head bitten off," she fumed.
"Well like I said if you'd just agreed in the first place and not been such an ass… I just…" Chloe sighed, pinching her brow and taking a deep breath as she tried to calm herself. "I'm just really not in the mood for a Spanish inquisition."
"Fine then," Beca relented, throwing her hands up in defeat. "I promise, no questioning you about what you say." She even extended her pinky as a half sarcastic show of solidarity, only to have it ignored.
"It was because my dad came in." Chloe's admittance was an awkward one to say the least, and even without her general knowledge of social queues the brunette could sense the apprehension and hesitation in her admittance. "I didn't really want you to have to talk to him… to be honest I didn't really want to have to talk to him."
"Oh…" Beca's mouth formed an "o" and she nodded her head dumbly, suddenly extremely aware of each second that ticked by in silence. "That's… right then… okay," she nodded her head again, her eyes darting helplessly around the mall (possibly in search of a fire exit or open window she could dive through).
"It's a long story," Chloe continued, failing to notice Beca's discomfort as she too allowed her eyes to wander. "And it's not something I make a habit of discussing."
"And from my series of nonsensical sounds there you got that I wanted to discuss it with you?" Beca smiled gently at the red head. "Chloe it's cool really… I have issues with my dad too, I get if you don't want to tell me or whatever… I mean we are only fake girlfriends after all," she reminded her friend (and possibly herself).
"Maybe you're not as much of an ass as I thought," Chloe commented, a grin easing onto her features.
"Yea, that was a little harsh," Beca snorted.
"Well, now you know that the whole thing about red heads being fiery is true." Chloe couldn't help but smirk when Beca blushed at her comment. "Not in that way." (Now she was just getting a perverse joy from the shade of red the younger woman was turning).
"I didn't… that's not… I wasn't thinking that," Beca huffed.
"Beca we're all grown-ups here," Chloe comforted mockingly. "It's A-Okay to have grown up thoughts about me." The wink that followed her comment wasn't even intentional; she just couldn't help it as Beca gradually began to look like she was going to combust.
"I… I thought one of the rules was no talking about porn!" Beca suddenly remembered, pointing an accusing finger at the red head.
"Oh… so that is the way you think of me then." (and the way I think of you).
"Oh my god, stop!" Beca gasped (how the hell did every conversation manage to end up with her thoughts in the deepest, darkest and dirtiest corners of her mind?!).
"If you insist… babe." Chloe couldn't help but wink again before she turned again and began to walk.
Beca had to jog to catch up with the red head, her mind apparently unable to process what had just been said to her and walk at the same time. When she finally did they fell into a comfortable silence, occasionally pointing to various stands in shop windows to admire or ridicule what was on display ("seriously who would willingly dress like that?!" "It's called colour blocking Beca, it's part of this wider concept known as fashion." "It's brighter than your bedroom!" "I should have guessed it'd be the element of colour that threw you.").
"I've a question," Beca spoke up eventually.
"Is it to do with why people would be willing to pay so much for something as small as a crop top?" Chloe enquired, thinking back to the conversation they'd had in the previous store when Chloe'd been foolish enough to mention she'd liked one of the tops she saw.
"No actually, I've just decided to give up on fashion," Beca informed her friend, smiling when Chloe barked a laugh. "I was just wondering… and feel free not to answer, but I was just wondering if the thing with your dad was in any way related to your ladybug?" She motioned vaguely to Chloe's right arm.
"It is," Chloe answered simply.
"Oh…" In all honesty Beca had been expecting something more than a two word answer and was kind of stuck on where to go next with her questioning. "So uh… I just… you said in the restaurant yesterday that you were going to tell me what that was about, and like you don't have to just… I yea, I just remember… uh…." (Now would be a really good time to know a method of strangling yourself with the arm of a knit jumper).
"You're so awkward I can't even be mad at you." Chloe rolled her eyes, not seeming too phased by the question as she continued to browse the rack. "I think… being back here has made me realize that I'm not quite willing to talk about it. I mean it's nothing personal it's just… it's something in my past that really sucked and thinking about it and talking about it just isn't really top of my to-do list," she explained vaguely.
"Cool. That's… yea… cool," Beca nodded eagerly, having to physically supress the sigh of relief at having avoided getting shouted at again.
"Oh Jesus, just come on before God takes pity on you and actually does create a black hole for you to be swallowed up by," Chloe snorted, stepping into another store.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
The words "The Princess Bride is on" had chilled Beca to the very bone when she'd first heard Chloe's mother scream it. Apparently it was a family favourite, and seeing as Adam was back with Amanda and Grace in tow this time, it had been wordlessly agreed that everyone would sit down and watch it before they began to get ready for the rehearsal at seven.
Everyone but Chloe's father apparently, who'd been called out on a job (Beca was still too scared from earlier to bother asking Chloe what his job actually was), thus meaning Chloe was more than willing to watch the film as well, and in a roundabout way, that's how Beca now found herself arguing about hands of all things.
"Dude, I'm not putting it there," Beca hissed quietly, aware that Chloe's niece was on the floor a few feet away and the rest of her family were in the kitchen with the door lying wide open.
"Beca it's my lower thigh not my v-a-g-i-n-a," Chloe muttered, being extra cautious not to corrupt Grace's young mind.
"I just don't see what's so bad about us just… sitting here," Beca whined. "I mean it's a big couch, we don't need to squeeze."
"Do you forget your entire purpose here?" Chloe dead panned. "We're dating. We're a couple. We like being touchy feely and cute. Now man up."
It took them a further minute to work out a happy medium. Beca's hand slid behind Chloe's back and wrapped around her waist, with one of Chloe's elbows leaning on the back of the couch, her fingers running through Beca's hair casually. Chloe's free hand lay casually across Beca's abdomen, and with that the look was complete.
"Now, was that so hard?" Chloe quirked her brow at Beca; daring her to say anything other than "no".
"Easier than expected." Beca's reply had been expected, the action that followed it had not.
The young woman's free hand wove out from its spot under her thigh, her fingers entwining casually with the fingers Chloe had splayed out across her abdomen. Both women looked for a moment at the interlocked hands (apparently neither had been expecting the move).
"Yea…" Beca nodded eventually. "Easier than I thought." (Okay what? What was going on here? Had she really just done that? She was holding hands… With Chloe when she hadn't even been required too. Abort. Abort this mission before there was no going back).
"I'm glad." (Sound more flirty Chloe, that's great. It's fine to flirt when it's jokingly but for the love of god you could do without a deeply moving admittance of your feelings for Beca just for this one week. She was cute though, with her hair scrapped back in a messy ponytail like that. Not to mention the awkward smile she's got plastered on right now to try and hide her blush. Maybe the next few days wouldn't be so much about avoiding an admittance of feelings so much as avoiding pinning her against a wall and kissing her until the end of time…).
"Chloe?" It was Grace that finally dragged them out of their moment. "Do you and Beca share a bed?" She pondered absently, looking between the two as if she'd never met either of them before.
"Uh… yea, yea we do?" Chloe nodded, curious as to where her niece was going with this.
"Oh good!" Grace grinned manically, turning back to the TV that was still showing adverts.
"Why is that good?" Chloe enquired (at least her niece wasn't homophobic).
"Because…" Grace started, pausing as she became momentarily captivated by an ad for a new type of art set before continuing. "I just really can't wait to be a big cousin."
"Oh my…" Chloe's words tapered off as her mind went blank with shock, though thankfully she was saved the stress of having to formulate a reply.
"Grace honey, you know you can't just ask your aunt that," Adam chuckled as he walked into the room, followed by Alice and Dana who were also smiling at Grace's comment.
"But when you love someone you have babies, and they share a bed, so they must love one another." To Grace anyway her logic was flawless.
"Let's see then." Adam humoured his daughter. "Beca, do you love my sister?"
"I…" Beca was caught off guard by the comment to say the least (and was it just her or did he have a daring glint in his eye when he asked? Like seriously what the hell was up with this dude?). "Yea, of course I do." She tried to ignore the way Chloe's fingers squeezed her hand just that bit tighter for a split second after she spoke.
"You've not been going out that long though?" Adam persisted.
"Jesus Adam, personal much," Chloe berated, a light hearted ring to her tone all the same.
"I guess when you know you know," Beca countered, matching his steely look with one of her own now (Oh two could play at this game… bitch).
"Oh, it's on! It's on!" Grace squeaked suddenly, breaking the deadlock staring contest between Beca and Adam in an instant.
Beca was bored after about thirty seconds. She tried to fight it at first, focusing on the story the grandfather was telling but she'd be damned if this film captivated her in any way shape or form. She hadn't meant to, but probably as a simple natural reaction she'd begun toying with Chloe's fingers just for something to do.
She'd never admit it, but when the read head had tickled the inside of her palm in return, her skin had probably split she'd smiled so wide (and she knew Chloe noticed as well, as she'd seconds later had the words "you're thinking of me that way again" whispered in her ear).
She'd actually been enjoying their odd little flirting game (was it weird to call it that? Probably, but that's kinda what it was, weird and all as it was to admit) so much, she'd nearly managed to ignore the continued looks she was getting from Adam. That was until the movie went to adverts.
"I want popcorn!" Grace piped up from the floor, looking eagerly between her mother and father.
"I'll get that then I guess," Adam laughed, stretching out of the seat. "Anyone else want something while I'm in there?" He added.
"Oh, I wouldn't mind a coke," Chloe smiled at her brother.
"Maybe make a second bowl of popcorn as well Adam honey, there's a few of us," Dana instructed.
"Sure thing," he nodded. "Beca… wanna help me carry the stuff back in?"
"Uh… sure." (Well fuck. This wasn't going to go well).
She rose hesitantly from the couch, actually frowning a little when her and Chloe's fingers slid apart. She followed Adam to the kitchen in silence, and watched as he threw the first bag of popcorn in the microwave.
"Uh, want a coke?" Beca questioned him awkwardly, having gone to the fridge to get Chloe's.
"What's your deal Beca?" Adam countered instead.
"I just want to know if you wanted coke…?" (Jesus, what the fuck was going on here? Were Chloe's family like actually crazy or something?).
"I mean with my sister."
"Oh…" (Shit. Fuck. Shit. Fuck).