"Well I found a girl beautiful and sweet / I never knew you were the someone waiting for me / 'Cause we were just kids when we fell in love / not knowing what it was / I will not give you up this time / but darling, just kiss me slow, your heart is all I own / and in your eyes you're holding mine / baby, I'm dancing in the dark with you between my arms / barefoot on the grass, listening to our favorite song / when you said you looked a mess, I whispered underneath my breath / but you heard it, darling, you look perfect tonight / well I found a woman, stronger than anyone I know / she shares my dreams, I hope that someday I'll share her home / I found a love, to carry more than just my secrets / to carry love, to carry children of our own / we are still kids, but we're so in love / fighting against all odds / I know we'll be alright this time."
– perfect, ed sheeran

The drive to the city is spent mostly in silence.

There's still a tense air between the two of them, as there always is after any argument, but Chloe senses that maybe things will go back to normal once they've both cooled off. Arguing with Beca is never fun. Beca's the type of person who hates confrontation if it means she has to open herself up, so Chloe stays mostly silent for the three hour drive to give Beca some peace.

That still doesn't stop her from singing along when Fleetwood Mac comes on though, and when Beca joins in, Chloe knows that they're going to be okay.

They arrive in Kansas City at 7PM and check into the B&B that Chloe had already pre-booked.

Chloe doesn't worry that it takes a while for Beca to be able to look her in the eye when they get settled in their room. She knows that Beca probably feels guilty for the fight they had earlier, so she lets Beca shower without her and have some time to herself.

Still though, she doesn't worry. Even when Beca gets into bed and rolls on her side away from Chloe. She doesn't worry because if she worries, she'll start to panic, and if she panics, she knows that all her emotions will end up tumbling out and she's not sure Beca can handle that right now.

It takes a while, but Beca eventually turns over to face Chloe, who has been scrolling through Instagram on her phone for what feels like hours. She's scrolled so much that she's seeing posts from almost a month ago, and she only exits out of the app and puts her phone down when she feels Beca poke her leg.

She looks down, smiling at the way Beca looks up at her with hooded, tired eyes. Like a puppy ready to be scolded, or a child waiting for bad news.

"Hi," Chloe says, prompting Beca to sit up properly so the two of them are sat with their backs against the headboard. The bed isn't as comfy as the last motel they stayed at, but it sure beats sleeping in the car.

Chloe thinks though, that as long as Beca is with her, she doesn't mind where they sleep. She'd gladly take sleeping on the floor with only a couple of blankets, as long as Beca is with her, curled up with Chloe's front pressed against her back.

"I don't like this." Beca says, looking down and tracing the leaf pattern on the bed cover. Chloe turns her body sideways a little, her thigh pressing against Beca's leg ever so gently, and the contact immediately makes Chloe feel safer. As if just one touch from Beca can ground her, bring her back to earth, back to a place where she's no longer ignoring that the fight happened.

"What don't you like?" She knows exactly what Beca's talking about, but she wants to hear it to make sure they're on the same page.

"Fighting. It's all tense and weird and I don't like it." Beca sighs. "Are we still supposed to be mad at each other?"

Chloe smiles. "I'm not mad at you," she whispers, reaching out to put her hand on Beca's.

Beca finally looks up at her, and Chloe gives her another gentle smile when she sees how scared Beca looks. How vulnerable.

"I'm not mad at you either. I… I had no reason to be in the first place." She sniffs up as she looks down again. "It was stupid."

"Hey," Chloe squeezes Beca's hand, prompting her to look up at Chloe again. "It wasn't stupid. We're both to blame, not just you."

"I just…" Chloe waits for Beca to gather her thoughts. She knows that talking about her feelings doesn't come as easy to Beca as it does to Chloe, so she waits. "I'm not good at this. Opening up and…" Her eyes cast down again, and Chloe lets her. "You know. You know me more than I know myself, you know that I can't-I don't do this kind of stuff."

"I just think…" Chloe threads her fingers through Beca's as she talks, and like always, her hands feel burning hot against Beca's cold ones. "You need to trust me more. You're scared to talk about certain stuff and I get it," she nods in understanding, tilting her head for Beca to look at her again. "I do. I get it, Becs. But I'm… I'm yours. And I won't judge you."

"I'm not afraid of you judging me. I've been judged my whole life, I don't… I don't care about that."

"What is it?"

Beca pushes a heavy breath out and Chloe knows it means she doesn't want to say it. So she's just about to tell Beca that it's okay, that she can take her time, but Beca cuts her off before she can even open her mouth.

"Losing you," she whispers. "I'm so fucking scared that I'm gonna say something that… makes you leave. Like… everyone else has."

"Bec." Chloe reaches out with her free hand, cupping Beca's cheek and smiling when Beca immediately relaxes into the touch and closes her eyes. "I'm not leaving you." she says, bringing Beca closer as she simultaneously moves her head forward until they're resting their foreheads against each other. She can feel the way Beca immediately sinks into her embrace, letting go of Chloe's hand and bringing both of her arms to wrap around her waist.

The angle of the hug is awkward and Chloe's knee is pressing hard into Beca's thigh but Chloe returns the hug nonetheless, letting Beca rest her head in the crook of her neck, and she breathes out a tired but content breath.

"I didn't like that you compared me to Jesse. That wasn't fair."

"I know."

"But I forgive you. And I know it wasn't cool of me to flirt with that police officer."

"It wasn't."

"But… you forgive me?"

"Mmhm."

"And I don't like that you walk away when things get hard. That isn't fair. You need to stop doing that."

Beca nods into Chloe's neck. "I'll stop. I'll be better."

"And," Chloe pauses, pulling back so she can look at Beca. "I didn't enjoy calling you my friend but… You have to understand that not everybody is accepting of… of us."

"I know. I know that. It was stupid of me to get upset over."

"It wasn't stupid, baby. If it makes you upset then it's never stupid."

The corners of Beca's mouth curl up, and they're both smiling at each other as Chloe gently runs her hand through Beca's hair.

"I like that."

"What?"

"You called me baby."

Chloe laughs, but Beca looks beautiful right now and she loves her, and she'd do anything to see her smile like this. Looking so happy and free and content.

When she leans in for a kiss, Beca meets her halfway. And kissing Beca never fails to take her breath away, but it also feels so serene at the same time. It's like the minute you step off a rollercoaster. Your heart is thudding in your chest and you can't stop smiling and you're still out of breath from screaming so loud, but you're calm and composed.

Kissing Beca is the aftermath of a rollercoaster. The calm and the adrenaline at the same time. And Chloe thinks it's a beautiful contradiction.

"So like…" Beca mumbles into Chloe's mouth, halting the kiss for a second. "You're not like… leaving me? Ever?"

Chloe smiles, kissing Beca once more before pulling back, resting her forehead against Beca's. "Never. I feel like I've waited a lifetime for you, Bec." She whispers. "And I'd wait a lifetime more if I had to."

She opens her eyes just in time to see Beca roll her own eyes, pulling back and wiping a stray tear, but she's smiling. "Quit saying mushy stuff that makes me wanna cry, Beale."

She's smiling, and she's the most beautiful thing that Chloe has ever seen.

"I love you," Chloe laughs, cupping Beca's face and pulling her close again. "So, so much."

/

Chloe's the first to wake up the next morning, and it takes her a second to realize that Beca is behind her instead of in front of her like most mornings. The thought of Beca - her tiny Beca - being the big spoon, makes her smile. So much that she shakes her head and wonders how on earth Beca has managed to turn her into this mushy mess every time she so much as thinks about her.

She turns around as slowly and as quietly as she can, making sure to try and not wake Beca up in the process. It doesn't really take much, since Beca is a pretty heavy sleeper anyway. But she still makes sure to keep as still as she can, even as she brings a hand up to stroke Beca's face while she watches her.

She's surprised, when Beca wakes up, that she doesn't make a comment about it being creepy that she's watching her sleep. Instead, Beca smiles, her eyes flickering open with a slight squint at the bright room.

"Mmhey," she murmurs, closing her eyes as she scoots closer to Chloe to bury her head in her neck, and Chloe's heart hammers in her chest.

She's not sure she'll ever get bored of this. Waking up to a sleepy Beca Mitchell. Seeing her first thing on a morning and last thing at night. Most nights she doesn't want to sleep because she'll miss Beca, and she knows how ridiculously cheesy that is, but Beca's the best thing in her life right now, and she's still in awe every time she remembers that Beca is hers.

"Morning," Chloe whispers, kissing the top of Beca's head as she strokes her back, and Beca nuzzles closer.

"Time is it?"

"Dunno." Beca looks up, and Chloe has to move her head back slightly, so their faces don't smush together - not that she'd complain - and it's only when Chloe whispers "hi" that Beca seems to realize how close they are.

Chloe's eyes flicker down to Beca's lips, and her stomach turns when Beca does the same. She's not sure who starts to lean in first, but it's only seconds until their lips are touching.

Suddenly though, Beca pulls back abruptly.

"Morning breath. Veto, veto." Chloe laughs, letting Beca pull away to reach over for her phone on the bedside table. "Ugh, it's eight. Five more minutes?"

Chloe shakes her head as she watches Beca, unable to form words because of how adorable her girlfriend is being. And she's not even doing anything remotely different, she's just being Beca, but she's still the cutest thing that Chloe has laid eyes on, and she can't help the way her eyes dance across her features.

The remnants of mascara on her eyelashes, the way they flicker - almost like butterflies - as she blinks. The way her lips are always a little chapped on a morning, and the way she yawns loudly as she rubs her left eye. It's always the left eye. And she always takes a few seconds when she wakes up to look around the room. As if she forgets where she is for a moment. As if she's figuring out whether she's waking up where she fell asleep.

"What are you staring at? Do I have something on my face?"

Chloe grins, putting her hand on the back of Beca's neck as she leans in. She stops just before their lips touch, ready to pull back if Beca gives any indication that she doesn't want to kiss her, but it never comes. Instead, Beca closes the gap between them, forgetting about her morning breath for a second as she lets herself enjoy their first kiss of the day.

/

They set off for St. Louis after getting ready, and Beca spends most of the ride singing the chorus to St. Louis Blues. She begs Chloe to sing a different song to help get this song out of her head, but Chloe loves Beca's rendition of it, so she keeps the radio off as she listens to Beca's beautiful voice fill up the car.

Eventually Beca has to google the lyrics because she's sick of only singing the same part over and over again, and she hooks up her phone to the car so they can listen to the full song as they both sing along.

And they've been on this road trip for three weeks now and somehow neither of them are bored of spending time with each other. Sure, before this trip they'd seen each other every single day, since they live together and have lived together in the Bella house before graduating. But on this trip they've spent every waking moment together, and Beca finds herself dreading going back home because they won't see each other all the time due to their jobs.

Still, she's looking forward to their life when they move back home. She's looking forward to being domestic with Chloe, sleeping in the same bed and waking up together every day. She's looking forward to making breakfast together and ordering takeout on the weekends while they watch TV shows, stealing kisses as they get ready for work and rushing around each other when they accidentally sleep in.

Suddenly Beca's pulled out of her little daydream when she sees a hand waving in front of her face, and she realizes the entire time that she'd been staring at Chloe.

"Where did you just go?" Chloe asks her, smiling.

They're parked outside of a B&B, Chloe's phone in her hand with the TripAdvisor page open. Beca guesses she'd been looking at places they can go while they're here, and the thought makes her smile. She wouldn't mind just chilling in their room together, cuddling and listen to music, but she finds it so endearing how Chloe wants to spend most of their time sightseeing and travelling. She's always looking for places to go and things to do, and Beca loves that she's always so excited for everything.

"I love you."

A small smile grows on Chloe's face as she bites her lip, and Beca leans forward, immediately capturing Chloe's lips in a soft kiss that has Beca's heart pounding in her chest.

"How do you do that?" Chloe mumbles into her mouth, and Beca pulls back slowly, smiling when Chloe's mouth follows her for a moment before realizing that she's pulling away.

"Do what?"

Chloe shakes her head. "Make me feel so… loved."

Beca laughs nervously, sitting back in the seat and resting her head on the headrest behind her, turning to look at Chloe with a gentle smile.

"I'm your girlfriend, pretty sure it's my job."

/

They spend most of the day at Forest Park.

They hold hands as they walk through the gardens, and Beca watches Chloe excitedly take hundreds of pictures on her phone, before they set up with a picnic blanket beside the benches. Chloe had bought them sandwiches and a few snacks, so they sit together and eat. And they spend most of the time eating in a comfortable silence, up until Chloe asks Beca to throw a grape to her to see if she can catch it in her mouth.

Of course, Beca wouldn't be Beca if she didn't make it more difficult for Chloe. So she starts off throwing them gently, one by one, cheering excitedly with Chloe whenever Chloe catches one. Eventually though, she starts to throw more than one at once, sometimes throwing them with more force than necessary. It makes Chloe giggle until they're eventually just throwing grapes at each other.

They stop when Beca throws a grape so hard into Chloe's eye that she starts to cry - with a mixture of laughter too - and Beca hugs Chloe as she kisses her eye and repeatedly tells her that she's sorry through her laughter.

It's the most she's laughed in what feels like forever, and she shouldn't be surprised that she feels herself falling more and more in love with Chloe with every passing second.

They go to a theater nearby and Chloe drags Beca to watch Hook, telling her that it was her favorite movie when she was a kid. And if it was anybody else Beca would complain the whole time, but seeing Chloe get so excited over the movie has Beca smiling the whole time, draping her arm over Chloe's shoulder and letting Chloe lean on her.

Sure, they end up making out for most of the movie but neither of them are complaining.

/

"Are we seriously getting into bed at eight?"

"I'm tired!"

"Oh God," Beca throws her head back dramatically, "we're old. We're an old couple. Before you know it we're gonna be sitting in armchairs criticizing every dish on Cutthroat Kitchen even if they look delicious."

Chloe laughs as she gets into bed, turning on her side and leaning up on her elbow to look at Beca. "Is that what old couples do?" she asks, reaching out to pull Beca closer to her by her waist.

"I guess? I think so. Oh God wait," Beca's eyes widen. "Haven't we actually done that before?"

"We were criticizing the dishes on Chopped actually."

"Oh God," she feigns disgust, "we're old!"

Chloe laughs again, pushing Beca onto her back as she throws one leg over her and straddles her hips. Beca's hands land on her hips on instinct and Chloe can't help the way her breath hitches at the look Beca gives her as she leans down towards her face.

"We're old?" she asks, lips inches from Beca's. "Do old couples do this?"

She puts everything into the kiss, hands cupping Beca's face as Beca's grip on her hips tighten. She kisses her deeply, making sure to let Beca's mouth chase hers as she tilts her head to the side, smiling into the kiss when Beca lets out a small whimper. The sound has her heart pounding in her chest and she grinds her hips forward involuntarily, breathing out a content sigh as Beca's tongue strokes across her bottom lip.

It doesn't take long for Chloe's face to start burning up and her stomach to feel like it's turning, and it only feels this way with Beca. She's never had this. Someone who makes her heart pound with one touch, and her hands tremble as she's pulled closer.

That thought has her slowing the kiss down, opening her eyes as she pulls away to see Beca looking up at her with so much love, that Chloe's not sure she's ever felt this way, and she's not sure she'll ever feel this way with anybody else.

"God," Beca breathes out, dilated eyes roaming over Chloe's face. "I hope they don't."

/

They set off for Cincinnati at eight the next morning and arrive just after lunch time.

Chloe calls Aubrey to tell her about the past few days while Beca goes out to grab some food for them to eat in the hotel room, since they both agreed they were too tired to go out anywhere.

The domesticity of it all has Chloe grinning as she's telling Aubrey what's going on. How they've both said I love you, and how Beca is being the sweetest, most patient person Chloe has ever known. How she feels like her life has been building up to this moment. How she feels like they could possibly be together for the rest of their life.

It's not until Beca comes back that Chloe realizes she's been gushing to Aubrey for an hour.

"Still on the phone?" Beca asks, pushing the door closed with her foot as she holds two bags in her hand.

Chloe greets Beca at the door with a kiss, phone still pressed to her ear.

"I have to go Aubrey, Beca's back. I'll text you tomorrow?"

"Of course, have fun Chlo! Tell the midget I said hi."

"Wanna talk to her?" Chloe asks, and she smiles when she sees Beca's eyes widen as she shakes her head frantically, mouthing "please no" at her.

"As riveting as that sounds, I have to get back to work," Aubrey answers. "But I'll talk to you later. Love you."

"Love you too, bye!"

Beca lets out a relieved sigh, finally leaning in to press a kiss to Chloe's cheek as Chloe puts her phone in her back pocket.

"She was so excited to talk to you."

"I'm sure she was."

"Come on, she loves you," Chloe says, reaching out to take one of the bags from Beca. "What did you get?"

"Chinese. That okay?"

"As long as you remembered the cookies."

Beca smiles, reaching into one of the bags and pulling out two fortune cookies, accepting the kiss that Chloe places on her cheek when she hands her them.

They eat their food with one of Beca's playlists playing in the background, occasionally talking. Chloe brings up what they could do when they go to Ohio, and Beca agrees with a mouthful of noodles, trying not to spit them out when Chloe makes her laugh.

Eventually Chloe admits defeat with only a few mouthfuls of noodles left, telling Beca that she's stuffed and she's gonna need a four hour nap to get her energy back. It makes Beca laugh though, when Chloe reaches for their fortune cookies and hands one to her.

"Thought you were stuffed?" Beca asks, opening the wrapper.

"This doesn't count." Chloe fiddles with the cookie, discarding the wrapper into their bag of trash before breaking the cookie in half and pulling the strip of paper out. "If you never give up on love, it will never give up on you. Hmm." Beca's eyebrows raise at the quote and Chloe smiles before eating her cookie. "What does yours say?"

She snaps the cookie in half and pulls out the strip of paper, turning it the right way around so she can read it. "Your shoes will make you happy today." She reads. "What the fuck does that mean?"

Chloe bursts out laughing and Beca is quick to follow, both of them leaning into each other as they laugh. And it takes a while for them to calm down, Beca joking that this is a sign to buy herself a new pair of shoes and Chloe telling her that she has to compete with a pair of shoes to make her happy now. And they're still laughing occasionally about it as they lay together in bed, idly chatting and listening to music.

And it's not the most perfect way to spend a night but it is to them, because they're together and anything they do together is fun. Chloe jokes that they could watch paint dry together and it'd still be fun, which seems to remind Beca of something.

"Close your eyes," she says, leaning over to pick up one of the bags that she'd brought back earlier. Chloe complies and immediately asks Beca excitedly if she can open them yet, which makes Beca laugh. She puts the bag back when she takes the object out, and holds it in front of Chloe. "Yeah okay, open."

Chloe opens her eyes to see a new pack of pencils in Beca's hand and a nervous smile on her face.

"I don't know if these are good or not but I passed an art store when I was getting the food. The dude who worked there said that they were good pencils but maybe he just said that so I'd buy them, I don't know. Are they okay? I can take them back if-"

She's cut off by Chloe grabbing her face and pulling her towards her, placing several kisses on her mouth before mumbling "thank you" over and over, kissing her forehead and cheeks and all over her face.

"Okay, enough of that," Beca says, jokingly pushing Chloe's face away, laughing. She stops though, when she sees the way Chloe is looking at her. And that look never fails to amaze her. To take her breath away and cause her stomach to do somersaults. Because Chloe is looking at her with so much love, eyes glazed over with, what Beca hopes are, happy tears.

"These are perfect," Chloe says, looking down at the pencils. They're not the best brand but they're good quality, and Chloe is about to ask how much she owes Beca for them when she hears Beca speak.

"Yeah, well. You're perfect."

She looks up, a smile growing on her face, and she has to bite her lip to stop it from growing too big because she's sure that her face will split if it does.

So she leans in to kiss Beca again, trying to convey all her emotions into the one kiss. Her thank you's and I love you's and you're the best girlfriend in the whole world's.

And Beca gets it. Because she kisses back with the same emotion.