The Bellas were all sitting around the camp fire, including Aubrey, telling each other what they plan on doing after graduating from Barden. Some of the Bellas knew exactly what they would be doing after graduation, while the others had to think about it for a second, especially Chloe who has been a Bella for seven years. She said that the reason was that the Bellas have been her family and she wanted it to stay that way. Though, Beca knew that she had to graduate eventually. As much as she wanted Chloe to move on from the Bellas, she wanted to at least have the redhead by her side no matter what.
As for Beca, graduating from Barden was somewhat scary to her. She knew what she wanted to do, but like Chloe, she wanted to keep being part of the Bellas for the rest of her life. All the friends and memories that she made were all because of a simple shower invasion. If it wasn't for Chloe, Beca wouldn't have auditioned for the Bellas. She wouldn't have thought once about joining the Bellas. It never came to mind until then. To Beca, leaving the Bellas was like leaving her friends, her memories of the past four years behind to shrivel up and die. Beca wanted to remember everything. Not the several performances that the Bellas did over the years, but the memories of the fun she had with the Bellas themselves. At the same time, she wanted to move on with her life and leave everything behind her. Now that she's graduating, she figured that it would be hard to move away from the Bellas, especially Chloe.
After each Bella shared what they wanted to do after graduating, Beca being the last, one by one, the Bellas left the camp fire to go back to their tents. The first person to go was Aubrey even though she wasn't really apart of the Bellas. Truly, Jessica and Ashley were the first Bellas to leave to their tent. Then Flo left with Lily. A couple minutes after that, Stacie and Cynthia Rose left. Fat Amy had already left, finally realizing that she was in love with Bumper when she told the Bellas what she was going to do after leaving Barden. Beca and Chloe were finally alone together around the camp fire. At first, it was awkward. Neither of them had decided to start a conversation between themselves. It was just complete silence.
At one point of the awkward silence, Chloe quickly glanced at Beca, smiling slightly as she watched her brunette friend fiddle with her hands. Chloe wandered if Beca was feeling okay. She usually never fiddled with her hands when she was around her. It all didn't make sense to the redhead. Chloe only continued to watch Beca closely as the brunette fiddled with her hands.
Beca noticed that Chloe has been staring at her and met her eyes and cocked her head to the side slightly, confused about why Chloe has been staring at her the whole time. "Chloe?" The DJ asked, immediately snapping the co-captain out of her trance. Chloe shook her head and allowed her eyes to wander towards the ground. "You were staring at me. Are you okay?"
"I sort of wanted to ask you that. You seemed a little uneasy," Chloe sighed. "Is there something wrong? I mean, you can tell me anything. If you're not okay-"
Beca looked down at her feet, afraid to again meet Chloe's gaze. "I'm fine, Chloe," she told her best friend, interrupting her completely. "You don't have to worry about me."
Chloe frowned at Beca's response. "But I do worry about you, Beca. I care about you too." The redhead stood up from her seat and moved herself next to Beca. The redhead grabbed ahold of Beca's hands, holding them in her own. "Look, I know that you've been through a lot lately, getting that internship and everything. And I'm sorry that I put so much pressure on you. It felt like you were drifting away from the Bellas, and you were. I just wanted to know why."
"Chloe, you don't have to apologize. It's my fault that I didn't tell you," Beca told her best friend, now gazing into her light blue eyes.
The co-captain smiled softly, her eyes not leaving Beca's. "You don't have to blame it on yourself. None of this is your fault. You didn't get yourself into this mess," Chloe explained. "You were just scared. I get that. I understand exactly how you're feeling. I mean, I failed Russian Lit purposely just to stay in the Bellas." The brunette chuckled. "I didn't want to leave you, Beca."
Beca smiled softly, a smile that Chloe has been waiting to see. She never gets to see Beca smile. It was one thing that Chloe loved about her brunette friend. "I'm glad that you didn't graduate when you were supposed to. I would have missed you too much, Chlo." Surprisingly, Beca wrapped her arms around Chloe from the side. The brunette was never a hugging type of person. It was like Beca was a completely different person around Chloe.
The co-captain eventually hugged Beca back, both of them holding each other in their arms. For awhile, they stayed like this. It was quite comforting for the both of them. Neither the brunette or the redhead wanted to let go. It was natural. It was perfect. The beautiful night sky. The stars glistening above the two. The quiet woods surrounding them. The gentle touch of the wind on their bare skin. Though the wind slowly picked up, becoming a cold breeze.
A sudden chill climbed up Beca's back, resulting her to shiver in Chloe's warm arms. "Are you cold, Becs?" The redhead whispered, finally letting go of her best friend, and put her hands on the brunette's shoulders.
The brunette nodded. "A little." Chloe frowned and grabbed the blanket laying beside her, draping it over Beca's shoulders. The brunette brought the blanket closer to her and sighed. "Thanks, Chlo." The redhead smiled at her best friend and wrapped her one arm around her, pulling the captain close to her. Beca embraced the 'hug', resting her head on Chloe's shoulder. "You know, you don't have to be so nice to me after what I did to you earlier today."
Chloe sighed, figuring that Beca would have brought this up eventually. She didn't mind that Beca did so, but she just wanted to fly passed the incident and move on. It was something that Chloe didn't want to crawl back to. It happened in the past. All that mattered to her right then was The Worlds and graduation. The redhead felt that bringing back this topic would only destroy their friendship more than it already has been. Though, Chloe replied to her anyways, just in a way that would make Beca not think back to the incident that happened between them. "Beca, it's done. Over with, okay? I don't really want to be brought back to..." The co-captain shook her head, her red curls bouncing out of place, then fixing her hair almost immediately so it wasn't in her face and blocking her view of Beca. "Anyways..."
"Well," Beca started, "I'm sorry that I yelled at you and said the things that I said. I didn't mean any of it, I swear."
The redhead swore she felt her stomach flip as Beca apologized, even though Beca had already apologized while she was stuck in the bear trap. Although, it was an improper apology. "Beca, it's okay." Chloe smiled down at the brunette, hearing her calm breaths in the midst of the silent fire.
For awhile, the both of them stayed quiet, only admiring each other's presence and the bright fire in front of them. Only the whistling of the wind and the crackling of the fire drowned out the silent woods around them. Clouds of smoke lingered in the air above them and drifted towards the dense woods, making it difficult to see the moon and the few stars in the dark, night sky.
And as time went by, Beca eventually fell asleep in Chloe arms. Beca's heart felt warm when her bare skin touched Chloe's. Chloe made her feel warm. She always has since the day they met. It was like they somehow were connected in ways that best friends shouldn't. After the incident in the shower, Beca knew that the bubbly redhead was going to be important in her life. Now she sees where they are now. At a 'boot camp' under the stars in the middle of the night, and obviously, together. They were together, something Beca had always wanted. Behind her badass personality, she was kind hearted and sweet, a quality that Chloe could never get old of and Beca was glad that she couldn't.
Seeing that the brunette had fallen asleep, Chloe only pulled her closer to her, gently pressing a kiss on the top of her head. Beca shifted a little, feeling the redhead's lips touch her head, then awakening from her short nap. The brunette glanced up at Chloe, her dark blue eyes hidden in the dark night. "Chlo..." she whispered tiredly. She was surprised to see the co-captain was still awake and gazing down at her in the sweetest way possible. Her bright eyes stood out in the darkness surrounding them. It was like Chloe was Beca's light to her darkness. Her flashlight maybe. Yeah, Chloe was Beca's flashlight.
"Shh," Chloe hushed soothingly, "go back to sleep."
The brunette's head left Chloe's shoulder, a sign saying that she wanted to stay up with the her best friend. The redhead nodded slightly and allowed Beca to pull out of the long-lasting hug. Chloe seemed disappointed at first that Beca was no longer in her arms, but immediately grew over the nice feeling. The brunette rubbed the sleep out of her eyes, sharing a glance with the co-captain as she let out a soft, tired yawn. "I want to stay up with you," Beca whispered, taking ahold of Chloe's hand. "Because, I know that once we graduate, I probably won't ever see you again. So, why not spend what time I have left with my favorite adorable redhead." Blood rose to Chloe's cheeks. She hadn't seen Beca act so soft. Chloe almost treasured it. It could just be because she's tired and completely out of it, but it could be for other reasons too.
Chloe smiled as she glanced down at Beca's hand in her's. "No matter what happens, whether we win The Worlds or not, I'll never be out of your sight. You don't have to worry about losing me, because I am right here."
"I know," Beca whispered, lacing her fingers with Chloe's. "You're my flashlight."
Hearing the brunette's soft whispers, Chloe eyes brimmed with tears. This wasn't something Beca would say on a daily basis. Hell, she would never say something like this to anyone, especially Chloe. It was like Chloe suddenly became super special and important to the brunette. She didn't mind that Beca had said that. It felt kind of comforting. And she wasn't mad about it either. Now, Chloe finally got to know how Beca feels about her as their friendship progressed over the last three years.
"You're my flashlight, Beca. And I like you because of that," Chloe whispered, gazing into the brunette's dark blue eyes, and brought her hand towards her cheek, caressing it. She briefly glanced down at Beca's lips, then back to her eyes. The redhead leaned in to kiss the beautiful brunette in front of her, Beca flashing her eyes down at Chloe's lips as she did. Their faces were only a few inches away from each other right as Chloe whispered against the captain's fair skin. "You will always be my flashlight." The few inches between them slowly closed in, their lips finally connecting.
The kiss was a light, yet amazing kiss. It wasn't anything too extreme. Just a simple kiss, a kiss that felt soft against Chloe's lips. It was a kiss that Chloe had never received before. It was weird and difference, but she enjoyed it before Beca had pulled away, their faces again inches apart. "I like you, t-"
The snapping of a twig echoing behind them interrupted Beca immediately, forced the two to push their faces farther away from each other. Beca glanced over her shoulder, seeing Emily standing there awkwardly, biting on her bottom lip. "Sorry to intrude on your gal pal moment, but I just wanted the extra marshmellows." Chloe frowned and took a glimpse at Emily over her shoulder. "It would be nice if you two stopped staring at me and gave me the marshmellows."
Beca sighed and reached forward in front of her, grabbing a hold of the bag of marshmellows that was on the ground near the fire pit. "There isn't really that many left," she told Emily, sitting back up straight. She looked back at the freshman. "You better catch this, Legacy." Beca tossed the bag of marshmellows to Emily and waited to turn back around to face Chloe to make sure she catches it.
Emily caught the bag and took a couple steps back. "Okay, I'm done here. You can continue doing whatever you were doing. Just ignore me…" The freshman said, mumbling the last part, and ran back off to her tent.
Once Emily was out of sight, Chloe and Beca looked back at each other, only to start laughing at what had just happened.