A/N: The long awaited sequel has arrived! I apologize for its delay; I had a hard time figuring out where I wanted to go with this sequel and there were points where I wasn't completely sure whether I could write this or not since I had next to zero free time between work and applying to law school. However, I'm just about done with my applications and I've had the itch to write for a while; add that to sorting out my issues with figuring out timing for this and it was a no brainer that this was going to be the next bit of writing I was going to release. A huge thank-you to everyone that read and enjoyed "I Swear This Time I Mean It," your feedback on that story gave me the push I needed to get this sequel started. Anyway, we're jumping ahead five years time from where the epilogue left off, making the girls 27-28 for a point of reference. Also, I am working on the next chapter for "Lasting Impression" and hopefully that will be updated relatively soon (for anyone that happens to be following that as well). Lastly, the title is from a song by Grouplove, but I don't think the lyrics of the song in any way are going to give anything away; I really just liked the title :) anyway, here is the first chapter, I hope you enjoy it!
P.S. I own nothing.
There weren't many things that scared Beca Mitchell, much less to the point of making her dread and avoid particular situations at absolutely all costs. She had never been afraid of the dark as a child, nor did she fear spiders or any other type of insects, reptiles, amphibians… you name it. Small spaces weren't an issue (it was mostly the issue of people staying out of her own personal space and even then that couldn't really be considered a fear, more so something that annoyed her a great deal if anything else), and while she hadn't always been a fan of needles (was anyone really?), Chloe's constant usage of Beca's appendages and veins throughout the redhead's years of medical school resolved this whether she had liked it or not. There was one thing that, no matter her efforts to make it anything other than what it currently was, she always found completely unsettling; airplanes.
"Just close your eyes and count to ten, babe" Chloe said soothingly into Beca's ear, running one of her hands up and down Beca's arm in order to calm the brunette down, knowing that this was not an easy thing for her girlfriend to do.
Beca's fingernails dug into her armrest despite her girlfriend's best efforts to quell her nerves and take her mind off of the current circumstance. She obliged to Chloe's instructions, her eyelids fluttering shut as she inhaled deeply, slowly counting from one to ten in her head. Upon opening her eyes again, she was greeted with the sight of Chloe looking expectantly next to her, waiting for her report.
"You look pained to admit that you feel way better because you listened to me" Chloe pointed out, smiling at her brunette.
Beca smirked back at the redhead. "I suppose this is the part where you tell me that what I just did has something to do with countering my sympathetic nervous system and whatever other medical mumbo-jumbo you feel like throwing out there, and that's why I feel better than I did a minute ago."
"One, I'm glad you listen to the things I say to you because that was spot on" Chloe began, giving Beca a light peck on the cheek, "And two, it's what my mom had me do when I was younger whenever I got worked up over something, and you looked like your heart was about to beat out of your chest so I saved you the trouble from having to deal with that. So you're welcome, really." Chloe then proceeded to stick her tongue out at her girlfriend, who merely rolled her eyes in response. The two girls then turned their attention to the flight attendant standing in front of the plane, who proceeded to begin the routine safety briefing before take-off.
"It did make me feel a lot better" Beca admitted a few minutes after the stewardess had stopped talking.
"Obviously" Chloe replied, "One of the lesser known perks of dating a doctor."
"Does this mean you get to examine me in the bathroom later?" Beca suggested, earning a playful slap on the arm from the redhead.
"Little ears are surrounding us!" Chloe hissed, gesturing to the various families sitting across and behind them. "Also, do you have any idea how many germs are in those bathrooms, even after they're cleaned from the flight before?"
"If you're trying to make me regret suggesting what I did, you're doing a fantastic job of it, Beale" Beca said flatly.
"Mission accomplished" Chloe grinned, holding Beca's hand in her own as the plane began to make its way down the runway. From the corner of her eye, she could see her girlfriend bracing herself as she sat next to her, inhaling deeply in order to calm herself down.
"Remind me again why you couldn't write a prescription for me for a sleeping pill?" Beca said through gritted teeth, gripping Chloe's hand tightly as the plane began to gain speed.
"I can't just go out giving prescriptions to people the same way Oprah gives away cars" Chloe explained as a matter-of-factly to Beca, as they had had this conversation a number of times in the previous weeks. "Plus I'd have to keep a chart on you if I began writing things for you."
"And here I thought there wasn't any more uncharted territory in this relationship."
"You're getting a pass this time on account of you being scared out of your mind that the plane is going to go down" Chloe said, frowning at a pleased Beca.
Beca's face turned serious at once. "Has anyone ever told you that you say the most encouraging things?"
"Loads actually," Chloe replied as they felt the plane leave the ground, surging steadily into the air. She took something out of her pocket, handing it to Beca. "One of these should do the trick for you."
Beca surveyed the small pink pills enclosed inside the blister packaging. "Did you get these off the street?" she whispered.
Chloe looked incredulously at her girlfriend, turning the packaging over to reveal the label and product information for each individual pill. "It's an antihistamine!"
"Yeah, I probably could have deduced that myself" Beca said quietly, looking down at her hands in feigned embarrassment.
"You're stressed out, it's okay" Chloe said sympathetically, "But seriously, it should knock you out pretty well; once you're asleep this plane ride will be over before you know it."
Five or so hours later, Beca and Chloe found themselves once again in a place very familiar to them both. Simply put, it was the place they had begun to fall in love with one another on more than one occasion. It was the place they had visited as teenagers that held special meaning to them as 'us' instead of 'me and you', only years later to be reunited with one another in some strike of fate in this same place after years of radio silence between them. It was the place they had overcome years of misunderstandings in order to be together again and make it work the second time around. It was the place they had spent half their time for a number of years, beginning when Chloe had attended medical school in Baltimore, to when Chloe had briefly been living with Aubrey while Beca began to make her career aspirations a reality and had moved to Los Angeles after accepting a job at an up and coming record label. This place was Washington DC, and Beca and Chloe knew their lives would always be somehow entwined with the nation's capital, no matter any hypothetical efforts to avoid just that. Not that this was the case, of course, as it would have proved difficult to not attend the engagement party for two of their best friends.
Chloe bolted into a run the moment they had walked past the security checkpoints, seeing the familiar face of her best friend standing at the end of the arrival area of the airport, almost knocking the blonde over upon impact as she pulled her into a tight hug. By the time they had detached from one another, a groggy Beca had finally caught up to the reunited pair.
"I see you survived the plane, Beca" Aubrey said lightly after pulling the brunette into a hug.
"I think I'm going to be taking a train back to LA" Beca grimaced, causing Chloe to roll her eyes at the absurdity.
"You were out like a light, you didn't even wake up from all the turbulence we had at one point" the redhead retorted.
"The fact that we experienced turbulence is reason enough for me not to get on the return flight at the end of this weekend."
Aubrey snorted, "Okay, you two sound more like a married couple than Jesse and I do, it's kind of sickening actually."
Chloe chuckled as they began to walk toward the baggage claim, "Says one half of the engaged couple that just bought a house together."
"We have a lot of work to do still" Aubrey replied, sighing. "Jesse's actually rearranging the guest bedroom you'll be staying in this weekend; he would have been here had he done this when I originally asked him to."
"Men" Beca mused while waiting for their checked luggage to arrive. Minutes later and bags in hand, the three women made their way to the airport parking lot, bags thrown into the trunk and backseat of Aubrey's car before they left for the newly bought home.