Chapter One; You Can Get What You Want
"If you love somebody, better tell them while they're here 'cause, they just may run away from you, you'll never know quite when, well, then again it just depends on, how long of time is left for you, I've had the highest mountains, I've had the deepest rivers, you can have it all but life keeps moving, I take it in but don't look down, 'Cause I'm on top of the world, 'ay" On Top of the World- Imagine Dragons
Beca was in denial.
She kept telling herself over and over again that she did not, and she will not submit to Chloe Beale's puppy eyes, or her pout, or the way that she bites her lip in that way when she feels confused or awkward about something. Beca Mitchell is not in the mood right now for these shenanigans.
Well, she is usually in the mood for Chloe's shenanigans.
So Beca just stands, in the middle of her and Chloe's apartment, looking down at the redhead who is practically kneeling before her, begging. Beca bites her bottom lip and lets out a long, melodic sigh.
"Fine."
Chloe leaps to her feet with such a force Beca suddenly felt like she'd fly backwards. She holds her hands up in front of her face and takes a step back. The excited redhead takes Beca's hands in her own and brings them down.
"Trust me, you will not regret this."
Chloe then starts talking to Beca enthusiastically, her clear blue eyes delving deep into Beca's own deep sea eyes and Beca is narrowing her eyes, trying to actually comprehend what exactly the older girl is saying but she can't quite pull her thoughts away from the redhead's mesmerising eyes.
"Beca? You're staring through me."
The smaller girl blinked once, slowly. "Uh, no. I'm listening."
Chloe stares at her disbelievingly. "What did I just say?"
"Um. We're getting a cat?"
The older girl looked across the room like she was in an episode of The Office and she sighed. "I said, we need to go out tomorrow. To get equipment."
"You're not gonna go all Bear Grylls on me, are you? I'd rather avoid eating fish eyes, thank you."
Chloe's face broke out into a grin. "This is going to be great."
And that was how the two ended up diving head first into a camping trip around California.
oO0Oo
Beca wasn't entirely sure how this entire thing was going to work out. But hey, this is Chloe Beale we're talking about. You can't exactly shake it from Chloe once she has an idea, and Beca, the person with possibly what could only be described as having the most amount of power over Chloe definitely could not shake this idea from the redhead. She was obsessed.
After they'd graduated and won the Worlds, Chloe asked Beca if she wanted to move in with her. Beca couldn't say no, since Chloe was her best friend and well, she and Jesse hadn't worked out. He'd moved to Los Angeles to work for some major Hollywood company, only to be sent to New York to score music there instead. Beca couldn't handle the long-distance so she cut it off. She had been upset, but she kept telling herself that their relationship had been dead from the start anyway, and Chloe had cheered her up immensely by asking her to move in. So naturally, she did.
It had been about two months after they had graduated that Chloe had come up with this idea. She'd been born in California herself, but she grew up moving around Tennessee, Texas, Arizona and around California. She'd been on a large amount of camping trips in her life with family, but she'd never been by herself anywhere with a friend. And even though she knew that Beca wasn't the sort for camping as she was obviously a city girl, she had a strong feeling that the younger girl would grow to enjoy each other's company.
Beca naturally made a lot of complaints and moaned a lot, but honestly, she didn't even mean it. She was dying to go on this trip with Chloe, and she was actually very excited over it. But she didn't want to admit it to the other girl, just because she was being very stubborn about the entire thing. She wanted something to complain a lot, and she really didn't want the smug look that Chloe gives when she says 'I told you so', because it makes Beca mad but yet it also makes Beca want to hug the other girl for being such a dork.
So Beca wasn't really sure how this was going to play out, but God, she was ready for anything that was thrown at her. She was with Chloe, after all.
oO0Oo
"What the hell is this?"
"Huh?"
Chloe turns to see Beca holding up some sort of thermal leggings and she can't help but laugh at Beca's facial expression of sheer horror.
"Don't worry Beca, I'll only make you wear them if you're annoying."
"I will not be wearing these under any circumstances."
Chloe was busy reading through something like a survival list on her phone as she pushed the shopping cart around the store. So far, they'd already put a two-man tent (since getting two separate tents would be downright ridiculous) , two hiking packs (which Beca had made comments about her being too small to carry), and several other various objects. Luckily, the two had some sponsorship money left over from Worlds that the Bellas had split between them, and so Beca and Chloe were saving half of each of their shares and spending the rest on this trip.
"Ooh, let's get this." Chloe takes a fire-starter off one of the racks and puts it in the cart.
"Are we not bringing matches?" Beca asks before seeing a pile of them and putting in two boxes.
"Well, apparently we are now, but what if they got wet?"
Beca picks up the box and points to the large printing on the front. 'Waterproof matches'.
Chloe blushes. "Oops."
oO0Oo
That evening, Beca was curled up on the couch delving deep into a copy of the SAS Survival Handbook. Chloe was busy attaching the tent poles to her backpack before she looked sideways at Beca and shakes her head in disbelief.
"Beca."
The younger girl didn't take her eyes off the book. "Mmm?"
"Is that book really necessary?" The redhead bites her lip and chuckles.
"Mm."
Chloe narrows her eyes.
"I shot a man earlier and we ate him for dinner."
"Mm. Ow!" Chloe had thrown a peanut at Beca's head. The brunette rubbed her hair and scowled at Chloe. "What?"
"I repeat, is that book really necessary? We're just going camping. And we'll run into other people. It's not like we're in an episode of Man vs. Wild."
Beca pouted. "That show is bullshit anyway. And yes, it could be. I guarantee that we will get lost and, me, Beca 'Effin Mitchell will come to the rescue with my survival skills. I now know how to skin a deer."
Chloe stuck her tongue out in disgust. "I'm a vegetarian."
The younger girl rolls her eyes. "I don't know how I'm friends with you."
oO0Oo
"Should I bring jeans?"
"Huh?"
"Should I bring jeans."
Beca shakes her head. "It says in my book that jeans are the worst because when they get wet, they're dead weight and they're heavy in general. So nah. Also it's going to be hot, Chloe."
"Oh, ok."
Beca watches Chloe put her jeans to the side, lovingly, as if she were parting with a puppy or something.
And again, Beca doesn't know why she's friends with her, to be honest.
oO0Oo
The following morning, Chloe is up at some ridiculous time like 8am; in Beca's eyes anyway. Chloe is so excited that Beca can feel herself going nauseous just watching the redhead. But hey, this was just the two of them. They were best friends and they did everything together. Beca doesn't really know why she's agreed to this, she knows that the blisters are going to be horrific, and the lack of Wi-Fi. Oh God. No Wi-Fi.
"Up, up and at 'em Beca!" Chloe half-calls, half-sings.
The smaller girl's eye twitches at Chloe in some odd form of agitation and she's now really not sure why she's said yes to this.
"Can we not do a replay of Aubrey please. I've had enough of Aubrey these past like, four years. I'm doing great without her."
The redhead grins at Beca and the smaller girl can't help but notice the way that the sun comes through the window this early in the morning, how it highlights the light in Chloe's eyes and she notices, properly for the first time how incredibly beautiful Chloe is. The way that the sun picks up those little freckles on her nose, that Chloe always said that she hated and that it was her worst part of the summer for her, but Beca loved them. She loved teasing Chloe about them, but she never realised how much they make her look so innocent and so incredibly beautiful at the same time. And her hair, the little streaks of darker red amongst light brown and the way it fell over her shoulders effortlessly, like she wasn't even trying to look as pretty as she is.
"Beca. You're staring through me, again."
The smaller girl snapped out of her trance and blinked several times. "Sorry. It's early. What's happening?"
Chloe picked up Beca's foot in her hand which was poking out the covers and she pulled her out of bed, which required a phenomenal amount of effort.
"Get your ass out of bed. We have a train to catch."
oO0Oo
Beca stands awkwardly in the corner of the station while Chloe gets the tickets. She'd never understand how Chloe manages to interact with people they way she does. Beca's always been awkward and had a hard time making friends, whereas Chloe, without respecting personal boundaries somehow, manages to make anyone and everyone smile.
Beca was just happy that she was Chloe's best friend.
Chloe returns to her, her reflective sunglasses balancing on her nose as the redhead pushes them up her face. Chloe flicks the top of Beca's head, making her own sunglasses fall onto her face.
"Smooth."
"You know it."
Beca can tell Chloe winked under her sunglasses because of the way her mouth moved in a sort of grin and so she smiles up at her.
"You ready?"
"You betcha."
oO0Oo
"Beca, it's really rude to have your feet up on the seat. People sit there, you know."
"These walking boots are brand new. It's not like I've gone and stepped in sewage and am now wiping it all over the seat."
"…Great example."
"Thanks. I knew I should have taken English as my degree."
Chloe pushes Beca's feet off the seat anyway.
oO0Oo
Beca feels herself being gently shaken awake. She'd fallen asleep and now she turned her head to the right to see Chloe's face in front of her. The redhead had tied a black headband around her head while they'd slept, and it had swept her soft curls back behind her head.
"Our stop is coming up."
"'Kay."
The brunette yawns for a bit then stretches, clicking her neck and her fingers and she pulls herself to her feet, shrugging on her backpack.
"This thing is seriously heavy."
"Beca, I even put the tent poles on my pack, which is heavier than the material. I'm carrying practically the bulk of our entire gear."
"Of which I am very grateful."
The train comes to a halt and Chloe pushes the button, allowing them to step off. There's a whistle of wind as the train then speeds off behind them.
"…So what now?" Beca asks ripping open a bag of chips.
Chloe looks at her watch. "If I checked the website correctly, we can get a shuttle to Sequoia National Park. Then we start our journey up to Yosemite."
"Isn't that like one-hundred miles?"
"Yeah. It's probably gonna take us a little over a week." Chloe paused and glanced sideways at Beca. "Well, with you, it's probably going to take us like, three years."
Beca throws Chloe a dirty look and tosses a chip at her face.
Within around ten minutes, a shuttle arrives with Sequoia National Park in lettering on the side. Chloe and Beca let the other people get on first, as there isn't many, about three or four, since their gear take up a lot of room. Beca pulls out some change in her pocket, a few dollars and gives it to the driver. The shuttle ride was free, but Beca was in a fairly generous mood, which made Chloe smile. Beca looks across at the girl and grimaces.
"…Why are you smiling?"
"You're like an M&M."
"I'm sorry, what?"
"You have like, a hard shell on the outside, but inside you're all smooth and soft."
Beca looks incredulously at Chloe as she sits down.
"What even are you?"
"You're so cute."
"I swear to God, Beale."
They hear laughing behind them and Chloe turns to see a youngish to middle-aged couple behind them, smiling at the two of them.
"You two are hilarious."
Beca shrugged, smirking. "Yeah, it's all Chloe. I just reply sarcastically and bam, humour."
The two of them smile. "You're nice together."
Chloe's eyes widen a little. "Oh, we're not together. Well, we're together but not like, together together."
The man nods. "I see."
Beca smiles back at them, but it's slightly forced. Hearing Chloe say that makes her feel a little funny inside, and she's not sure what it is, but she puts an earphone in and listens to her music, catching Chloe's gaze.
She doesn't miss the little glint Chloe has in her eye.
oO0Oo
Half an hour later, the shuttle arrives in Sequoia National Park. Chloe and Beca get off and say goodbye to the two people they met and Beca stands there, taking in the view. Well, the trees, anyway.
"Look at this shit! Look at it!" Beca holds her arms up to the sky, looking at the some world's tallest trees around them.
Chloe appears next to her, grinning like the Cheshire cat. "So, you're impressed then?"
Beca pulls her sunglasses up onto her head and she grins. "You know, Chlo. I'm kinda lightening up with this trip idea. I mean, it's just us two, and a week and a half of this entire wilderness. Dammit. No wi-fi."
Chloe laughs out loud and her laugh is melodic to the smaller girl's ears.
The younger girl puts her hand in Chloe's back pocket and pulls the map out and shrugs her backpack off. She kneels on the ground in front of the two as Chloe also pulls her pack off, and Beca spreads the map out in front of them.
"Okay, should we mark campsites and stuff? And a trail. So we don't get lost."
About twenty minutes later, the two have agreed on said campsites and a trail to follow.
"C'mon Beca, I'm dying for our first night camping." Chloe jumped up and down.
"I brought marshmallows. But they're to be used in moderation, because I don't have an infinite supply."
"Sounds good to me, Mitchell."
The redhead looks over at Beca, seeing the excited glint in her eyes and can't help but smile at her, because she honestly is the most attractive girl alive when she's excited and Chloe's never seen much of this side of her. But now she has, and she wants to see it a lot more often, so when Beca starts walking along the trail, Chloe follows her.
Chloe pads in front of Beca, and then turns around to face her, walking backwards. "This is going to be the best trip ever."
Beca smiles, even though she's a little too stubborn to admit that it's probably going to be fun, she feels like she would agree with anything Chloe says right now.
Maybe it was because of the slightly mischievous look in Chloe's eyes, that had the slightest indication that something was going to happen that Beca would either regret or love for the rest of her life.
A/N: not even sick of myself yet for all these travelling AUs b/c wanderlust tbh
*whispers* come follow me on tumblr ( .com) or Instagram (briittsnowhuh) to talk to me