Beca laid down on her bed after a long day of work. She never felt this exhausted since the World's competition her senior year of college. Back then it was constant vocal exercises, dance practices, and endless cardio so that she could actually do the dancing. She learned the hard way during her freshman year.
The USO tour of course was also tiring, but the dance moves were very basic compared to when they actually did your normal competitions with acapella.
Beca pulled her phone out of her pocket to see a missed call from Chloe. Someone who she hasn't really talked to since 4 months after the USO tour ended. Which that was now 2 years ago. It was just too painful for her to do so. She was happy for Chloe that she was happy. Chicago seemed like a really nice guy. Beca however felt disappointed in herself. She should've said and done something about the feelings she had for Chloe before she ended up in an argument with her.
Chloe had called Beca for relationship advice 4 months after the USO tour. Chicago asked her to move in with him.
"Why can't you just be supportive when it comes to Chicago and me?" Chloe said through the phone sounding frustrated.
"You asked my advice Chlo. I never said you had to take it. I just think that this is moving a little bit too fast," Beca responds sounding equally as frustrated as the woman on the other side of the conversation.
"Why do you think we're moving too fast?" Chloe questioned.
"You asked me if I felt that you were moving too fast. I said yes because you two met barely 6 months ago dude," Beca explains to Chloe.
"Why does it seem like that's not the only reason why?" Chloe asks.
"What do you mean?" Beca responds with a hint of confusion in her voice.
"Well you've been avoiding my calls and texts. Yeah I get that you are busy with work and stuff, but that doesn't explain why you'll contact Amy or Aubrey," Chloe says.
"If I say it you're going to be even more pissed so I might as well not," Beca replies while changing the way she was sitting on her couch.
"What is it?" Chloe asks. Beca can literally hear the sound of sadness and frustration in Chloe's voice.
"I don't want to hear about you and Chicago. I'm very happy for you Chlo I am, but I don't want to hear about you two being together," Beca says instantly regretting it because now she'll have to explain herself anymore.
"Why not?" Chloe asks. Chloe had no idea what Beca was going to say next.
"Because I have feelings for you," Beca replies while debating whether or not she should hang up the phone. Chloe has gone quiet on the other side of the phone. "Chlo?" Beca asks. "You still there?"
Chloe doesn't respond. "Look if you're still there, I'm sorry. I didn't want this to happen. I just don't think I can do this. Being your friend and ignoring my feelings for you. Goodbye Chloe," Beca said. Chloe went to say something else, but the familiar noise that sounds when someone hangs up the phone was heard.
After Beca hung up she instantly felt the tears well up in her eyes and began to cry in her LA house. Same with Chloe on the other side of the country in New York.
It was very weird to see Chloe's name pop up on her phone again with a missed call or text. The only time it popped up before was when Chloe had liked one of Beca's posts. It of course wasn't a direct form of contact like this.
Beca let out a sigh and decided to call Chloe to see what was up. Beca presses the phone button and she brings her phone up to her ear. She takes a deep breath then slowly lets it out.
The phone rang a total of 3 times before Chloe picked up. "Hey Beca," she heard the all too familiar voice of her ex-best-friend through the phone.
"Hey what's up? Is everything okay?" Beca asks sounding very concerned. She could tell that Chloe was crying not that long ago. She kept hearing her sniffle.
"No everything is not okay," Chloe replies.
"Okay what is it? What's wrong?" Beca questions.
"Things didn't work out with Chicago," Chloe responds. Beca could tell that Chloe was heartbroken. She just wanted to be there with her and comfort her.
"I'm so sorry Chlo. If I was there, you know that I would comfort you in a heartbeat," Beca says to her. Chloe sniffles a few more times.
"That's not exactly the thing that is making me so upset. I lost you, my best friend, because of a stupid guy," Chloe replies while starting to breathe heavily.
"Okay Chloe, breathe, breathe, breathe. Breathe slowly. Take in a deep breath then let it out. Chicago isn't just some stupid guy okay? It's not his fault or your fault on why you lost me," Beca explains to her. Even though Beca wishes it would've been her and Chloe over the past 2 years, she's not going to let Chloe say stuff like that about Chicago. She knows that Chloe doesn't mean it, and is just trying to sort of vent in a way.
"It is my fault though. I should've called or texted you after our last conversation," Chloe stated while sniffling again.
"The phone works both ways Chlo. I'm just as much as responsible if not more than what you are," Beca tells her. Chloe doesn't say anything. Normally Beca would hang up on someone who doesn't say anything after a minute. However this was Chloe and Chloe needed her right now.
After a few minutes she could tell Chloe was trying to bring herself together. "Are you in LA right now?" Chloe asks.
"Yeah I will be here for a complete week and a half," Beca responds with a hint of confusion in her voice.
"Would it be okay if I flew out there and stayed with you for a couple days? I just need to get away from New York for a little bit," Chloe says.
"Yeah sure. When do you plan on coming?" Beca asks.
"Is tomorrow okay?" Chloe asks.
"Yeah it's fine. Have you booked a plane ticket yet?" I question.
"I'm about to. The one I'm looking at is saying I'll be in LAX at 5:20 pm tomorrow," Chloe replies as she presses the book ticket button.
"Okay I'll be there then at that time and pick you up," Beca tells her. Chloe instantly feels herself calm down and feels a weight lifted off of her shoulders.
"Thank you, Becs."
"No problem, Chlo. I have to go though. I have an early morning call time to go to the studio. I'll see you tomorrow?" Beca says.
"Yeah see you tomorrow," Chloe responds. Beca pulls her phone away from her ear and hangs up. She turns her screen off then puts her phone on her night stand. She laid in her bed and thought about everything. This surely changed her plans for the next few days. She didn't fall asleep until about an hour or so later.
The next day Beca drove to LAX to pick Chloe up. She would go to gate however because of security reasons she was waiting at baggage claim.
Before she left her car she made sure to put on her sunglasses and a hat to help avoid paparazzi. They always hangout at LAX to get the latest photos of celebrities.
Beca already released her first album about 6 months ago, so she has definitely been photographed by paparazzi at LAX since she did CD signings in multiple cities across the U.S. She's been photographed with DJ Khaled and Theo on more than one occasion.
Not long after 5:20 Beca seen Chloe approaching baggage claim. She felt a bit of excitement. This being the first time she saw Chloe in what seemed like forever. She would sometimes see photos of her on Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat but everyone knows that's not the same as actually seeing someone in person. Especially someone who was one of your best friends and spent basically every day together for 6 years. 4 of them being in college and then 2 in the small studio apartment in New York.
Chloe looked up after grabbing her bags to look for Beca. It would be sort of hard to spot the brunette woman because of her being so small. She'd be easy to miss. Finally her eyes land on the woman. One glance at her and she knew that it was her. Beca. She smiled slightly to herself. She couldn't believe that she was there in LA and was going to be with her past best friend and co-captain. She made sure she had all of her things, and made her way over to Beca.
Beca gave Chloe a kind smile as she made her way towards her. "Hey," Chloe said. She furrowed her eyebrows once she noticed the kind of hat Beca was wearing. A sports team baseball cap. Beca doesn't watch sports.
"Hey," Beca said as she watched Chloe furrow her eyebrows.
"I didn't know you supported the Dodgers," Chloe said with a hint of confusion in her tone.
"I didn't know I did either. It's just a random hat I found at the store while I was trying to avoid paparazzi," Beca said. Chloe let out a chuckle at that.
"Well, I don't know much about the whole paparazzi thing, but I think we should probably get going before paparazzi notices that you are here," Chloe says to the smaller woman.
"You're a smart one there, Beale," Beca says with a smile. "Need help carrying anything?" Beca asks. "I can take your suitcase or carry on if you need me to."
"Oh yeah thanks," Chloe responds to Beca's kind offer and hands her her carry on.
"You're welcome," Beca says as she takes hold of Chloe's suitcase.
They begun to make their way out of the airport as the all so familiar flash of paparazzi cameras started going off. Meaning there will be a new story of Beca leaving LAX sometime within the next hour or 2.
Beca and Chloe walk outside of the airport. Some fans instantly swarm around Beca asking for autographs and photos. She is not a big fan of the whole paparazzi part of fame, but she really enjoys giving autographs and photos to the fans. Nothing makes her more happy than giving back to the fans. She does as many as she can before walking the short distance to where her car is parked.
She opens the trunk of her car and helps Chloe put her suitcase in the back of the car. "Do you want your carry on or do you want me to put it with your suitcase?" Beca questions while taking her sunglasses off.
"I'll take it," Chloe answers. Beca hands her her carry on back and they both step away from the trunk. Chloe notices Beca struggling to push the trunk of the vehicle closed, so she reaches up and closes it for her.
"Thanks," Beca says.
"No problem," Chloe replies.
They make their way to their respective sides of the vehicle. Beca turns on the car's ignition once both her and Chloe are comfortable. They then slowly leave LAX.
The car ride to Beca's house is silent. Chloe turns the radio on to see what's currently playing. "Feel It Still" by Portugal. The Man was playing.
"They still play this song on the radio?" Chloe asks Beca.
"Yeah they do surprisingly. Do you not listen to the radio?" Beca answers.
"Not really. I mostly just listen to the Today's Top Hits or the Taylor Swift station on my Pandora," Chloe replies. She turns the radio up because even though the song came out in 2017 it's still fun to listen to.
Beca began to sing along to the song. Chloe looked over at her and smiled at the woman. She joined in also.
The song finishes and they glance at the other and smile at one another. Chloe felt beyond happy that she was there with Beca. Beca felt the same way about Chloe.
"So how long will you be staying?" Beca asks. Chloe turns the radio down.
"I was thinking I should probably go back in 6 days. I need to get back and move my stuff out of the apartment that I was living in with Chicago and back into the studio," Chloe replied.
"You and Amy still have the studio?" Beca questions sounding very surprised.
"Well technically Amy still does. She offered to allow me to move back in with her when she heard. You haven't talked to her?" Chloe tells Beca.
"No I have. It's just she's always traveling and going all over the place. She never says anything about being there. I just assumed she moved out," Beca answers as she turns onto the street that will lead to the street that she lives on.
"I don't know how she does all that traveling. I mean I like traveling but if I had the amount of money that she has I would buy a house somewhere and settle down. I would save the money for my future kids' college and for vacations that I would want to go on with my family," Chloe explains. Beca turns on to the street that she lives on and keeps driving.
"Well Amy has always been the live-in-the-moment type person. Besides she has 180 million dollars she's good," Beca replies.
"That is true. She's doing a Fat Amy Winehouse tour so she is doing some work," Chloe says as Beca pulls into her driveway.
"Honestly though I don't see Amy ever settling down," Beca parks her car then turns the ignition off. "Welcome to your home for the next 5 days."
Both Beca and Chloe get out, and Chloe gets her suitcase out of the trunk. Beca locks the car doors.
Over the first 4 days that Chloe was there, Beca took her around the city. She took her to the beach, had a campfire outside one night, took her to a few restaurants, and even took her to the studio to watch the process of making music professionally. Between writing the lyrics, the notes for the music, and recording. The recording was mostly of covers.
On the 5th day, which was Chloe's last full day in LA with Beca, Chloe decided she wanted to stay at Beca's house all day while Beca went to the studio. She wanted to get all of her things ready so that she could go back to New York the next day.
This trip was fun and great for Chloe. She knows that she'll be going back to New York feeling better than what she did when she got to LA several days ago. Chloe went into the guest room that she was staying in. She couldn't find her earbuds. She must've left them in Beca's room the night previous when she was listening to some of Beca's newest mashups.
She walked up to the door to Beca's room. Chloe didn't exactly want to go into Beca's room without Beca being there. She felt that in some way she would be intruding. She would just walk in there, grab them, then walkout. It's not that big of a deal. Chloe turns the doorknob and pushes the door open. She walks into the room, spots her earbuds on Beca's dresser, then walks over to the dresser to grab them.
She takes them and then glances up to see a photo. It's the photo that was taken the day that all of the Bellas except Aubrey and Emily graduated. Chloe smiles at the sight of the photo that she hasn't seen in a while. She looks at the other photos that are on her dresser until she comes across of one of just herself and Beca.
Chloe looks down at the corner of the picture frame to see a folded piece of lined paper attached to it. Chloe instantly begins to wonder what it is. It must be something important. Beca doesn't keep any form of paper unless it has some type of importance to her. She knows that from seeing her best friend throw away all of the notes that she took for all of her classes in college.
Chloe lets out a sigh and takes the paper out of the corner of the picture frame. She discovers that it's a half sheet of paper that was folded into fourths. She notices that there's a name written on it in Beca's all so familiar handwriting. It is hers. She felt tempted to open it and read it but she wasn't going to. That'd be an invasion of privacy. If Beca wanted to talk to her about it then she would. Even though her name was on it she was going to respect that if Beca wants her to read it she would give it to her or send it to her.
She places it back in the corner of the photo exactly how it was before she took it out. She takes a deep breath and then lets it out. She makes her way out of Beca's bedroom making sure to close the door as she exits.
That night Beca got home to see Chloe sitting on the couch doing something on her laptop. "I brought you some In-N-Out," Beca says as she walks into the living room.
Chloe closes her laptop. "Thanks Becs," she says as she grabs the bag. She hasn't had In-N-Out since she left Barden 4 years ago. She opens the bag and sees 2 burgers with a large cup of fries. She stands up.
"Where you going?" Beca questions.
"To the dining room. I don't want to make a mess of your living room," Chloe responds. They both walk to the dining room and sit down at the table. Chloe hands Beca a burger and put the fries in the middle of them so that they can both easily reach it. Chloe pours the rest of the bag out, so that they can grab the ketchup and napkins easier.
They spent their dinner joking around and reminiscing about the time they were in the Bellas. Even though they've only been out of college for 4 years it felt like a completely different lifetime since things are so much more different now.
It wasn't long later they got into their pyjamas and sat on Beca's bed while watching a random tv show that was playing. Chloe glances over at the dresser and sees the photo that has the paper tucked into the corner instantly. She instantly begins wondering what is on this paper again. She lets out a sigh.
"You okay?" Beca asks.
"Yeah I'm fine," Chloe says. Beca instantly can tell the slight hesitation and unfocused tone in her voice. She knew that something was wrong.
"What's wrong?" Beca questions as she turns the tv off.
"It's nothing," Chloe answers. She looks over at Beca to see the facial expression she had on her face. She wasn't convinced. "I'm thinking about what happens after I go back to New York."
Beca furrows her eyebrows in confusion. "What do you mean?"
"Are we going to go back to how things were before I came here?" Chloe questions.
"I don't want that to be the case," Beca replies as she watches Chloe sit up.
"We never talked about what you admitted that night," Chloe says.
"I didn't think we needed to do so," Beca tells her.
"Why wouldn't we?" Chloe questions her as she stares Beca down.
"Because that was like 2 years ago Chlo," Beca replies as she stares at her in confusion.
"Why did you admit that to me that night?" Chloe asks.
"You asked me why I felt so against you and Chicago moving in together, and I told you. I didn't necessarily want to do that," Beca replies.
"Why didn't you tell me beforehand?" Chloe says clearly wanting a clear answer.
"Because I was afraid of rejection. Besides it was a weird time in our lives. We were literally in what would be considered a quarter life crisis," Beca pauses to take a deep breath. She was starting to get frustrated with the woman who was sitting on her bed next to her. "And I was right to be afraid of rejection because you rejected me."
"What did you just expect me to drop Chicago because you admitted that you had feelings for me?" Chloe asks with clear anger in her tone.
"No I didn't. I knew you wouldn't. And that killed me everyday since I saw you kiss him right after my performance on the USO tour," Beca explains to the redhead. Beca hasn't felt this angry with Chloe since senior year when the got in the spat at Aubrey's camp.
"I don't understand why you would be upset about that. I wasn't aware of how you felt," Chloe tells her.
"Maybe it's because I was looking for you that night!" Beca exclaims.
"What do you mean?" Chloe furrows her eyebrows in confusion.
"I was going to kiss you that night. I walked outside to find you. However by the time I found you, you and Chicago were playing tonsil hockey," Beca says. She stands up and walks over to the dresser. She pulls the paper out of the corner of the picture frame. "You have no idea what it felt like that night and the day we got into the argument about why you and Chicago shouldn't of moved in together."
"What the hell do you mean I don't know what it felt like? I literally dealt with you constantly rejecting me, and I had to watch you be with Jesse for like 5 to 6 years. I gave up on you Beca, so I moved on. Not that long later I met Chicago," Chloe responds.
"You seriously had feelings for me that long?" Beca asks. Chloe nods as a response. "I thought that was just you being your usual flirty and weird self."
"Well you were wrong," Chloe tells her. Beca sighs. Beca unfolds the piece of paper and takes a deep breath when she can see the words that are presented on it. "What is that?" Chloe asks.
"It was an apology letter I wrote a few months after we got into the argument on the phone. I told myself that maybe one day I would eventually send it to you either through mail, text, or tell you on the phone or in person," Beca replies.
She hands the paper to Chloe. The redhead sighs as she looks down at it. She decides that she doesn't want to read it. She knows that Beca is sorry. She also knows that Beca is her best friend. Chloe reaches over and sets it on the nightstand. Beca furrows her eyebrows in confusion.
"You didn't mention the letter because you said it that this whole thing was 2 years ago. Do you not feel the same way about me?" Chloe questions Beca.
"Before you came here, I probably could've told you that I didn't feel the same because I haven't talked to you in so long. However now after spending the past several days with you. I say yeah I do have the same feelings for you as I did 2 years ago," Beca replies as she watches Chloe stand up and walk over to her.
"I want you to be completely honest with me," Chloe pauses. "Because I'm not going to jump into this, into us, unless you tell me the truth. I don't want to end up hurt again. Don't do any of this unless you mean in it."
Beca nods. "I'm telling the truth. You know that I'm weird about the whole feelings thing, so I don't really know how to you know word things. If I was lying to you, I wouldn't be this awkward about it," Beca explains to Chloe.
"Well then, I want this. I want you. I want us. All you have to do is agree," Chloe confesses to the brunette.
"I want that too," Beca answers. A smile appears on Chloe's face. Chloe takes a few steps towards Beca. The redhead leans in and places her lips on the other woman's. The kiss is slow and passionate. Chloe moves one hand to the small of the brunette's back and the other to her shoulder. Beca wraps one of her arms around Chloe's neck to deepen the kiss.
At that moment of time they couldn't care less about anything else. They're main focus was on one another. They weren't afraid of the future. They knew that no matter what they ran into they will work through it together.