A lot of people have been asking me to write an epilogue to the story. I surely thought I can just leave everything at Chapter 13, but well, I missed writing this series. So... this is it... It's not as good as the regular chapters though... (I'm really experiencing a writer's block right now and it sucks! Plus, I only had an hour to finish this so...) I'm sorry in advance :( But I skipped my scheduled update on my new series, Stolen (make sure to check it out if you haven't) to do this. I wish you get to enjoy this though :)

"But you know, the thing about romance is...people only get together right at the very end." -Sam, Love Actually (2003)

Epilogue

I give my full attention to Beca's mom as she shows me how to do her very own recipe of chicken quesadilla, Beca's favorite. I watch her layer half of each tortilla with the chicken and vegetable mixture, sprinkle cheddar, bacon bits, and Monterey Jack all over, then fold the tortillas in half and place it on a baking sheet. I try to follow afterwards.

"It doesn't necessarily need to be chicken," she instructs me. "Beca will eat anything, trust me. She's just after the melted cheese anyway."

I chuckle at her remark. Of course, Beca will eat this quesadilla, and she better likes it because I even had to convince her mom to include this to the menu for tonight just so she could teach me the recipe.

"She's crazy over your quesadilla, Ronie," I tell her the truth.

I feel her fix an eye on me and smile. "And you're crazy over my daughter, aren't you?"

I think I start to blush as I look away from her gaze because she starts laughing at me. Yes, I'm head over heels in love with Beca Mitchell, and I'd admit that any day, but it just feels so different when you have her mother pointing that out to me.

"One look and she just took my breath away," I hear myself reply as I flash a shy smile along with more red pigment growing on my cheeks. I wonder if they resemble my hair color now.

"To be honest, I used to persuade myself to hate you," she speaks out the unfamiliar statement from out of the blue, and I suddenly frown. "Both of my children were hurting because of you. In fact, they'd rather die than lose you. That's how important you are, Chloe."

Of course, I almost ruined that beautiful sibling relationship between Beca and Stan. It was a big drama that we all got caught up into, and for certain, we will always remember that part of history. But I'd love to keep those difficult times in the past now and just really want to look forward to today and a future with Beca.

"But I couldn't hate you," Ronie shoots a reassuring smile at me, drowning every bit of indignity I have for myself in the process. "I look at you now and I see why Beca would call me randomly late at night from Atlanta just to say that she would never want to let you go."

I let out a sigh of relief before smiling back at her. Oh Beca and her hidden romantic side.

"I wouldn't want to let her go either."

Our main topic suddenly enters the kitchen with a clearly annoyed look on her face. She leans on the kitchen island table, her small height becoming more evident, and impatiently taps her fingers on the surface as she looks up to her mother.

"Are you two already done with that?" she inquires.

"Almost," Ronie gives her a look then takes the tray of quesadilla away and puts it into the oven.

"There it goes!" the younger brunette excitedly smacks her hands into the kitchen island table before walking over to me. Then, she hastily grabs my hand and pulls me away out of the kitchen. "Now I'd love to spend some time with my girlfriend."

Left with no other choice, her mom simply calls out, "Don't do anything I wouldn't do, okay?"

"Okay, mom," Beca replies absentmindedly and I have to chuckle at my girlfriend's childlike behavior as we make our way to the living room and finally settle down on the couch.

"Now what?" I turn to look at her and find that she's just staring and smiling at me at the same time. So as gentle as possible I push her forehead to wake her up from her daydream. "Hey!"

"What?"

"What are you doing?"

"I'm trying to enjoy this alone time with you by staring at your beautiful face."

I can't help but laugh at that goofy expression on display.

"You are such a cheeseball, Beca Mitchell."

"Kiss me," she orders as she turns her body fully towards me.

"What?" I gasp. "No."

"Come on. Kiss me, Red."

I softly hold her shoulder away as she starts to lean in.

"Your mom is right in the next room, dork."

"Just one kiss," she pleads and it's already making it difficult for me to resist her charm. "The others will be here soon, and I don't know if I could ever find another alone time with you during this entire trip."

It's the last summer vacation before Aubrey goes to law school and me to medical school, so we all decided to spend the entire vacation together. First stop is Detroit, Michigan with Ronie to tour us around. Hence, Aubrey and Jesse along with Stan and his new girlfriend who we haven't met yet will be staying over with us in the house for the next few days to come as planned. After that, we are all going to Rome for Phil and Sheila's wedding anniversary celebration.

I let out a sigh then point a finger at her as a warning and shift my body so I'm facing her fully as well. "Just one kiss," I tell her although I am pretty sure she wants more than just a kiss.

"Alright," one side of her lips goes upward forming her trademark smirk. And so I wrap my arms around her neck to secure my target into place as she slowly leans in towards my face.

Ding Dong.

Beca and I stop. We definitely heard something, but then we're not going to let whatever that is to ruin this moment, so we silently make a mutual agreement to ignore the sudden interruption. I keep my hold on to her neck as she keeps her hands on my waist.

Ding Dong.

And we both stop again. This time, we acknowledge the chiming sound of the doorbell for real.

"Beca, the door!" Ronie calls out from the kitchen causing my poor Beca to roll her eyes in annoyance and disappointment.

"I'm on it, mom."

I bite my lip and give her this sympathetic look.

"We'll find some time, baby. Don't worry."

She sighs, gives me a quick ghostly kiss on the lips, and heads towards the door and not-so-cheerfully welcomes everybody in. All four make their way into the house with all their luggage and so I hurry up to help Aubrey and the other blonde girl who I assume is Stan's new girlfriend with their bags.

"Kiddo!"

I hear my ex-boyfriend cheerfully greets my typically cranky girlfriend and when I direct my eyes to the duo, some brutal headlocks and playful messing up with hairs quickly follow up. I let myself grin and feel happy about the sight of it. After everything that happened, I seriously thought that such moment would never happen again.

Then for some reason, without warning, while he has his sister's neck in between her upper and lower arm, Stan inadvertently shifts his eyes to meet mine. We pause for a short while as we find ourselves confined within a cloud where there is only me and him in existence. At first, I mentally scold myself that this shouldn't be happening anymore, but then I realize that it's something normal, I guess. After all, we shared some kind of a romantic love story in the past and it will always be there. I let my eyes stay with him for a few more seconds and I just know that he shares the same thoughts exactly. But then we start to exchange genuine and gratified smiles as, we could say, a vibrant indication that we are both happy and free now with our respective loves.

The scenario after dinner was 'all against Beca' – while everybody, including myself, agrees to watch some movies before going to bed, Beca was… well, she just reluctantly accepted her defeat. Really, there is nothing bad about watching Rush Hour movies. Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker make a hilarious combination. However, my silly little girlfriend has maintained that scowl on her face as she rests her head on my shoulder the entire time. She hasn't changed her perspective on movies yet, unfortunately, except that she has learned to tolerate a bit already. Now the only thing actually keeping her in the living room with the rest of us is the taste and smell of cheese-flavored popcorn floating in the room that when I find the huge bowl we have for the two of us alone finally empty, I oblige myself to stand up and go to the kitchen for some more popcorn.

Nevertheless, I find myself staring at the tree house at the backyard through the darkness of the night. It's been three days since Beca and I arrived here in Detroit, and she never made the move to talk about this structure to me. Really, there's nothing wrong about that, but I couldn't help but feel curious about this tree house. It looks pretty old but intently preserved. I wonder if this is where Beca spent most of her childhood years. Especially with just the sliding door separating the backyard from the kitchen, I can't help but feel tempted to go climb up this tree house.

"You okay?"

Startled, I immediately turn around to find Stan standing right by the refrigerator. I guess my thoughts were too immersed at the significance of the tree house, I didn't hear him enter the kitchen.

"Yeah," I nod my head and force a smile. "I'm okay."

He shrugs his shoulders as he opens the refrigerator to retrieve a handful more soda cans for everybody. I try to help him with them, taking some into my own hands. But instead of proceeding back to the living room, he places his load on top of the kitchen island table, and so that's what I follow to do. Then surprisingly, as I have never expected it, Stan smiles at my way and I see that same soft glint on his eyes.

"I missed you," he quietly admits, careful enough not to give away unnecessary emotions.

I am not able to respond right away as I catch myself off guard. I realize this is the first time I'm left alone with him again since that day on the lake where I made my final choice – and it was Beca that I chose, not Stan. I instantly remind myself about that.

"I'm so sorry."

There, I find myself still stuck with this one single line I have mastered to speak of exclusively for him.

"It's all in the past now," is all he says.

There is no further mention on what he essentially feels or even the reference at least on his new girlfriend whose name is Tamara 'or Tam for short'. But I remain quiet and avoid his eyes. I wouldn't dare to gaze on them in the middle of this mood especially without the presence of my girlfriend by my side. Shit. Beca. The popcorn.

"That's Beca's hideout," Stan tells me, briefly pointing at the tree house in the backyard before collecting the drinks with his arms. "Just in case you're wondering… She doesn't let anybody up there but I'm sure you're an exception."

I turn to him to flash this hesitant look only to receive a small nod from my ex-boyfriend signaling that I should go up there. I debate myself whether or not to execute the idea as I watch Stan disappear into the living room. Then after some time, I finally let out a heavy sigh because curiosity has beaten me out of it. I know Beca never told me to, but I find myself dragging my feet towards the backyard, pushing the sliding door open, then holding on to the wooden stairs as I climb up the old tree house.

I push the floor door open and I am immediately met by complete darkness that surrounds the interior of the tree house. But I decide to climb up further anyway. There's no more turning back. Luckily, my face comes in contact with a thin chain hanging just on top of my head which I figure to be a switch to some lighting device, so I gently pull it down. A light bulb instantly decorates the interior with a slightly yellowish glow.

I let my eyes roam around as I take some steps away from my original position. I see an enormous collection of record albums neatly stacked on one corner, a shelf of comic books, a plastic box of trading cards, and another box of what I recognize as Game Paks. But what really catches my eye is the sight of a group of tiny envelopes on an old wooden desk. I walk towards it and I notice how much they resemble those tiny envelopes that Aubrey prepared when Beca and I went to that little walk along memory lane. Unfortunately though, those tiny envelopes were carelessly thrown by Beca into the lake.

"Where's my popcorn?"

I abruptly turn around to see my girlfriend climbing in. Shit. Beca. The popcorn. I have totally forgotten about all of it.

"You know I can't get through a movie without it."

At first, I panic. But my favorite brunette is sporting a smirk on her face as she walks towards me, so I figure I'm already forgiven.

"So what are we doing up here?" she asks, intertwining our hands together.

I shrug my shoulders in response. "I was curious."

She shifts her gaze from my eyes to the tiny envelopes on the desk then sighs.

"It's supposed to be a surprise."

"What is?"

"I was so guilty that I threw those tiny envelopes that night. But I was feeling so much pain, I had to do it. It was a bittersweet memory for the two of us. No matter how painful that night ended, I know it's something worth remembering. So I asked Aubrey to write all those cards all over again. I'm supposed to give it to you in Rome."

I can't help but smile to the idea of it. Beca Mitchell is the most indifferent person I have ever met in my entire life and it just feels so heartwarming when she tries to do all these kinds of effort for me.

"We can pretend this never happened," I wink at her and she lets out a chuckle. "From this moment on, all I saw in this cute tree house of yours are your adorable collections."

"You haven't seen my favorite part here yet," she tells me, pulling me outside to the small balcony. There, I notice Chester leaned on the wall, then just above the guitar is a framed dried red rose hanging on a protruding nail. "This is my favorite of all."

I let my hands touch the glass frame, slowly realizing why this dried rose seems too familiar to me.

"Is this…"

"Yep," Beca nods her head. "That's the same rose you gave me back at the lake. It died when I had to let you go. But my dad saved it."

I turn to my side and see her smiling happily. I start smiling too. There's nothing else that could make me feel happier than a happy Beca herself. Now I'm beginning to take her side, movie marathon sucks so much… when I could just spend some time this way with the love of my life.

"I just remember," she squints her eyes and tilts her head to the side. "I never gave you that guitar lesson I promised."

Suddenly, I become so giddy and excited. I've been meaning to show her this. So I grab Chester with my free hand then pull Beca to sit down with me on the edge of the balcony. She gives me this questioning look, but I brush it off as I start playing the only song I've ever learned to play from Cynthia Rose. I have to do it a little slower than the normal tempo of the song though because let's face it, I'm certainly a beginner with this stuff. But still I see my girlfriend opens her mouth in surprise, the pleasant kind. I just can't help but giggle at the sight of it.

"Give me more loving than I've ever had
Make it all better when I'm feeling sad
Tell me I'm special even when I know I'm not."

Beca is now looking all too happy with my silly little performance so I guess I must be doing this thing right, huh?

"Make it feel good when it hurts so bad
Barely get mad
I'm so glad I found you
I love being around you
You make it easy
As easy as 1-2-1…"

"There's only one thing to do,
Three words for you...
I love you
There's only one way to say those three words
And that's what I'll do...
I love you."

I would have continued with my first ever live guitar performance, but Beca is already leaning in to kiss me. Okay, the second verse can totally wait. After all, she might be right, this might be the only chance that we get to do this passionately without the interruption of anybody.

"You are amazing," she whispers as we both close our eyes and brace for the sweet sensation that is about to happen.

"Hey, lovebirds!"

Aubrey's voice suddenly rings into my ears and I have to open my eyes to look at my best friend eyeing me from the ground, her arms folded on her chest. "Movie's over, let's all get some rest."

I hear Beca lets out an annoyed groan, and that means I have to hold her hand even tighter at least.

"I'm sorry, guys." I move my eyes towards the sliding door to the kitchen to find an apologetic Jesse. "I told her to just leave you two alone, but well, she's the boss of me."

"Come on, let's all get some sleep."

With that one last statement, Aubrey leaves with us another commanding look, an additional warning look at my girlfriend, before walking back to the house.

"I told you," Beca tells me. "We'll never find an alone time during this trip… especially with your evil best friend lurking around."

I laugh at her remarks, totally amused. Just when I thought my two favorite people in the planet could tolerate each other, they're back at getting on one another's nerves.

"She's evil only towards you, baby. You should really feel special."

Even through the dark, I know Beca just rolled her eyes. I pull her up with me then am about to find the exit but only to be stopped by my girlfriend.

"What?"

She simply gives me a kiss on the cheek then smiles at me.

"I love you, Chloe," she says softly. "I love you, I love you, I love you… If you let me, I'd tell you that every single day just so you don't ever forget."

"Never," I shake my head firmly then smiles back at her, "because I'm just really in love with you too, Beca Mitchell."

With just the two of us now left here outside and no sign of Aubrey's return, I figure we could proceed with the interrupted kiss once again, and even without words I know Beca equally agrees with my idea because then she starts to lean in as well. Come on, universe, just one kiss! Just one kiss and we can all go to sleep.

But of course, the pouring rain is back to interrupt another perfect moment.

And that's it... I guess you can say there's no room for angst here anymore :) well, except maybe on Stan's part... a little... or maybe that's just my imagination :)

Song: 1,2,3,4 - Plain White T's

Disclaimer: I don't own Pitch Perfect.

PS. Shameless plugging AGAIN: Check out my new series, Stolen :)