"This is aca-unbelievable!" Emily squealed as Beca finally strolled into the bar with the rest of the Bellas.
Beca scrunched her nose, "if you're gonna 'aca' something, at least do it right. You're lucky you're pretty, Legacy."
All the girls laughed at their former captain. They knew, no matter how famous or successful Beca may become, she'll never change to accommodate Hollywood lifestyle. But that doesn't mean they can't tease her about it.
"I don't see anybody else getting signed to some big-time producer so, Beca's paying tonight, right?" Cynthia Rose laughed at her own joke, causing everyone else to laugh and agree.
"What? Why me? Amy just found out she's a millionaire!" Beca threw her hands up, completely jokingly offended that her friends are already using her for her money.
Amy gathered Beca in a hug, squeezing the smaller girl in a hug so tight, Beca's legs dangled over the ground, "because, Shawshank, I'm going to Urban Outfitters after this. I need to save my money."
The Bellas all laughed at Beca squirming in Amy's arms, still not loving hugs but always accepting them from her best friends.
The night carried on with everybody getting drunk and dancing, letting loose, and some unwelcome table dancing. When Chloe accidentally dropped it too low from the bar counter, flashing everyone in the bar, they were all kicked out.
"I can't...believe...you ripped your underwear!" Beca was crying-laughing at Chloe, unable to contain herself. They were the most sober of all the girls, believe it or not, and had to chaperone everyone else to their rooms before they could sleep.
Everybody had their own rooms, granted right next to one another, but Beca decided to follow Chloe into her room anyways. Mostly just to continue making fun of the girl.
"Shut up, Beca!" Chloe laughed and pushed Beca so hard, the girl went tumbling into the wall. "It's not funny." She tried to pout, but seeing Beca slouching on the wall with tears in her eyes was a sight she couldn't keep a straight face to.
"I am never going to let you live this down." Beca slid down the wall, sitting with her back against it and her eyes closed. She felt like she was in a deep sleep when Chloe reemerged back in front of her two minutes later.
"LOOK!" Chloe screamed, waking Beca up to a pair of underwear in her face. "It really is so funny!" She held up her ripped panites, a long slit trailing the back, effectively ripping Hello Kitty's face in half.
Beca opened her eyes and screamed with hilarity at the sight. "Dude, how thick are you?" She laughed and swatted the ripped panties from her face, grabbing Chloe's arm to help herself up.
"Thick with like, four C's." Both girls laughed and walked over to Chloe's luggage, opening it up and both pulling a large t-shirt from the bag. Taking what seemed like years to finally undress themselves and pull on the shirt, they laid down in bed together.
"Chlo, dude. This is the first time we've shared a bed in like two weeks." Beca rolled over and grabbed Chloe's cheek, pinching it to gain her attention.
Chloe rolled and pinched Beca's nose, "I know, silly. I've missed you too."
Beca inhaled largely from her mouth, swatting away Chloe's hand. "DUDE! You could've killed me!"
"But you're alive now."
Beca furrowed her brows, incapable of battling that logic.
"Remember how Amy said she was moving when we got back? Are you going to move too?" Beca suddenly turned very serious, her dark eyes now glowing with tears in the dark.
Chloe turned her head to face Beca again, sobering up when she saw her best friend's expression. "No, Beca. I'm going to stay right there with you. Even though you'll spend most of your time travelling back and forth to LA and I'll have to spend a few nights away whenever school gets busy, we promised to stay together, remember?"
Beca shook her head rapidly, tears now falling a little quicker. "I miss you and now Amy's leaving me and when you're a pet doctor you're going to leave me and I'm going to be all alone with the turtle!"
"Beca, sweetie, we don't have a turtle. And I'm never going to leave you." Chloe rubbed her hand on Beca's arm, trying to soothe the obviously intoxicated girl.
"Theo's the turtle!" Beca was crying furiously now. Chloe knew that whenever Beca drank enough to cry, she would not remember this conversation. So Chloe pulled Beca close and tangled their limbs together, holding each other tight.
When Chloe knew Beca had finally fallen asleep, she let herself drift off as well, thoughts of her best friend flooding her brain.
"Seriously, Amy? You bought your own plane to fly back on, and you won't even take me and Chloe?" Beca stood looking incredulously at her friend, happy that she's happy, but offended she won't be receiving a private ride back.
"Actually, Shawshank, I had some people drop by the apartment and they already picked up my stuff. I'm heading back to Sydney!" Of course Amy would drop news like this at the very last moment. But before Beca could even process it, Chloe was being held by Amy.
Chloe cried into Amy's shoulder, "I'm going to miss you so much. Remember to call me when you land."
"Oh, Ginger. Don't get to blubbery. I left an old pair of knickers that you twig bitches can rub on yourselves when you need some good confidence." Amy smiled genuinely, leaving Beca and Chloe to know she wasn't joking.
"Gross, dude. I'm going to miss you." Beca raised her hand to awkwardly pat Amy on the shoulder, but the Australian wasn't having any of it. She quickly dropped Chloe and picked up Beca, causing her to scream. "AMY! Put me down now!"
The three girls laughed, said their goodbyes, and cried. Beca was having a hard time holding back her tears. "Who knew badass-Beca-Mitchell had feelings?" Chloe teased as they took their seats on the plane, shoving her shoulder gently.
"Shut it, Beale. I'm just upset you got the window seat." Beca sniffled and turned her head to the aisle, quickly wiping her tears away.
Chloe laughed at Beca's lame attempt of an excuse and pinched her cheek. "It's just you and me now, Mitchell." She placed her hand on Beca's thigh. "It's okay to cry, I'm going to miss her too."
"I'm just crying because now I have to deal with you alone." Beca joked again, causing Chloe to give another shove to her shoulder.
The long flight home was spent with quiet conversations, shared headphones, snacks and drinks, and napping on each other's shoulders. Chloe had the bladder of a squirrel, causing her to wake Beca four times during her nap to make her move so that Chloe could get to the bathroom. Beca acted like she hated it, was bothered by how bothersome Chloe was being, but she couldn't help the happy feeling she got knowing that this is how the next stage of their life will be: just Beca and Chloe.
"Wow. I never realized how much shit was actually Amy's." The two former Bellas captains walked into their apartment, luggages in tow, and took in the sight before them.
Aside from the fold-out bed, the mattress, the table and chair, and their clothes, the apartment was empty. There were no more wigs and kitchen appliances or toilet paper or towels; even though Beca and Chloe paid for the rent, Amy was the one that kept the place full.
"I know. It's naked in here." Beca scrunched her nose at Chloe's statement, never fully grasping the redhead's strange vocabulary.
"Let's just call the girls then sleep. We can unpack and put clothes on the apartment tomorrow." Chloe turned around, giving Beca a very confused look. "It's because...like naked...you said the apartment is-never mind." Beca rolled her eyes at herself.
"Adorable as always." Chloe smiled and kissed her hand, then smacking Beca on the cheek.
"Lovely." Beca grumbled away to the bathroom, using her suitcase to create some form of privacy while she peed.
"So...what's now? There's like...two beds...and two of us. Which-like which bed do you want?" Beca and Chloe had finally finished calling all the girls and were now ready for bed. They stood in the kitchen, staring at the two beds, trying to decide what to do next.
"I'm going to school so I'll be racking up a bunch of bills which would leave for you to having to take over most of the payments so I can totally take the fold-out-" Chloe tried to negotiate a reason for why she should get the fold-out, but was quickly interrupted by Beca.
"Well, no, but I'll be flying to LA a lot and I would hate for you to like have to sleep in that bed when I'll be gone so I can take the fold-out-" Beca rebutted, but then she was interrupted by Chloe.
"Exactly! So whenever you are here, you can at least have the comfy bed!" Chloe smiled and tried to insist Beca to have the better bed.
A moment of silence passed between them, neither knowing what to do. "Flip for it?" Beca asked, pulling a quarter from the bowl by the door. Chloe shrugged and, as Beca flipped the coin, she called heads.
"It's tails." Beca pursed her lips and turned her body to face Chloe. "But like, if you want the big bed you can have it. I really don't mind."
"No, the coin spoke. Goodnight, Beca." Chloe gave Beca a soft smile then climbed into the fold-out bed. She rolled over to turn off the lamp as soon as she heard Beca got into her bed.
The two girls laid in silence, both staring at the ceiling as they attempted to fall asleep. Unbeknownst to each other, they both felt how empty it was to be back in this apartment, but not back next to each other. Nearly an hour has passed with neither girl falling asleep nor even moving. It was near two in the morning when Beca cleared her throat.
"Hey, Chloe? Are you awake?" She whispered, but just loud enough for Chloe to hear her.
"Yeah. Can't sleep?" Chloe panicked slightly at the thought of Beca not being able to sleep, knowing how bad her insomnia was throughout her years in college.
"Can I come over?" Beca asked hopefully. She missed sleeping next to Chloe and it just didn't feel right to be in their apartment together but not sleeping together. In the most platonic way possible, of course.
"Come here, sweetie." Beca quickly jumped out of bed, bringing over a stuffed animal and climbing into bed with Chloe. Nobody else knew about Beca's stuffed animal, nobody else was allowed to.
But Chloe knew. She'd known since Beca's sophomore year when they lived together in the same house. Chloe had learned about Beca's insomnia, which lead to countless nights where Beca would sneak over to Chloe's room to have someone hold her while she held her bunny.
"And hello to you too, Mr. Oreo." Chloe booped his nose when Beca climbed in next to Chloe. She turned her back on the redhead, allowing Chloe to spoon her, while she cuddled Mr. Oreo.
"I miss this."
"I miss you."