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perpetuelledaydreaming · 4 years

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hey hey you yeah, I don’t like your girl(boy)friend

summary: The Daily Bulge publishes a not so good article of Spider-man with Black Cat, y/n is pissed because that’s her boyfriend not only flirting but not catching her, so she decides to take matters into her own hands but it’s not that easy, because I mean Felicia is…well you will see.

word count: 4.3 k

author’s note: This was supposed to go one way, hence the title but the 20% of bi in me changed it once I saw like a one hour video of Felicia Hardy, AKA Black Cat on the PS4 game. I mean DAMN girl’s got game. Anyway, like and reblog and leave me requests like whatever you want and I DON’T KNOW HOW THE HELL THOSE TAG LIST WORK but I'm just going to try and do it. There’s going to be a few mistakes that ill be correcting them once I’m not burned out of this story since I wrote it like in record time. Love, -J.

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“What is this?”, you place your phone in front of Peter’s face who was laying down in the living room of the Avengers Compound.

He had been training with Bucky and had actually gotten his ass kicked by him since Bucky had gotten a new vibranium arm from T’Challa and Shuri, he was even stronger which annoyed Peter. Plus, he was already a trained assassin which made it difficult but with a vibranium arm? Nearly impossible.

“What?” Peter asked as his eyes fluttered open, he didn’t even know what he had to see since you had plastered the phone too close to his face.

And then they focused:

THE DAILY BULGE: Spider-man in a relationship with Black Cat, the same one who has been *terrorizing* New York the last few months. We request NYPD to investigate this romantic relationship or alliance.

Peter’s eyes opened like plates as he scrolled down and found attached to the article a rather… racy photo of him and Black Cat. Black Cat had Peter against a wall from a random rooftop in Queens, her arms were around his neck and her knee was between his legs really close to… well. It didn’t look good.

Fuck, Peter thought.

“Care to explain why my boyfriend is having a make-out session in a dark rooftop with Black Cat?”, you asked as you glared down at him. “Who, coincidentally, we have never even gotten this close to catch her for like a month?”

Peter sighed as he stood up and took a hold of your hand.

“Y/N, you know that it’s not what it looks like”, Peter said as he looked at your face, scowling.

You knew a lot of things in life, inheriting the genius genes of Tony Stark, you liked to think that you knew a lot. But one thing you knew, and you were sure about was that Peter Parker definitely adored you. Every glance, every touch, every moment, every word, hell you were sure that he would die for you. But this photo, this situation, definitely stroked a chord in you.

Peter was hot, he had grown out of that nerdy and shy guy he was when you first met him, and he was starting to become the leader you always knew he was, and girls notice it too. Gwen Stacy was all over Peter every time they ran into each other, plus girls sometimes couldn’t keep their eyes off of Peter when you walked with him. But here was the thing, if Peter was hot, Spider-man was hotter. Spider-man checked all the boxes for many girls: Fought against crime, had THE body that looked GREAT with that suit, safe everyone, risk his life, was an avenger and was extremely close and great to everyone that met him, I mean he was even polite to villains. Spider-man was winning the race for Avenger with more fan accounts, you were a close second and Thor was third.

But this? This was a whole different level.

“So why didn’t you bother to tell me about it?”, you asked as you snatched the phone from Peter’s hand and walked towards the kitchen.

Peter rolled his eyes and he followed you. As a couple, this was a first and Peter Parker, being as oblivious as he was, never thought something like this would actually happen.

And less with someone like Black Cat.

…

Peter had been doing patrols alone since you had been extremely busy the last few weeks, Peter knew you were an important person, but it had been out of controlled lately. Firstly, you had to study for university since your academic achievements were your second goal in life, plus law school wasn’t easy; Then, Pepper and you had actually started a project with Starks Industries about giving free classes to women and girls interested in STEM careers for them to earn a kind of degree that could start-jump their own projects or even work at Starks Industries; Moreover, you had been getting together with Fury and all the other Avengers about information regarding hydra nests in Europe and Latin America. And so, patrolling fall back at the end of your list, which was actually sad since it had been a way of spending time with Peter since you began avenging at fifteen.

But Peter had let it go, he didn’t want to be another thing for you to worry about, you would see each other every night and sleep together in your room at Stark’s Tower, and he was doing it fine alone, I mean it sucked being alone but nothing too big had happened and he managed himself, at least until Black Cat appeared.

“You look good”, a silky voice woke Peter out of his thoughts as he was watching Queens in a random rooftop he had recently swing to.

Peter turned around, startled when he saw her, and boy, she was something to see.

Grey or almost white hair wrapped up in a tall ponytail, with two strands of hair framing her face perfectly, complementing her sharp jawline while her almost purple eyes shined from behind her mask. Then her black leather costume with soft white lines was, well, tight everywhere. It framed her body perfectly and it looked like almost a second skin. Her body was voluptuous and beautiful, and her hands looked like claws with those nails, they seemed like they could cut ice.

But for Peter? She had nothing on you.

Peter stayed silence, he had been completely taken by surprise and he tried to prepare himself for his next moves. He definitely needed to catch her.

See, you had actually been having a lot of problems with her lately. At first, they were art robberies or to really rich people in Upper Manhattan, which was concerning but mostly it was something that the NYPD could take care of, but recently like all criminals she escalated. The latest ones were to Oscorp Industries and Hammer Industries, which was concerning considering that the information that these companies held was extremely delicate. Peter and you were really worried about what she could do to that information or more accurately, who she would sell that information to. Pepper and Happy were especially worried about any security breach to Stark Industries or even the Avengers compound but you had reinforced the security for both of those.

Therefore, it had been priority number one to catch her but here was the thing, she was sleek as hell and always escape before you could actually do anything about it.

“What happened? Cat got your tongue?”, she asked softly as she got even closer to Peter. Her eyes gleamed with malice and smirk was drawn on her face, as Peter struggled to find the right words and at the same time think how he could take her down.

“How, how did you find me?” Peter managed to get out as his body stiffened when she gave a cartwheel and landed in front of him, on the edge of the building.

She giggled as she stepped forward Peter, who barely gave a step backwards into the air. She was closer than ever, and Peter swallowed hard as she placed one of her nails in his chest, playing with it.

“I’ve been watching you, you seem like my type”, Black Cat whispered as she drew little hearts and strings on Peter’s chest. “A strong, polite and hot gentleman I could negotiate with”

Peter felt her getting more relax and knew this was the time to act.

“Then, I’m definitely not your type” Peter answered as he took a hold of her wrist and shot a web towards a wall in the door’s rooftop, his plan was to stick her up completely to the wall.

But as before, she had an advantage and as soon as he shot his web towards the door, she retaliated. It was different than most fights Peter had because she was simply smooth as anyone could be and he barely realized when she placed a hand on his shoulder and step over his knee. He even dared to say she was smoother than Natasha since, at this point, Peter was unaware until she managed to get off his grip on her wrist, climb over him and then push him on the ground while she did a backflip towards another rooftop.

Peter groaned as he hit the floor but quickly reacted as he shot another web and pushed himself into the other rooftop where Black Cat had jumped. When Peter landed, he didn’t saw her, and it was just an empty rooftop, he cursed under his breath. He had lost her, again.

But then he felt it, in one swift motion she catch his wrist as he turned around to see her behind him, grinning, biting her lower lip while she giggled her eyebrows.

“Oh, but I really think you are”, Black Cat whispered as she suddenly pushed him against a wall, flesh against flesh and pressed his wrist a bit harder than before.

From one second to another, blue sparks started to appear on his web shooter as Peter watched in disbelief. Ok, now he was pissed. He shook her grip on him and he quickly places one of his hands behind her back, attempting to push her into the floor and then cover her on web from his reminding web shooter.

“Okay this isn’t funny anymore” Peter whispered as he pushed with all his strength, thinking that she would fall on the floor.

But a hold on his arm quickly showed Peter she wasn’t following on his plan when his arm pushed her to a side she managed to do a backflip and they ended up in the same position, as if nothing had happened, except she now she had her hand -paw- on his chest, holding a small button and she pressed it like she meant it.

And Peter felt his muscles were starting to go numb, itching all over his body while blue sparks appeared all over his suit. Black Cat smiled, a playful look drawn on her face. She pressed her flesh against him and quickly separated his legs in one swift movement.

“I would really like to know the face under that mask, you must be eye candy”, Black Cat whispered as her hands quickly went behind his neck and her knee rose between his neck.

Peter couldn’t move, he simply couldn’t, and he felt like he was blushing more and more as each second passed almost at the same rate as his frustration with this lady. She was indeed beautiful, and he hated that he had been distracted by it and now this was just plainly uncomfortable with him as he felt self-conscious about their closeness, how she was moving on him.

“I have a girlfriend”, Peter growled as he tried to escape, to move but he couldn’t, and he couldn’t stop looking at those gleaming purple eyes that were looking at him keenly. “What do you want?”, he finally let out in a sigh.

Black Cat smirked as her lips ghosted over Peter’s lips that were behind the mask.

“Lucky her and like I say I want to do business with you”, she responded, her voice sounded like honey as she got little closer Peter and toyed with the mask. “Think about it stud, I do business and pleasure”

She gave a back handspring and Peter felt into the floor with a groan, he was feeling a lot more now, but he couldn’t exactly move like before.

As soon as he could get up, she was gone.

…

“And you didn’t care to tell me all this before?”, you glared at Peter with disbelief from the other side of the kitchen counter.

Peter opened his mouth for a moment and then shut it, he looked down. He really wanted to tell you, it had happened yesterday, but he was somehow nervous about how to bring out the subject, especially the part where he let her go.

You rolled your eyes, you couldn’t believe how Peter was acting. You knew he was polite and try to do the best thing in every case, but this was as if she had taken advantage of him which made your blood boil, even more, this was your boyfriend and your job, and no one would distract you from it.

“Okay that’s it, I’m going with you today and we are going to catch her”, you stated as you looked at Peter, a little bit softer than before.

This was Peter’s cue.

“We are going to babe”, Peter said to you with a smile as he climbed over the counter and landed directly at your side. “I love you”

He took a hold of your hand and pulled you into him, so you were looking directly at his lips and he placed his hand on your back and pulled you closer. He loved you, he loved you so much and he hated the idea of disappointing you or you getting somehow upset with him.

But you still couldn’t get over it, you still weren’t done being upset so when Peter pulled you in for a kiss, you quickly turned your head and his lips hit your cheek.

He whimpered.

“By the way, you need to talk to the press department about this, because it doesn’t look good”, you said before you placed your phone on his chest and quickly escaped his hold on you.

He closed his eyes and cursed under his breath, now he was really upset.

You watched Queen’s from the same rooftop that Peter had been the day before, it was actually one of his favorites. It had a great view of one of the main streets in Queens, which was perfect for him on an avenger level but even better as it had a movie cinema that he loved, Delmar’s, a pizza place that was declared the best by MJ and more. You had been at that rooftop countless times before as Tony allowed you to start going on patrols with Peter to Queens for you to have a little bit more practice in the real world and actually help more people. If it was a slow day, you would even get snacks and have a little picnic here.

But today, it wasn’t a slow day as you stoop up from the edge of the building, pressing your necklace so your suit would return to the capsule on it. You had been here approximately three hours and there was still nothing. Peter, meanwhile, was studying for his A.I. class that hadn’t been his best subject lately, not because it was actually hard for Peter but most of all because he had been missing class because of Spider-man duties.

You watched him as he had his mask folded on his face, just above the nose while he chewed on his pencil and typed quickly on his laptop. You smiled, you always thought he looked cute when he did that and you loved kissing him like that when you were on duty, it almost came with anticipation, Peter gazed at you and smiled, but you turned around -still a little bit upset about what had happened-. Peter rolled his eyes, you hadn’t kissed in what it seemed forever and well, Peter was all over you most of the time.

But then, he felt his spider senses going off on his right, he quickly pulled his mask down and packed his laptop on his bag.

“Y/N”, Peter said, and you turned around, watching him preparing. You tapped the charm on your necklace and quickly your suit began spreading all over your body, finally your mask closing. Peter ran towards you and remained on your side.

From one moment to another a shadow appeared on the rooftop, there she was.

“I liked our picture in the article, we went viral you know?” Black Cat grinned as her hips moved from side to side as she walked towards you.

Now, you more or less understood what had happened yesterday, there was something about her that just seemed intoxicating.

“I wouldn’t exactly say it went viral Cat” Peter spat out, as he backed a bit from her while she walked.

“Well well, what a surprise, you did what I asked and brought me the one I really needed to bargain with?” Black Cat said as her focus shifted on you, who had remained silence watching her every move. “And she’s a cutie”

Peter turned around to watch you as the nanotech disappear from your face, so you could really talk to her.

“Okay Cat, I’m running out of patience, could you maybe stop flirting with him and get to business?”, you hissed as you walked towards her calmly. “What do you want? Is Stark Industries' next target?”

Black Cat laughed loudly and with a touch of elegance as her paw went towards her chest.

“Oh no baby, I wouldn’t mess with you. But I’m having trouble thinking why you would want to help Oscorp or Hammer industries if you really knew what they were working in” Black Cat said as she did a handstand forward rolled and got closer to you, she licked her lips when she landed in front of you.

“What do you mean?”, you asked her as she started surrounding you, as her hips rolled and undulated. She stopped for a second as she looked at you and then her gaze went back to Peter and then back to you.

“Wait, does it bother you Stark? Me flirting with Spider-boy? And here I thought that TMZ had reported that you already had someone special”, she giggled as your eyes narrowed.

Being the daughter of Tony Stark didn’t come at a free price, you had been in the media since you were little and knew it was something you had to handle. Mostly, with the security your dad had placed on you, you never actually suffer a lot in your childhood, that was until he became Iron Man. Which not only double the security but the media attention as well. You tried to keep off of it but there were moments when you were caught on camera, going to a party or walking in New York, one of those moments was holding hands with Peter when you were visiting Coney Island one October afternoon. It had been taken by fans and it was mostly blurry, so you couldn’t really see Peter’s face but the pictures where telling: you two holding hands, a peck here and there, hugs, Peter’s hand a little too low on your back. It had been a whole thing since you needed privacy in order to keep avenging without fear that someone could come for Peter or Aunt May, a cease and desist letter was involved, hell it wasn’t pretty.

“Your answer it’s telling, so I guess I can make my move now” Black Cat continued as she placed a hand on your suit, you stiffened at her touch and watched her carefully.,

“What?”, Peter asked and as she turned around to answer, you made your move.

You squatted and with one swift movement you swiped Black Cat’s legs, she quickly fell into the floor and you stood up pointing at her with your repulsor, but before you could say anything she did a side split and quickly wrapped her legs onto your whole arm, she pulled you down and you fell on the floor. You quickly gave a rolled and ended up squatting while she stood up on the other side, your mask quickly appeared on your face as Peter shoot webs to her legs but failed multiple times as she gave full turn jumps and performed leaps until one of them caught. Peter smirked as he pulled her towards him, causing her to flop on the floor with a groan while you flew where she landed attempting to immobilize her hands with vibranium bracelets, but she threw something at you as you fire one of the bracelets and it restrained one of her arms.

While Peter reinforced it with more webs but soon both of you were distracted when blue sparks started to flash from your suit and it quickly began to dematerialize. Black Cat then threw one at Peter but instead of just affecting the suit, it sent electric shocks at Peter who fell into the ground, his legs giving up, the same feeling as the day before. Suddenly, without being able to get off the floor but with enough space to move, Black Cat quickly did a candlestick and then a split, wrapping your waist in her legs and then pulling you down over her. She giggled as you fell completely over her as you still tried to wrap your head with the fact that she had made your suit retracted, but you quickly tried to fight her off by taking a whole of her free hand and pulling it in the position that Nat had taught you in order to break arms, so you didn’t bat an eye when you heard her whimpered but before you could do anything, she did a V-sit and knocked both of your heads, leaving you a bit dizzy as she changed positions.

It happened too fast, even for Peter to somehow react a little and it was too late once he removed the pin from his chest. When he intended to fire his webs and immobilize her, she was already sat on your lap, hovering over you while she held both of your arms.

“Oh yeah, I swing both ways darling” Black Cat teased Peter as she looked down at your lips and then at your eyes.

You blushed a little bit and groaned as you tried to get her off you.

Peter tried to walk towards you, but Black Cat quickly reacted by placing her index finger, the one who had the longest nails, that actually looked like a knife on your neck, pressing a little bit and you felt like it was barely puncturing your skin.

“No no handsome, Stark and I have a business to talk,” Black Cat said as she shook her head and pressed a little bit harder, a drop of blood fell from your neck and you whimpered. Peter freeze at that moment, he felt his whole body stiffened and he clenched his fists, his breath became a little short and remained quiet. “Atta’ boy” Black Cat sang as she then focused on you, removing her nail from your neck.

You sighed, knowing it wasn’t going to be easy.

“How could you damage my tech or immobilize Spider-man? Our tech is impossible, my dad created those”, you said making the effort to sound reassuring. “Plus, Spider-man’s metabolism doesn’t give up that fast so how did you create shock waves that could put him down?”

“Now we are talking business”, Black Cat said as she giggled. “How do you think I got it? I know I’m smart but not tech smart, street smart you see. Talking of smart, I thought you were smarter to know never to trust competition”

“Oh, I am smart but I’m having trouble wrapping my head around why would Osborn and Hammer want the Avengers down unless they were creating …”, and then it hit you like a train.

“…something that the Avengers would definitely shut down as soon as they saw it.” Peter blurted out as he watched you, you furrowed your brows while you looked at Peter.

“Aw, seeing you two solving mysteries together is extremely cute. I guess you do have a special someone” Black Cat grinned as she finally let go of your arms and you simply laid there on the ground as you began thinking what in the hell both of your supposed allies where thinking about it, but your thoughts quickly dissipated as you watched her purple eyes gleaming at you.

“And what do you gain with telling me this?”, you wondered as you placed your hands on her legs.

She smirked and then lean down into you, her lips ghosting yours as her eyes never left yours.

“Call me a stan, especially for you Stark, but I support you guys more and anyone who is smart enough knows better than going against The Avengers”, Black Cat accepted, and you felt shorter of breath as you realized how close she was to you, you felt electricity on your body but then…

SLASH!

Peter broke the webs and deactivated the vibranium bracelet, releasing Black Cat quickly as she pulled you away from her, holding you tightly.

Black Cat rolled her eyes as she squatted in front of you, she smirked while watching Peter who was holding you defensively. If she could see him, he was definitely glaring at her but you, you were basically in awed because she, at the end of the day, gave you a major tip on a move these two assholes where planning.

“Easy, Spider-boy we were having a moment there”, Black Cat goaded as she looked at you with her purple eyes. “If you want to work with me, you know how to find me, my name is Felicia”

Quickly she did an arch and then stood up, she winked at you before performing another backflip and then falling between the buildings.

Peter finally relaxed and let you go while you stood up and tapped your com.

“H.A.P.P.Y, check out what happened to my suit and Peter’s please and get any dirt you can find in both Hammer and Osborn” you stated as you kept gazing at Queen’s view, not stopping to think about what Black Cat or well, Felicia had said.

“Was she hitting on you? Peter asked in disbelief behind you, wrapping you in his arms and you smirked. “Now you see what I mean!” Peter finally let out from behind you and your smile, pulling his mask up and pulling him in for a kiss.

Now you knew what he meant.

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TAG LIST: @spideylovin @eridanuswave @featuringcone9

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unholyhelbiglinked · 5 years

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Dead Ivy | Chapter Four

CHECK IT OUT FROM THE START | AO3 LINK

Her skin prickled against the air that the window unit created. It fought tirelessly against the propped open front door, the porch light pouring warm light into the hallway. It reflected off the hardwood with more subtly than the shifting waves of the lake paired with a crescent moon. Beca was drunk. She let her keys fall into the dish by the door with a little clank- and she stared at them for a moment.

When she was younger, she had a curfew. It was ten o’clock on school nights and eleven on weekends. Her mother would wait up with a book in hand and the curtains drawn. She would let the night air take over the house, the screen door not doing much against the elements. Beca would still try and sneak in, even if the hinges creaked more than the wrap around porch. Then her mother died, and she didn’t have to tip-toe anymore. Just like she didn’t have to now.

“Beca? That you?”

Her father had changed out of his work clothes, though the oil was a permanent fixture under his nails. He looked tired, like the ghost of a man who had once had everything. Maybe that was the moon. Or maybe it was the fuzzy feeling that accompanied Beca, but it made her feel a deep ache. She felt bad for him. How she was the only one he had left.

“Yeah, it’s just me, dad.”

“I waited up for you… you didn’t call.”

She stared at him curiously. Even when she was a teenager, he hadn’t done that. After coming home from work he would shut himself away in his garage and work on yet another car. Her mom used to say it helped him think, but Beca always believed that it helped him be anywhere but here: Trapped in a southern domestic life with two kids and a wife that was dying.

Besides, Beca was an adult. A twenty-nine-year-old woman with a career and an apartment on the West Coast. He didn’t’ need to wait up for her, just like her roommate didn’t’ ever need to call her an Uber when she was out drinking late. She accepted both gestures as they were.

“You’ve been drinking.”

Beca breathed out heavily, she could still taste the ghost of her whiskey sour on her lips. “Yeah.”

Beca turned her attention to the staircase, putting her right foot against it. Her palm was met with the initial shock of the cold railing. She went for a second one when her father spoke. “Did you drive?”

A certain weight overturned in her stomach like she had swallowed something a little bigger than a marble. The glass was turning against her insides in a cold and unnatural way. The greasy slab of pizza that she had scarfed down after walking back into the bar was threatening to resurface. “What?”

“Did you drive home tonight?”

“No, no, I heard you.” She swallowed, dropping her hand from the railing. Her father’s face was hard, and his eyes were dark. Maybe it was because he looked so sickly, but she was sure that wasn’t it. It was anger. Seething anger that seemed to be contagious. “I took a taxi. Why would you ask me that?”

He kept his features smooth, but let out a labored sigh, finally frowning down at the hardwood floor. Beca could feel her nails digging into the railing. Whatever buzz she was carrying had tapered off. She could hear the deafening click of the hands on the clock hung beneath thoughtfully arranged family photos. Nice snapshots in time that made everything look so pristine.

“I don’t know, Bec.” He ran his hand over his freshly shaped hair. “It seems like the rational thing to ask. You’re my kid, I’m allowed to worry.”

“Not about that. You think I would get behind the wheel after that happened?” She asked, and his eyes snapped back to her with a flash of anger. They quickly softened. “I’m not some reckless teenager anymore. I’m not going to get plastered and then…”

Beca’s voice and thoughts wandered off. It wasn’t a teenager who had hit Jason, and she knew that. It was an older guy, sad and drowning his sorrows in a few whiskeys at the local bar. He taught himself how to drink and still stay within the lines. Fell asleep behind the wheel, maybe- but he had walked away with a few scratches and nothing more. Jason hadn’t walked away at all.

“You really think I would do something like that? That I would endanger not only myself but everyone else on the road because of a stupid fucking choice?”

“Someone did!” He rose his voice, dropping his hand to the side “Someone got drunk and got behind the wheel of a vehicle before smashing it into Jason’s car and I lost him. He’s gone, and he’s never coming back. Not to me, not to you, not to his ex-wife. Because he can’t. He fucking can’t.”

She swallowed thickly, fingers tightening around the banister. She stared at him for a moment and he stared right back. He looked like he had woken up in the middle of the night to grab a glass of water, but instead, he walked away with glassy eyes and a sullen face. “Goodnight, Dad.”

“Goodnight, Beca.”

She forgot how painful a hangover could be. How her head would pound, and her mouth would feel deadened with a metallic edge. The AC unit continued to hum evenly and Beca let out a breathy sigh when she heard her father’s car start up in the driveway. The sun had barely begun to peak out, and part of her hated the fact that she was awake in the first place.

Beca reached blindly for the water bottle next to her bed but settled for her phone instead. She cringed away from the seemingly blinding light and pulled open her notifications. Facebook. She didn’t even know why she kept it on her phone. It was a place that linked her here.

Stacie had tagged her in a few different posts that she doesn’t remember posing for. If people in town didn’t’ know she was back before, they knew now. She was posing sloppily next to the older woman, her nose pressed against her cheek and a drunken smile on her face. Stacie captioned it: Some things never change.

But a lot had.

She continued to scroll through the notifications before clicking on her memories. She found herself doing it every morning- looking at things she had posted on this day years before. Eleven years before. There were a few posts about school, mainly how she had just gotten her license and was looking for cars. But then there was Chloe.

A picture of the two of them leaning against the tree that was in her backyard. She could see the base of the carving. The sun peaked from behind the large oak, haloing Chloe’s natural red curls. Her eyes crinkled at the sides when she smiled, and her focus was solely on Beca. It made her stomach knot up.

Beca let out a sharp huff and clicked off her phone, staring up at the ceiling instead.

Everything about this town had plunged her into a world she worked so hard to forget. But burying the bad came with dismissing the good. And Chloe was everything good. Even after eleven years, Beca felt like this woman knew more about her than anyone.

She blinked away any sleep from her eyes and peeled the duvet back, sweat already wracking her body. She remembered the first time she saw her roommate going for a jog after a long night of drinking. They both had the same amount of liquor and Beca had curled up on the end of the couch while Aubrey resounded to taking a shot of ginger-infused juice and went for a run around the block. She was fine and Beca suffered. She thought it was an LA thing, but Aubrey pointedly told her that it was a human being thing.

So, she found herself jogging. Not because she was hungover, or the vague memory of what her father had said to her last night, just in general. Because it was something to distract her from the phone she left on her nightstand, and the sudden urge she had to go into the tool shed for an ax. Getting in a few blocks seemed like an easier option than sawing down a tree the size of her house.

Beca placed her headphones accordingly and began her journey along the sidewalks in her neighborhood. This place used to feel so big to her: the classic southern ranch homes that occupied families covering their own secrets while searching for others. They would sit on the porch and sip their sweet tea and wait for someone like her to run by. Following her with their eyes, the daring looking up from their books to offer a wave in exchange.

She could feel the back of her shirt cling to her skin, the spring heat eating away at her as her feet pounded against pollen dusted sidewalks. She expertly dodged couples walking their dogs, edging to the end of the third block she covered. Beca pulled her headphones out, placing her hands behind her head as she struggled to catch her breath in the heat.

Beca turned around Montgomery street, ignoring the pounding against the inside of her wrist. She followed the beat of the song until she made a right on Hope Avenue. Then another left against main street. The small town suddenly came into view and her mind dripped with the thoughts of the last time she had jogged this far.

It was freshmen year.

Nina Blanchard had cornered her in the girl’s locker room, backed into another locker that wasn’t her own. She considered that a small mercy among miracles. Nina had hit puberty over the summer, had grown in height among other things. Beca took a few blows to the stomach and one to the face before she grabbed her bags and made a run for it.

She had sprinted across town and all the way to Hope before struggling to drag one breath into her starving lungs. She was drenched with sweat and her cheek throbbed. The door was locked when she finally made it home and Beca had sunk to her knees in the backyard next to a big oak tree. One that swayed in the wind, making its long arms tap against her windowpane during dark storms.

Beca stopped next to the flower shop on the corner: the door was propped open with a bag of mulch and Goldenrods hung under the windows. The coffee shop next store gave off the scent of pastry and Beca fought back the nausea in her stomach. She placed her hands behind her head and tried to steady her breathing.

A businessman balanced his coffee while sandwiching his phone between his shoulder and ear. Two women sat at the outside table, casting a few sparing glances to a little girl that sat on the sidewalk. Her hair was a mess of blonde curls, her head downcast as she picked evenly at the grass poking up between the sidewalks. Beca couldn’t tell over her heavy breathing, but she looked like she was crying, tears dripping from her chin.

Beca wanted to leave, to begin her long jog home, but instead, she pulled her headphones from her ears and lowered herself to the curb- not completely next to the girl, but enough for her to pick up her head and give her a strange look. They sat in silence while Beca continued to catch her breath.

“Why are you sweating so much?” The girl finally asked, voice foggy.

“I went for a run.”

“You stink.” She wrinkled her nose and looked up all at once. Beca was a bit taken aback by the sheer blueness of her eyes. She felt a pain beneath her ribs and she wasn’t sure if that was the three miles, or if it had something to do with the familiarity of them.

“Yeah well, you’re the one crying on the curb, kid.”

She frowned for a moment and Beca continued to stare before the two of them burst into laughter. This kid couldn’t’ be more than ten, maybe eleven, but she couldn’t’ tell. Either way, it pained Beca to see her eyes rimmed in red and nose on the brink of running.

“Some kids at my school… they’ve been torturing me since we could walk. Nothing really helps, you know? So I try to ignore it but sometimes it’s too much.”

Beca nodded as she understood, and for once in her life, she did.

“My mom sent me to get some things from the store, and I was going to, really, I was. But they were blocking the way and I ran in the other direction because that’s easier than getting pushed to the ground again.” She dragged her arm against the base of her nose. “So now I’m here with this stupid list I was supposed to get an hour ago.”

“Let me see that,” Beca reached out her hand and the girl apprehensively gave over the folded-up piece of paper. The handwriting was looped in a mix of cursive and print. Beca had to bite back a scoff. It was nearly unreadable, but she could make up the word eggs. “Your mom write this?”

The girl hummed and took it back. She shoved it into her jean pocket and stared forward, blinking silently at the little crosswalk that had no one begging to cross it. “Sometimes people tear you down because they have nothing better to do. It’s easier for them to fight their envy against you than to face their own. You just can’t let it bother you, kid. Once you shut all of that out, life gets a lot easier.”

She shook her head, forcing a small smile. “Is that why you’re out here running?”

Beca laughed, finally letting her heart settle “Don’t be a smartass. Don’t you have a list to get?”

#Beca Mitchell #Chloe Beale #bechloe fic rec #Bechloe #bechloe fanfiction

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