Amy unsurprisingly declared her ignorance of the invitation situation when Beca confronted her, stating she assumed they'd added their parents and the Bellas to their list as a joke, or a way to get more free stuff.

There wasn't much Beca could say to that. It wasn't Amy's fault the list was wrong.


Two days later when Beca opened their mailbox, she pulled out one of their returned RSVP cards.

From Glen Hauenstein, the President of Delta Airlines.

"Holy shit." She rushed up the stairs and almost fell through the door in her haste. In the absolute chaos they'd created in their personal lives, she'd forgotten what had started it: one teeny tiny gigantically unethical idea.

"Hey, you," Chloe said with a calm smile over a cup of tea.

Beca held up the envelope. "Someone replied."

"Oh, my God! Who?" Chloe set down her cup and rushed to join Beca still standing barely inside the door.

"Delta."

"Shut UP!" Chloe said with a shove to Beca's shoulder. It was so hard it actually threw Beca against the door. "Sorry. Let's open it," she said as she snatched the envelope out of Beca's hand and ripped open its seal. She pulled out the RSVP card. "Glen regrets to inform us that he cannot attend," Chloe said with a grin as she waved the card in front of Beca's face.

"Oh, thank God," Beca said with a sigh of relief.

"Wait; there's something else in here." Chloe reached back into the envelope to pull out what looked like a blue credit card. "Beca…"

"What? What is it?"

"It's a five thousand dollar Delta gift card."

Beca dropped her purse. "What?!" She grabbed the card out of Chloe's hand and flipped it over. Surely, it had to be fifty dollars, or maybe five hundred, but… "Holy shit. Holy shit!" She threw it across the room like it was on fire.

"No! Don't lose it!" Chloe chased after it and found it where it had slid under the edge of their bed.

"We can't keep that, Chloe!"

"Well, it's not like we can send it back!"

"Yes, we can!" Beca said, clapping with each word to make her point. "That was the plan. We can send something back with the sad news of our break-up and it's all fixed!"

"He runs the airline, baby. It's not like this actually cost him anything."

Beca was about to reply when Chloe's statement resonated with her—one word in particular. She grit her teeth. "Fine. I'll think about it."

"Good." Chloe sat down on their bed and kicked her feet excitedly. "And now we know it works!"

Beca rolled her eyes at how fucking cute she was being. She knew this was bad. It was so, so bad. But Chloe liked it. Chloe wanted to pretend to be engaged a little longer and...Beca was good with that. She took off her shoes to cross the room and climb onto the bed and flop into her spot. "I'm pretty sure we're going to hell for this."

Chloe giggled and turned to crawl over until she was dropping down to kiss Beca's cheek. "I'm going anyway. It'll be nice to have you there with me."

Beca felt herself blush at the thoughts that flooded her imagination as to what Chloe could have done to warrant her confidence in her afterlife.

"So, where would we go? If we keep it, I mean."

"Apparently, we're going to Fiji if we don't stop this runaway train."

Chloe shrugged next to her. "I'll take care of it."


More RSVPs trickled in over the next couple of weeks. Cousins and coworkers who could not attend. Parents who would. Bellas who would. CEOs who regretfully couldn't. And it was never the right time to call off the wedding—someone else was going through a break-up, or was sick, or a mom had a bad day at work.

There was always a reason. The one time Chloe couldn't come up with one, Beca blurted some lie about her dad and Sheila starting couples therapy that day so they absolutely could not do it then.

Their fake wedding was two weeks away and neither of them had figured out how to call it off.

It was Saturday afternoon when someone buzzed their door.

"UPS!" crackled through when Beca asked who it was and she buzzed them up.

"What did you order?" she said when she dropped the delivered Amazon box onto the bed where Chloe sat.

"Nothing." She looked up at Beca and Beca knew what she was thinking. "Get the scissors; let's open it!"

Beca rushed to grab them from the drawer and returned to slice the tape. She let Chloe pop the sides open and pull out a rectangular package wrapped in white and silver paper. There was a slip of paper with it and she read, "To Chloe and Beca. May you live happily ever after. I'm so sorry I cannot make it to your special day, but I will be with you in spirit. Never stop singing your love to each other. Congratulations. Love, Mrs. Higgins. Oh, my God, Mrs. Higgins!" she added with a squeal. "Should we open it? Or should we wait until after the wedding?"

"Chloe," Beca said slowly. "There's not going to be a wedding. Remember?"

"Oh, right. I didn't mean...nevermind. So should we open it?"

Beca sighed and sank onto the bed. This ruse was taking a serious toll on her morals even if it was pervertedly fun and exciting. "I guess?"

Chloe tore into the paper with another squeal to reveal the set of eight hundred-thread count navy blue Egyptian cotton sheets from their registry. "Oh, heck yes!" she said with a grin as she tossed the package in the air. "I'm going to go wash these and they're going on our bed tonight."

Beca expected to have a fitful rest when she slid into the luxuriously silky sheets that they basically stole. But when Chloe slid up behind her and draped her arm over her waist while she kissed Beca's shoulder, she forgot, at least for a little bit, that what they were doing was wrong.

Because something about it all felt so right.


"Remember how you were going to call off the wedding?" Beca asked as she zipped her suitcase while sipping from her fresh cup of coffee thanks to her new Keurig. They'd be in a cab to the airport in the next fifteen minutes for a two-week trip to Fiji, courtesy Delta Airlines and the Mitchell and Beale families.

Somehow an entire wedding got planned without either of them having to lift a finger (thanks, Aubrey), everything from rehearsal to dinner to the photographer to the ceremony and reception and the week-long honeymoon that the Bellas all chipped in for: a private bungalow on a neighboring island away from their guests.

"Yeah, you two are a regular Bonnie and...Bonnie," Amy said as she sat on her suitcase and waved Beca over to zip it.

"Thanks again for your help, Ames."

"Don't mention it."

She watched Chloe double-check the garment bag that contained their dresses. Beca didn't even remember how it happened; one afternoon they were drinking white wine and suddenly they were in Macy's picking out dresses suitable for an island wedding. "I will. But let's get to Fiji first. We'll announce it at the rehearsal dinner and then we can run off and do our own thing for the rest of the trip."

"I seriously can't believe we're doing this. What is wrong with us?" Beca asked as she shoved her various chargers into her carry-on and made sure her passport was in her purse.

"We're seizing the day." Chloe swatted her ass with her own passport before putting it away and opening the door. "Let's go get married."

"We're not getting married!" Beca had to say it for herself as much as for Chloe, it seemed. And that was a little...confusing for Beca.

"You know what I mean. Now, let's go!"


Twenty hours on an airplane was a lot, even with two stops along the way. The longest break was in Los Angeles and that was after a paltry six-and-a-half hour flight. Beca didn't even need to stretch her legs yet.

It wasn't all bad, though.

It was nice being upgraded to First Class when they checked in. They'd done it at a self-serve kiosk only for it to send them to the counter. The agent informed them that as a guest of the airline, they would be upgraded. Chloe had looked at Beca with such shock that Beca had to be the one to thank the agent and take their new boarding passes for seats 3A and 3B.

"Uh, excuse me? What just happened?" Amy asked from where she waited behind them.

"We got bumped to First Class," Beca said, still feeling woozy from it. "I guess because we booked the tickets with the gift card? Whatever; let's go before they change their mind."

"You bitches," Amy grumbled. "You better bring a hot towel back to me in steerage."

It was nice to not have to sit sandwiched between Chloe and Amy for twenty hours. It was nice to hear Chloe tell the flight attendant they were wedding-bound, even if it was just a ploy to get free champagne (which would have been free anyway because they were in First Class, but Chloe seemed tickled to share the information regardless).

It was nice to have Chloe flip the armrest up between them to lean over and snuggle into Beca while they both settled to sleep for as much as the trans-Pacific journey as possible. Beca moved her arm to put it around Chloe's waist so she could pull her in closer. And it was nice.


"Oh, hell no," Beca said when she stepped onto the tarmac in Nadi for their connection to Savusavu and saw what was waiting for them. "That's a fake airplane. Can it even carry our baggage?"

"Well, we all know you have enough emotional baggage for the three of us," Amy said under her breath and Beca ignored her.

"It'll be fine, Becs," Chloe said as she nudged her to start walking toward the plane, which only had six windows along its fuselage.

"I really don't want to die before our fake wedding." She let the man waiting by the door help her up the two steps and into the tiny aircraft. She even had to duck so her head wouldn't hit the ceiling and she yelped when someone grabbed her from behind.

"I promise not to let anything bad happen to you," Chloe said into her ear before kissing her cheek and peeling off to sit.

It was single seating along the sides of the plane which, by Beca's count, could seat twelve people. There were only five aboard: their party of three and what appeared to be a couple based on how affectionate they were being even across the narrow aisle between their seats. Chloe seemed to notice them, too, because she reached across the aisle to find and hold Beca's hand.


Just as Aubrey said would happen, there was a van waiting for them when they landed at Savusavu Airport. Beca wasn't sure how she survived that last leg of the journey between the trying take-off (seriously, it sounded like the engines had asthma) and landing on what amounted to little more than a dirt road. She'd sweat through the back of her tee and it hadn't been that warm on the plane.

"You okay?" Chloe said with amusement as she plucked Beca's shirt from where it clung to her skin while they climbed into the van. "You made it in one piece. Told you I'd take care of you."

"Shut up," she grumbled but couldn't help but smile a little at the way Chloe looped their arms together to sit close. It seemed the other couple from the plane wasn't traveling to their resort and the three of them had the van to themselves.

"Ladies, welcome," their driver said. "My name is James. I'll be taking you out to Koro Sun. Vijay will make sure you are comfortable." He nodded at the man who'd placed their baggage in the back of the van. He was now armed with a tray of rolled white cloths.

"Chilled towel?" he said with a subtle accent as he offered one to Amy with a pair of tongs.

"Ooh, don't mind if I do," she said as she promptly unfurled it and put it under her shirt where Beca knew it was getting tucked under her boobs.

"Yeah, thanks," Beca said after Chloe had accepted hers. She was still working on unrolling it to dab at her face when she hissed at cold landing on the back of her neck.

"You seem to need it more than I do," Chloe whispered as she massaged her neck a little through the cool cloth. "Ooh, drinks!"

Beca blinked out of the daze she'd been put into to find a green coconut with the top cut off and a brightly colored straw and tiny umbrella sticking out of it. "Is there alcohol in that?" she asked as the man prepared to hand one to her.

"No, but I'm happy to add some." He was reaching for a bottle of something dark from a spot next to their seat and pouring before she'd even agreed.

"Thanks," she said when he finally passed it to her. She took a long, long drink. It was amazing. And much-needed.

"Yeah, I'ma need you to hit me up with a spot of that," Amy said, stretching her arm out and waving her coconut in Vijay's face.

"Me, too, please," Chloe said with a polite smile. "Good idea, babe."

Beca shrugged and took another sip. "When in Rome."

"Yeah, Shawshank? I thought Chloe was the one who failed Maps? We're in Fiji. Not Spain."

She rolled her eyes and laughed to herself. She was in Fiji...to not get married.

What the everloving fuck?


"Okay, ladies, here we are! Welcome to Koro Sun Resort."

Beca peered out the dark window of the van. Despite the tint, it was clear they were deeply in paradise. She could tell the water was blue, or maybe even turquoise. There were trees everywhere and if there weren't trees there were beaches. Pure, white sandy beaches.

"Coming through! Ladies first!" Amy announced as soon as Vijay opened their door. Beca watched her march toward what appeared to be the main entrance.

"After you," Beca said with a nod to Chloe.

"Oh, wow," Chloe said once she was standing outside the van. "Becs, hurry up." She reached back and took Beca's hand to pull her out. "Look at this."

"Oh...wow," Beca echoed. It was...beyond anything she could imagine. It smelled like rain and flowers and the sea and the only things she could hear were the breeze, birds, and what sounded like a waterfall. She felt Chloe's arm around her waist.

"This is so romantic," Chloe said quietly. "Come on; let's go check in. I want to see our room. Aubrey said it's an 'Edgewater Villa.'"


True to its name, their private villa was situated against the edge of a lagoon inset from the ocean. They had to get to the front door via a footbridge over a private pool through a garden.

"Okay, I'm here for this," Beca said as she made her way through the house. It was epically luxurious without crossing the line into tacky territory. Everything felt organic, made from stone and woven plant fibers with windows everywhere to remind them they were surrounded on three sides by water (the fourth was curtained by the rainforest).

Chloe stopped in the kitchen to see what was stocked for them in the refrigerator so Beca kept going until she found a bedroom.

"Oh...right," she said to herself as she dropped her carry-on on a chair.

"What's wrong?" Chloe said from behind her before joining her in the center of the room.

"Nothing," Beca said quickly. "I just...nevermind. It's dumb."

Chloe ran her fingers up Beca's back to make her scrunch up her shoulders. "I'm sure it's not dumb. Tell me."

Beca sighed and gestured at the singular king-sized bed. "I was just surprised is all."

Chloe smiled and gave her a tug toward the bed. "What—because there's only one bed? Did you forget we sleep with each other every night? Don't get shy on me now."

"No," Beca mumbled. Her face felt hot at Chloe's choice of words. She let Chloe pull her along until they were both crawling up the bed to flop on their backs to try it out.

"See?" Chloe reached her arm out across the ample space between them. "Way more room than our bed at home. And comfier," she added as she wriggled around until she was basically wrapped around Beca to defeat her own point of having more space. "Besides, we're getting married." Chloe poked Beca's cheek and then kissed it. "It's a little late to not want to sleep with me."

"We're not getting married." Beca turned her head and looked down her nose at the bright eyes and giddy smile looking back at her and she shook her head. "What am I going to do with you?"

"Mm, anything you want," Chloe said before kissing her cheek again and then leaping off the bed. "C'mon! There's a ladder right off our balcony that takes us down to the water! We need to go swimming!"

Beca cleared her throat and sat up to watch Chloe throw open one of her suitcases and pull out a white bikini and start stripping right there in plain sight. "Yeah, I just…" She gawked when Chloe's bra came off despite her back being turned toward Beca and having seen it a thousand times already. "I just need a minute after that flight."


"Should we be concerned we haven't seen Amy since we got here?" Beca asked as she combed out her wet hair.

Chloe's own wet hair thwacked her arm as she flipped it over to put some type of product in it. They were wearing matching white bathrobes fresh from their showers. "She probably has a new boyfriend fanning her with palm fronds in her private courtyard. I wouldn't worry about her."

Beca snorted and reached for her moisturizer. "So what's the deal—do we need to make reservations for dinner? I don't want to have to wait for a table. I'm fucking tired. What time is it at home?"

"We're eighteen hours behind New York."

She glanced at a clock on the wall of the ensuite bathroom and did the math. "So, midnight. Cool."

"I know; I'm tired, too. But we have to hold out as long as we can to get switched over. I don't want to be jet-lagged all week when we only have two weeks here." Chloe's hair whipped her again as she straightened.

"So, reservations?" Beca reminded as she watched Chloe get the part in her hair straight.

"Oh! No, we don't need to make reservations. Bree said we get VIP treatment because of our wedding."

"Right." Beca looked at their reflections in the wide mirror and Chloe smiled at her through it. She wondered for the umpteenth time how they let this charade get this far. But they were there, so she decided to make the most of it while it lasted. "I'm not going to blow-out my hair. Or put on makeup tonight," she said as though declaring world peace. "We don't know anyone here, so fuck it."

Chloe laughed and bumped her hip with her own. "You don't need it anyway."

Beca blushed and reached for her eyeliner as she leaned in toward the mirror.

"You just said you aren't wearing makeup tonight."

She paused and looked at Chloe through the mirror again. "This doesn't count."

Chloe just shook her head at her and turned to leave. "I'm going to get dressed. Meet me out front."

"Sure." She watched Chloe walk away for a second too long because she saw her drop her robe right before she was completely out of sight in their bedroom. It made her hand too unsteady to get her eyeliner on straight so she tossed it back in her bag. "Fuck it."


Once again as Aubrey had promised, they were treated as honored guests as soon as Beca gave the maître d′ her name. Dinner was exquisite, a three-course meal that Beca could only assume was locally sourced.

They were strolling along a path, going opposite the way they came so they could explore a little when the thumping rhythm of bass started mixing with the natural sounds of the environment.

"Do you hear that?" Chloe asked just as Beca noticed it.

"Yeah. It sounds like it's ahead of us. Let's check it out."

They kept walking until they found the source: the resort's nightclub. "Ooh, a bar! C'mon, I need something fruity with an umbrella in it," Chloe said with a mischievous smile as she grabbed Beca's hand to head toward the club.

They were carded at the door—probably Beca's fault—but as soon as Chloe showed her ID they were both waved through with enthusiastic greetings and shown to a small high-top table marked with a Reserved sign and a waiter descended upon them before they'd even finished hopping onto their stools.

"Welcome to Latitude 17, ladies," a handsome man wearing a tropical flower-covered shirt said as he placed a pair of napkins on the table. "Congratulations on your upcoming nuptials. We're so happy you chose to spend it with us."

"Thank you!" Chloe said. "So are we!"

Beca held her tongue; there was no need to tell this stranger they weren't going to go through with it.

"Would you like something to drink?"

"Something tropical," Chloe answered. "And strong."

"Me, too," Beca added. "And make sure hers has a tiny umbrella in it. Please."

"Of course," he said with a nod before disappearing toward the bar.

"Okay, I could get used to this," Chloe said as her hand patted Beca's knee.

Beca noticed she didn't remove it once the patting stopped. She hoped their drinks would arrive as quickly as they were seated. "Yeah, same." She looked around the bar and its tropical theme, hibiscus and greenery everywhere, even hanging from the DJ booth on the other side of the room. It was perfect, and being treated like royalty wasn't too shabby either. "Is this the only bar in the place I wonder?"

"I haven't looked at the map yet, so I don't know. Why?"

"Because Amy's not here, so there must be another," she said with a smile and it sent Chloe into a fit of giggles. "Okay, calm down. You're not even drinking yet; it wasn't that funny." She's not quite sure why she would ever tell Chloe to stop laughing; she looked beautiful when she laughed.

"Maybe she's not finished with her new boyfriend yet. Ooh!"

Beca turned at Chloe's excitement to see their waiter returning with two fancy and fruity-looking pink drinks in hand. They both had tiny umbrellas and wedges of pineapple on the rims.

"Mai tais for the lovely ladies in love," he said with a grand smile as he placed the glasses on the table. "Enjoy."

"Thanks!" Chloe said as she picked hers up right away. "What should we toast to?"

Beca was slow to respond, still hearing the waiter's words pinballing around in her brain. "Um," she said as she picked up her drink and turned to face Chloe. She hoped her undue nerves weren't obvious.

"I know! To you," Chloe said before tapping her glass to Beca's.

"Why me?" she asked before Chloe got the straw to her lips.

Chloe smiled at her. "Because we wouldn't be here if not for you."

"Don't remind me," Beca said as she rolled her eyes. The guilt came in waves and she felt it rolling in.

"No, no. Stop it," Chloe said firmly. "We're in this amazing place and I wouldn't change it for the world. We'll deal with our little...situation when the time comes. Let's just enjoy this while we can, okay?" She punctuated her request with her sad puppy eyes and as usual, it rendered Beca helpless in arguing.

She felt a smile tug at her lips and it made Chloe's grow until they were grinning at each other. "Fine!" she said. "To me!"

They tapped their glasses again and drank, both wincing at the same time.

"Okay, when I said strong…" Chloe said with a strained voice.

Beca coughed. "They listened." It burned. And it was delicious. "Here," she said as she plucked the paper umbrella out of her glass to drop it into Chloe's. "Since you love them so much."

Chloe squealed at the addition and took another long sip. "Hurry up and drink that. I want to dance."

Beca just laughed and shook her head. "Of course you do. And I'm trying! This isn't really something I can chug."

Chloe cocked an eyebrow at her.

Her heart sank to her feet. "Chlo—no. That's not—no."

"On the count of three! One—"

It was Chloe's favorite thing. Challenge Beca to a drinking contest. She figured out the little game years ago for the sole purpose of getting Beca drunker, but Beca participated in it nonetheless because competition ran in their blood. "No, I can't, I'm not even drunk yet—"

"Two—"

"I wasn't—"

"Three!"

"No! Baby, I wasn't trying to—shit!" She threw the straw out of her glass to bring it to her lips and start. It burned and made her eyes water and when she slammed her glass down as carefully and victoriously as she could, saw that Chloe hadn't even started. She was just staring at her over her untouched glass. "What happened?" Beca said with a laugh. "I'm not the only one getting drunk tonight. Go!"

Chloe's eyelashes fluttered and then she was drinking until there was nothing but ice in her glass. Her face was flushed when she set it down. "Okay. Come dance." Chloe grabbed Beca's hand to drag her off her stool and toward the dance floor.

It wasn't like Beca was resisting, though; she just wasn't as quick as Chloe off her seat so she ended up being dragged along trying to catch up until Chloe finally stopped in the middle of the semi-crowded dance floor and turned around to face her, already moving to the beat. Beca didn't know the song but it had a smooth house beat that wasn't too fast for her liking. It was easy to slide into the rhythm and soon they were dancing in sync.

She and Chloe had spent countless hours on dance floors together over the years. Dancing with Chloe was as natural as breathing for Beca, though it had taken most of their first year as friends to reach that point.

Now she had no hesitations about reaching out and pulling Chloe against her after she'd turned her back to Beca. Her blood was warm and watching Chloe's hips in her tight white capris wasn't helping the matter so she decided to own it and wrap her arm around Chloe's waist while their hips rocked together.

Chloe glanced over her shoulder at the contact and Beca could tell she was warm, too. The alcohol was probably starting to work its magic on her as well, Beca figured, as she winked at Chloe.

She wasn't really trying to convey anything with it. Nothing more than a message that she was having fun. But it seemed to translate a little differently for Chloe because suddenly she was turning in Beca's hold to drape an arm over Beca's shoulder while the other wrapped around her waist to pull their bodies even closer.

They were close enough that Beca could smell the rum on her breath. It felt infinitely hotter on the dance floor and she was sure Chloe could feel the way her lower back was sweating through the thin material of her tank top. She was grateful she had opted for shorts because she was sure she'd be dead if she'd worn jeans.

She was also sure she should be dead from how intensely Chloe was looking at her. They were just dancing; there was no need for her to make that much eye contact. Yet, she was, and Beca wasn't sure her heart was up to the task of dealing with it. It was really being put through its paces with how Chloe's gaze kept drifting to what Beca thought might be her lips, though it was equally possible she was looking at, like, her chin. Or her cleavage, which Beca knew was readily visible in the low scoop neck of her top. She knew if she glanced down, she'd have a good view of Chloe's, too, thanks to her halter top.

She pulled away as soon as the thought crossed her mind. "I need another drink!" she explained when Chloe looked at her questioningly. She was desperate for space but she didn't get much; Chloe grabbed her hand to follow her off the floor and back to their table. Beca didn't sit and neither did Chloe; instead, Chloe stood impossibly close to her until Beca had to tug her hand out of Chloe's grip to sling her arm around her waist instead.

That seemed to make Chloe happy and she did the same, her fingers tucked into the front pocket of Beca's denim shorts.

"Where's our guy?" Beca asked as she looked around the room to get her brain and body to cool off.

"There he is!" Chloe said as she hopped a little and waved him down. They had fresh mai tais in short-order.

"I'm not chugging this one," Beca said as she picked up her glass.

"Wait!" Chloe said before she could take a drink. "We have to make a toast."

"We already made a toast," Beca said as she tried to angle herself so she could look at Chloe without being an inch from her face. "To me, remember?"

"That was my toast." She felt fingers walk up her back and then glide down to hold her waist again. "It's your turn."

Beca just shook her head. She wasn't going to argue it. "Okay, fine. To us." She smiled and tapped her glass to Chloe's and drank. She watched Chloe take a sip, too, on a delay again just as she had been when they were supposed to race.

She didn't think too hard about why that was.

That was a hopeless path of pain to travel down.

Instead, she focused on how nice it was to be able to hold Chloe as she was and how Chloe was holding her the same way and allowed herself to indulge just a little bit in the fantasy they'd created for themselves. That she was at an island resort with her fiancée set to be married in two short days and—

She grabbed Chloe's hand from around her waist and pulled it up to the table between them. "A ring!"

"What?"

"You don't have an engagement ring!" She slapped her own left hand on the table, foregoing her hold on Chloe to do so. "Neither do I! If you proposed to me, I should have a ring. And so should you! I wouldn't not give you a ring. People are going to expect to see them. They're always obsessed with engagement rings."

"We'll just tell them we left them at home to not risk losing them."

"No!" Beca said. It was loud enough that she saw Chloe flinch. "No," she tried again. "We're going to take the shuttle into town first thing in the morning before everyone shows up and we're going to get engagement rings."

Chloe's hand turned to interlace with Beca's. "That's really sweet, but I don't really have money for an engagement ring."

"We'll get fake ones. Or some kind of local thing and we'll tell people we waited until we were here to get something to remember this by." She watched Chloe's face soften until it looked like she was maybe going to cry. "Dude, what?"

Chloe laughed a little and shook her head as she cradled Beca's cheek with her free hand for a second. "You're really a romantic, aren't you."

"What? No," Beca said, offended for some reason as she tried to crane her neck away from the touch that felt like heaven.

"Yes, you are," Chloe said firmly before leaning in to kiss Beca's cheek. She seemed to hesitate before pulling back and Beca's heart stopped. Then she moved in to kiss her again, this time close enough to the corner of Beca's mouth to make her head swim. "Let's finish our drinks so we can go to bed if we have to be up early to go ring shopping."

"Yeah," Beca croaked. "Okay."


Beca fell asleep easily, sole credit to the jetlag.

But she woke up two hours later thinking it was time to get up for work only to check her phone to see that it was barely 1:00 am. Any other normal morning at home, she'd have rolled over and fallen right back asleep instead of getting up. But now her brain was awake on New York time and thinking about all the things that happened on their first day on the island.

Chloe changing into her bathing suit. Seeing Chloe drop her robe. Dinner and everyone treating them to the pinnacle of romance. The club. The way Chloe had looked at her, had danced with her, had almost kissed her. Well, she had kissed her, but it was an almost kiss. And the way Chloe had looked at her when she was blathering on and on about rings.

"Can't sleep?" Chloe murmured next to her.

Her body must have been as restless as her mind. "I'm usually getting up for work right now." She felt the bed shift and then Chloe's arm slid around her middle, high enough that Beca had to stop the choking sound from escaping her throat because Chloe's forearm was definitely touching Beca's boobs. It was probably an accident, just a miscalculation of an angle, but Chloe didn't correct it.

She felt lips against her bare shoulder next to the strap of her pajama tank and tried not to shiver. "Pretend you get to sleep in."

"Trying," she said with a sigh as she tried to clear her mind of everything yammering in her head.

"Nervous about seeing everybody tomorrow?"

She hadn't been, but now that Chloe brought it up… "Yeah."

Chloe squeezed her a little and the motion pushed her arm even more against her boobs. "It'll be okay. We just have to act like we're in love."

Beca sighed but managed to smile a little into the darkness. "I don't know how good at that I'll be," she said, knowing full well she was absolutely head over heels in love with Chloe and no acting would be necessary. She'd been acting like she wasn't in love with her for years. It would come as a relief to not have to be in a constant mode of restraint. She could take her hand if she wanted, or hug her, or fetch her a fresh drink, or fix an errant lock of hair without raising suspicion.

Chloe chuckled behind her and gave her arm a wiggle. Beca knew it was only meant to jostle her but it scraped right up and over her barely clothed nipples and she shoved her face into her pillow to muffle her gasp.

"I'm pretty sure we know how to act like we're in love."

"Mhm," Beca choked out.

"You know," Chloe continued and Beca wished more than anything she was narcoleptic so she wouldn't have to endure it any longer. Her arm started withdrawing and the relief it provided was short-lived because instead of her arm, Chloe's hand rested on Beca's stomach. It moved back and forth slowly and Beca wanted to scream. It wasn't fair, and it was also wrong. She was getting painfully turned on when all Chloe was doing was being her usual touchy self. "People are going to expect us to kiss."

Beca hadn't considered that detail in the grand scheme of their scheme. The concept sucked every molecule of oxygen from her lungs. She tried to say, "Oh?" but it came out more like the squawk of one of the parrots she could hear in the trees behind their villa over the sound of the rain. She could feel Chloe's breath on her shoulder and she twisted her pillow in her fist. It was pure agony.

"Mhm."

She had to clear her throat because trying to speak failed the first time. "We'll...cross that bridge when we get to it." She felt Chloe's lips on her shoulder again and had to stifle a shiver. The torture needed to end, and fast. "I, uh, think I can fall asleep now."

"Okay. G'night."

"Night."

She didn't fall asleep for hours.


To be continued...