When Chloe steps out into the warm Miami night, she smiles to herself. She loves the feeling of the heat. The wind feels as a warm blanket slipping around her and the sunset looks like a Claude Monet. It warms her on the inside as much as the actual heat does on the outside. She takes a cab to her suite in Bay Harbour and tries to settle down and relax a bit. It is late in the evening and her flight back is scheduled for Thursday morning, so she wants to make the best of her two days here. Beca's flight arrives Tuesday morning, and her gig will be at Story from about 11PM till 2AM. It's a gig in a series of upcoming new and inventive DJs. It happened every year in Miami, which had let to famous DJs as Diplo, Tiësto and David Guetta. It's always an honor and a promising move when you get invited to the festival. It draws millions of visitors form all over the world, which included the previous mentioned DJs. They come to the concerts to look for new sounds to collaborate with. Martin Garrix, for example, also DJ'd there. So, knowing Beca, she's too nervous to really do anything on Tuesday, before the gig.

The redhead remembers how Beca would tense up before performances. She would always pinch the bridge on her nose with one hand, and tap her thumb against the fingers of the other hand in a rhythm, starting with her pinky and going back up and down. And she would shut others out. It didn't take Chloe long to recognize the signs and it took her even less time to respond to them in the right way. She let Beca be, let her in her own bubble, but she would occasionally put her hand on her shoulder and squeeze. And Beca always accepted that. She would tilt her head to the side of Chloe's hand every so often, while blowing out a rush of air and closing her eyes. It brought her back to the here and now of that moment, and it grounded her. Reminded her that she wasn't alone and she wasn't the only person responsible for all that had happened and all that was about to happen. And she kept onto that when they lost. Beca would say it was team effort and that they had, all together, messed up. There never was one person to blame, also not when Fat Amy showed her vagina to the world. Beca kept saying it was unintentional and unplanned, and therefore a mistake. Which everyone makes, and which everyone, yet no one, could have done something about. And she also kept up the team effort when they won. Beca never drew the attention to her, always emphasized the importance of having it done together. That it was a everyone's contribution. And Chloe had admired that. Still does. And she wonders how Beca deals with the fame now. When she kind of is the only person she can both thank and blame for anything that happens in her life. The redhead knows Beca makes her own decisions and that she is capable of that. But she wishes she would have been there for some of her victories. But at a certain point she had found it too awkward to text Beca again. She had sent so many messages, all left unanswered. Or answered with a simple "Thanks :)". She never received texts back anymore. Or at least, not the texts that she wanted to receive. Never a sincere question about her life, only superficial and simplistic combinations of short words. But every time Beca had something important, and Chloe knew each and every time that was, she'd wished she was able to put her hand on the brunette's shoulder. To give it an ever so light squeeze. To remind her that it was all okay, that she could do it, and that she was going to be okay. And she had replaced her squeezing hand with text messages, had tried to, until they got unanswered. She saw the clock tick by with her phone in her hand every time Beca had something important. Without sending a text. Her feelings had been all over the place during those times. She hated herself for being childish and not just sending the simple text. She felt sad that Beca had apparently found it a better idea to let their friendship go. She was mad, furious even, about Beca ignoring her. Couldn't get her head to it that the DJ would be so selfish. And then she would feel sad again, because she knows Beca isn't selfish. And she knows something must have happened that made Beca think that this was the better way out.

"Okay, so my flight arrives at 1PM. I have to be go to my hotel real quick and change and stuff, but would you like to meet up around 5ish? I don't have to set up till 10, so we can like hang out till about then. Or shorter. I don't know, just let me know okay? Cool"

Beca sends the text right before boarding. She had to get up way too early this morning for this flight, which she had rebooked so she would arrive in Miami a bit earlier to see Chloe a little longer. She's a tad cranky about some kids playing around but she tries not to bother too much. Knows it's a waste of energy and that the kids are just having fun. She likes kids, not annoying ones, but she likes to see kids happy and see them make their parents happy. She wants kids herself, someday. Not just yet though. Sometimes she wishes she could perform for a group of young children. She would love to see them go out and about without a care in the world. But, you know, her audience is a bit older. Just a tad though, not too much. They also sometimes have some helping supplements to get them to go out and about without a care in the world. Which she doesn't like, because it takes away the actual sensing and feeling of the music. But that is, unfortunately, a side of the music business she has learned to deal with. She, thus, instead focuses on some more sober people. People who are aware of her, of their surroundings, and the rhythm and story of the music. She had met some nice people through it, because especially during her start-up years she would hang out in the club for a bit to chill and meet some strangers. To get to know the city she was in, the culture she found herself in. One of her bigger goals is still to perform overseas, outside of America. She wants to discover Europe. Sziget, Melt and DGTL are some stages she dreams of. But she knows there is work to be done to get there. Of which this performance in Miami is a very good start. So, after boarding the plane, she takes her pillow and lowers her chair to go for a good four hour nap.

The heat hits her. Like a slap in the face with a chair from yours truly, the Hulk. She is, of course, used to heat. She lives in LA for God's sake. But this is a different kind of heat. LA is broody, warm form bodies, from heat reflecting off of roads. This heat is straight from the almighty star. And it burns her immediately. Of course she also didn't think longer than 2 seconds about what she was going to wear, so here she was standing in Miami, at 1PM with black jeans, a black shirt and a green jacket. And a suitcase. Fortunately, the Story Club owns the same mixing table she uses, so she didn't have to go through the hassle of getting hers over to the sunny southside. She never really likes having to do that, because it entails showing off her status. And she doesn't like that. She preferred being more lowkey, not bashing about her success. So this was the best possible solution to that. A good start is half the battle, and she hopes that covers the whole duration of her trip. Not that she saw this trip as a battle, she doesn't think seeing Chloe is a battle, but she knows there might be a few bumps along the road. Knowing Chloe, the redhead will ask her about why she had ignored her. And Chloe doesn't lie about her feelings and will tell Beca about how it had made her feel. And Beca knows that that is not going to be easy to hear and endure. But she has to. And Beca wants to justify her behavior. Even if she doesn't know how. Thinking of Chloe makes her realize that she had flicked the redhead a message and that she hasn't yet turned her phone back on. Once she does, she sees the reply.

I have some stuff to do as well so 5 is fine :) I was also thinking we could go for dinner together? If you have time, at least

She thinks about that for a bit. She doesn't really have a ritual when it comes to preparing for a performance, but she does like to take her time and be alone for a while to get to the right mindset. Or she doesn't like to, she has to. One time her manager Jimmy had walked into her changing room to ask a quick question when she was just getting ready for a gig. She had gotten annoyed but had answered the question. But he didn't go away, he had just kept on standing in her room, trying to make small talk when she was very obviously not into it. So she had let out a small -for her scale it was small at least- burst of annoyance at him. Just teeny tiny ("get the hell out of my room Jimmy or I'll make sure your whole bedroom and bed are full of Legos and you step on them for weeks"). And he hadn't talked to her before a gig for a solid two months. But aside from needing her alone time she was didn't have a ritual or habit. And she can make an exception for Chloe. Knows she will without a doubt in her mind. Plus she actually has enough time. And she would like to go for dinner. She thinks about the time frame a bit more, thinks about spending five hours with Chloe in one sitting. And it's not about Chloe, it's about her. She can't remember the last time she was with a friend for five hours without watching a two hour movie in between so they didn't have to talk all the time. But on the other hand, they do have a lot to catch up on.

Yeah, sounds good. What's a good place to meet? I'm staying at Moderno by Bay Breeze

She knows that Chloe's suite is right around that corner, but she doesn't mention it. She doesn't want to come across as a creep. She has some sort of reputation to uphold, she hopes.

Awesome, that's around the corner! I'll just pick you up :)

Alright, c u soon"

And that's that. Now she has a few hours mentally prepare and pick out some clothes for the dinner and the gig. Luckily, she was kind of prepared for this. After she had gone through her closet a million times and finally settling on something she still wasn't too happy about, the brunette had thrown a dark blue, suede dress into her suitcase with a heavy sigh. Having taken too much time for that, Beca ran her hands through her shirts and simply picked out a white one, didn't bother folding it and threw it in the suitcase as well, along with her worn down black jeans, basically her go to outfit for most of her gigs. So that was quite an easy pick. The dark blue dress remembers her of one of her more intimate nights with Chloe. Beca's mind shifts back to that particular night, and even though she doesn't remember all of it, she remembers the important parts. Because they had had a party, but her and Chloe both weren't too drunk to blame their loose lips on the amount of alcohol they had consumed. They had lied in her bed together after having enough of the dancing and screaming, and Amy was long gone as well, accompanied with one of her flings. Beca and Chloe had talked about graduation and leaving. The brunette had already booked her flights to LA, and Chloe already had the majority of her master degree planned out. Their paths were already separating, even when they were still together and they had both felt it. Chloe, of course, broke the ice. They were facing each other, and the redhead had brought her hand up to Beca's cheek, sliding her finger against her jaw.

"I'll miss you, Beca,". It was a quiet whisper, against Beca's forehead. Beca had opened her mouth, closed it again, and closed her eyes with it. She didn't want to say it back, because that wouldn't do her feelings any justice. Because she would miss the redhead more than she wanted to admit. To herself and to Chloe. That would be too much, and she was afraid that either she or Chloe would have changed their plans. Because Beca knew that they only had to say it to each other, commit to their strange friendship which sometimes felt as more than a friendship. Which she had wanted to be more than a friendship. And if they had done that, things would have been very different now. Most likely. So instead of telling her she would miss her too, Beca had, after too many heartbeats of silence, kissed her. And they had kissed before, of course. They were in a sorority, in which kissing each other happened quite often. But those kisses mainly came from dares, from 'would you rathers'. Those kisses were blamed on the alcohol. And that had always been fine. Wasn't something they needed to talk about, because they were drunk at the moment of happening. Often when Beca and Chloe had kissed, 5 minutes later Jessica and Ashley would be kissing, or Stacie and Aubrey. It never meant something. But the kiss they had shared in her bed was different, in a way. It had been sincere, not totally but closer to sober than others, and more reserved, yet more intimate than any of the other kisses. But it had also been the same. Because it wasn't awkward, it wasn't weird. It happened. And they also, like the drunk kisses, hadn't talked about it again. Which was fine, because Beca was moving out in 3 weeks anyway. But it also very much wasn't fine, because even though they didn't talk about it, it wasn't as if it didn't happen. Chloe became more distant, as if the brunette was already gone. The redhead hadn't ignored her -wouldn't have been able to even if she wanted to, living together and all-, but she had… cared less. Not just about Beca, but about all the Belllas. She was in her room more often, was quieter. And it didn't go unnoticed. Stacie had asked the redhead what was wrong, to which she always replied "just busy, you know. Already studying new books while moving out and all". And that excuse was accepted. It was a logical excuse. But Beca knew that Chloe would never start three weeks up front with moving out. Maybe she was studying, yes, but she definitely hadn't started packing yet. Chloe would only start packing once it was basically too late, she knew that. Because Chloe needed stress to accomplish tasks she didn't really want to do. Tasks like packing. So Beca knew that was a lie, knew that something was wrong. But she hadn't pressed it, had given Chloe the space she apparently needed. They hadn't had any deep conversations in the last few weeks, and the goodbye was more shallow than she had wanted it to be. But the brunette hadn't made a point out of it. And maybe that had been the first crack in their friendship.