AN: Thanks so much for all of your reviews for the story, they keep me motivated to keep plugging away. Continue to let me know what you think and I'll try to keep updating regularly. Just so you all know, we are approximately half way thru this story and I've got an idea of how I will end it but sometimes things change quickly such as when I killed Quinn and Emma. Some of you have messaged me asking about why I did that and the answer is, I don't really know. It just kind of came out when I was writing. Then I stopped and briefly outlined what would happen if only one of them died and how that would affect Beca and Chloe and what roles they would assume in taking care of Emma or Quinn. It was kind of interesting the way those story lines evolved but eventually it just felt right to me that they go together. So that's how that happened but enough about that and they will continue to help tell this story. So without further ado, here is my longest chapter yet! Enjoy!
The next day Chloe and Beca took Fin over to Quinn and Emma's to stay the night with her grandparents so they could have some time to talk about what they were going to do. Beca made short small talk with Quinn's parents and found herself moving subconsciously toward Quinn's music room. Making her way through the door and towards Quinn's laptop she swiped her finger across the mouse bringing the Mac to life from its sleep mode. An unsent email popped up on the screen. Beca looked to see that it was addressed to her on the night of Quinn and Emma's accident. Beca pulled the chair closer and sat down to read the unfinished message.
B-
I couldn't sleep a couple nights ago and was thinking a lot about you and me and things. It's different than my usual but take a listen. BTW you are /
Beca looked at the blinking cursor after the word wondering what would have followed had Quinn finished the message. She moved the mouse up the screen and opened the attached music file and pressed play.
'There was a time when I was alone
Nowhere to go and no place to call home
My only friend was the man in the moon
And even sometimes he would go away, too
Then one night, as I closed my eyes,
I saw a shadow flying high
He came to me with the sweetest smile
Told me he wanted to talk for awhile
He said, "Peter Pan. That's what they call me
I promise that you'll never be lonely."
And ever since that day …
I am a lost boy from Neverland
Usually hanging out with Peter Pan
And when we're bored we play in the woods
Always on the run from Captain Hook
"Run, run lost boy," they say to me,
"Away from all of reality."
Neverland is home to lost boys like me
And lost boys like me are free.
Neverland is home to lost boys like me
And lost boys like me are free.
He sprinkled me in pixie dust and told me to believe
Believe in him and believe in me
Together we will fly away in a cloud of green
To your beautiful destiny
As we soared above the town that never loved me
I realized I finally had a family
Soon enough we reached Neverland
Peacefully my feet hit the sand
And ever since that day …
I am a lost boy from Neverland
Usually hanging out with Peter Pan
And when we're bored we play in the woods
Always on the run from Captain Hook
"Run, run, lost boy," they say to me,
"Away from all of reality"
Neverland is home to lost boys like me
And lost boys like me are free
Neverland is home to lost boys like me
And lost boys like me are free.
Peter Pan, Tinker Bell, Wendy Darling,
Even Captain Hook
You are my perfect story book
Neverland, I love you so
You are now my home sweet home
Forever a lost boy at last
Peter Pan, Tinker Bell, Wendy Darling,
Even Captain Hook
You are my perfect story book
Neverland, I love you so
You are now my home sweet home
Forever a lost boy at last
And for always I will say …
I am a lost boy from Neverland
Usually hanging out with Peter Pan
And when we're bored we play in the woods
Always on the run from Captain Hook
"Run, run lost boy," they say to me
"Away from all of reality"
Neverland is home to lost boys like me
And lost boys like me are free
Neverland is home to lost boys like me
And lost boys like me are free.'
XxXxXx
Chloe continued to speak with Emma's parents after Beca disappeared. She glanced toward the kitchen hoping to see Beca but something else caught her eye. "Is that Emma's bag?" Chloe asked suddenly noticing it for the first time in over a week. It was Emma's favorite.
"It is. We just got it back today. It was given to Stacie at the hospital and you're friend Aubrey had it sent over to Coach to be cleaned." Lucile answered but her voice was soft at the thought of what had to be cleaned from the bag. "I was going to give it to Kate. Is that okay? Do you want it? Do we save it for Finley?" Lucile asked hesitantly.
"No, no. Kate should have it" Chloe responded quickly. "I'm sorry Lucile but" Chloe was struck with a thought, "what happened to Em's phone?"
"Oh, it was in her bag. It seems to be remarkably undamaged but the battery is dead." Lucile replied as she walked over to the bag reaching inside to produce the phone.
"Do you think I could have it?" Chloe asked. Beca had returned and was now listening intently to Chloe ask about the bag but wasn't really following her thought process. "Not forever but I can get it charged and then, if it's okay with you, I'm sure she has pictures of Finley on there." Chloe's eyes fell to the floor. "I could have them printed for her and then I can give you the phone back?" Chloe asked timidly. She didn't want to seem like she wanted to snoop through her friend's phone but she was sure there were pictures of Quinn, Emma and Finley together, more intimate family photos that she wanted to have for Fin when she was older.
"Thank you Chloe" Lucile said sincerely as she passed over the device. The two exchanged a hug and Beca gave a slight head nod signaling to Chloe that she was ready to go.
They sat quietly in the car on the way to the restaurant. "I wonder what happened to Quinn's phone" Beca said suddenly.
"I don't know. I didn't even think about Emma's till I saw her bag. She loved that bag but as soon as I saw it I wondered what happened to her stuff." Chloe answered and then thought, "Maybe Stacie has it. She had the bag, she was at the hospital."
"Yeah" Beca answered as she pulled into the parking lot. "I never really talked to her about what happened that night at the hospital."
"About what babe?" Chloe said quietly placing a hand on Beca's thigh.
"Just what happened, I mean I know what happened but what happened at the hospital. I know she saw Quinn. CR told me that Stacie saw her body." Beca cringed. "Just I guess I need to hear it. Hear everything. What she looked like, what exactly happened with Emma. I don't want to interrogate her but" Beca paused because the next part was slowly eating away at her, "I wasn't" deep breath, "I wasn't there."
"Honey" Chloe said softly. "Please don't tell me you think any of this would have been different had you been there. There was nothing anyone could have done at that point, you read the police report."
"No Chlo. I couldn't have done anything but I should have been there. If Q wasn't able to be there when Emma needed her, then I tried to be. I should have been there." Beca scolded herself before reaching for the car door and stepping out and handing the keys to the valet. Chloe got out immediately and waited for Beca to come around, attaching her hand to the brunettes and walking into the restaurant as a few paparazzi flash bulbs popped from a distance.
After they were seated at a private table and wine had been delivered to the table, Beca moved from sitting across from Chloe to sitting directly to her right at the small square table. She grabbed Chloe's hand and brought it to her lips. "Okay" she breathed, "what do you want to do?" she asked even though she already knew what Chloe wanted.
"I want to do it" Chloe answered quickly. "I'm going to do it" she clarified. "What do you want to do?" Chloe asked.
"Honestly?" Beca asked.
Chloe nodded.
"At the lawyer's office I didn't want to do it. And then when we picked Fin up yesterday and she, I don't know, recognized me maybe, I don't know, I thought maybe. And then last night in the room and you were talking to her and then crying. It felt okay. It felt like we could maybe make it okay."
"I think we can make it okay Becs. I think we can make it more than okay" Chloe squeezed her hand.
"It's not going to be easy" Beca chimed in. "I mean I think we can do it and I know you want to do it and I think I want to do it, but it's going to be hard to manage."
Chloe looked a little confused. "Do you want to or not because I thought you did and then you just said you think you want to. Are you undecided about it?"
"I just want to talk it out Chlo" Beca replied.
"Okay, no okay. Let's talk it out"
"It' just, I don't know where my career stands at the moment. I mean, Quinn" Beca paused, "I don't know what happens next. I haven't heard from Stacie or Amy. And you were pretty busy before, you know."
"Babe, I told you already, I'm not going back to working that much" Chloe took a deep breath steading herself, "We should talk about us and about what we want and where we're going." Chloe gestured between them.
"Okay?" Beca questioned.
"I love you Beca. I want to be with you" Chloe locked her eyes on Beca's dark blue, "forever" she added. "What's happened has been, is horrible. But it opened my eyes. I don't want one more minute to go by without you knowing that I want to be with you forever. I'd like to know how you feel about that."
"Well" Beca exhaled before reaching for her wine glass and taking a long sip. "I love you too" she confirmed. "I want to be with you as well and I don't see myself with anyone but you Chloe. It's always been you. I gave you my heart a long time ago and it got hurt. So I really fought myself on giving it to you again. I figured you would just do it again and it kind of felt like it was happening all over."
"Because of?" Chloe asked suddenly.
"The working and Tom"
"Tom?" Chloe asked.
"He just seemed to always be popping up at the places you are or calling you or texting you" Beca rolled her eyes at herself. "I'm not the most emotionally mature person in the world Chloe." She teased. "I could feel myself starting to pull away from you and picking stupid fights. I don't want to go back to that Chloe." Beca admitted.
"I knew something was on your mind Beca but I didn't know it was Tom. Oh my God, Beca you know I don't have any feelings for Tom right?" Chloe asked suddenly.
"I know. He's just so, I don't know, always around or finding a way to be around. Anyway, I don't want to go back to that Chloe. I do want to be with you, forever. But I don't think we are ready for … you know. Marriage." Beca breathed hard. Only Quinn knew Beca had looked at engagement rings but Quinn didn't know that she had actually bought one, no one knew that. She had gone back and forth on if and when she would propose to Chloe but never seemed to find the right time. Just when their relationship was going really well, something came between them. Usually it was them putting work before each other and their relationship.
"You're right. We have some work to do. I need to show you that I'm here and I'm serious about cutting my workload." Chloe acknowledged.
"And" Beca jumped in, "I don't know what is next for me and I need to speak to Stacie about it very soon but maybe I could take more of a producing role so that I don't have to travel as much. I mean I can't even imagine getting on a stage without" Beca stopped as the sadness hit her sudden and hard. Her eye's fell to the table.
"I know" Chloe squeezed Beca's hand again. "And I think that's a great idea baby. Producing is what you love and one day you'll be ready but even if you don't perform anymore, that's okay too."
Beca sobered her thoughts, "So do you want to take the week to think about this?"
"I don't need a week Becs but I'll give you the time if you want it." Chloe replied.
"I don't need it. I want to do this with you, for Quinn and Emma." Beca smiled feeling good about her decision. Chloe smiled to and leaned over to kiss Beca softly on the lips.
"So, I have some ideas or agreements to run by you." Chloe began. "Like we try not to work at the same time. I'm not committing to back to back movies anymore and I want one of us to always be there with Fin so we take turns. We talk and we figure it out. Even if you have back to back things come up, I can work around that."
"That's not fair Chloe." Beca argued. "You don't know what's going to happen and neither to I but I do agree that we are going to have to communicate much better. And I do agree to taking turns as much as possible but if something amazing comes up I don't want you turning it down because it's not your turn."
"Okay. So we can figure that out but I'm still pulling back. I want to, I need to do that." Chloe added and Beca nodded in agreement. "Also, I don't want to be away from you for long periods of time anymore."
Beca's brow scrunched up. "So?" she questioned.
"Like a 3 day rule" Chloe said quickly. "I don't want to be away from you and Finley for more than 3 days. We are going to be a family and I want to do it right."
"I can do the 3 day rule." Beca agreed. "We can make that work, with an exception" Beca countered, "I want two weeks a year with just you. No kids. Just me and you."
"Kids?" Chloe caught it.
Beca smiled. "Well, one day. Right?"
XxXxXx
Beca walked through her condo turning off all the lights before walking down the hallway and into her bedroom. She sat down in the chair across the room from Chloe who was walking out of the bathroom with her hands to her right ear removing an earring, then flipping her hair and doing the same to the left.
"What?" Beca asked noticing Chloe's eyes locked on her as she kicked her boots off.
"Where are we going to live?" Chloe asked.
"Where do you want to live?" Beca asked.
"I don't know. This is nice but I don't think its big enough babe. And my place is about this same size." Chloe said placing her earrings on top of Beca's dresser before sitting across from Beca on the edge of the bed.
"Not big enough?" Beca questioned.
"Don't you think?" Chloe asked.
"What do we need more room for?"
"What if we have company? I mean, your guest room is already been turned into a nursery, sort of." Chloe reached down to slide off her high heels. "That's something else we need to take care of. Fin's room."
"Okay" Beca followed Chloe with her eyes.
"And my stuff won't really fit in here Becs."
"I don't want to live at Quinn's" Beca said suddenly.
"No, that's not what I meant Becs. I didn't mean we live there."
"You want to get a new house?" Beca asked.
"Yes. I would. I'd like for us to get a house. Together. Pick it out together. Something that's ours." Chloe answered.
"Okay. That makes sense" Beca agreed but was lost in thought. "But what are we going to do with Quinn and Emma's house? I mean, they left it to Finley."
"I don't know. Let's just keep it the way it is and Steve and Lucile or Kate can stay when they are in town to see Fin? I don't know but we don't have to decide right now. Even if we sold it later and put the money away for Fin." Chloe reasoned.
"Yeah, okay. Let's revisit that." Beca replied.
"Have you read your letter?" Chloe questioned. "From Quinn?"
"No" Beca whispered looking intently at the floor.
"Maybe you should babe."
"Maybe."
"Hey" Chloe caught Beca's attention.
"Hmm?" Beca asked looking back at the bright blue eyes across from her.
"Come here" Chloe whispered seductively.
Beca stood slowly and made her way over to Chloe who spread her legs enough to pull Beca between them. She tilted her head up and wrapped her arms around Beca's waist as Beca dropped her head capturing Chloe's lips between hers. Beca's hands gently cupped both sides of Chloe's face as she tilted the redhead's face to the left to deepen the kiss. Beca slipped her tongue into Chloe's mouth eliciting a moan from the other woman. Chloe's hands found themselves on the front of Beca's pants pulling the button apart and pushing the zipper down before pulling the front of the jeans open. Beca broke the kiss to pull Chloe's blouse over her head before guiding her back onto the bed.
Chloe pushed herself backwards reaching for Beca to pull her down. Beca unbuttoned her own shirt and tossed it to the floor quickly before crawling up to Chloe. Needing to feel Chloe's warm skin on hers, Beca pushed their chests together as she reconnected their lips. Chloe's hands were on Beca's hips but moved slowly to her lower back and then up her back dragging her short finger nails against Beca's skin until she got to her bra where she unhooked the garment. Beca pushed her body up enough to allow Chloe to pull it from her chest and then each arm.
Beca found the sensitive spot on Chloe's neck with her lips, her tongue and then lightly with her teeth causing Chloe's fingers to scrape across the width Beca's back. Beca moved down to leave a trail of kisses on Chloe's collarbone, chest, the swell of her bra clad breasts, the center of her toned abs and below her belly button. She reached her hands to Chloe's right hip to slide down the delicate zipper of Chloe's mini skirt. Chloe lifted her hips from the bed to allow Beca to remove the expensive fabric, dropping it to the floor next to the bed. Chloe threw her arms down on the bed above her head as she returned her hips to the bed while Beca placed her hands on Chloe's thighs and returned her lips to Chloe's right hip bone. She kissed the skin just above Chloe's panty line while squeezing her thighs gently. Chloe's eyes closed in anticipation as worked to control her breath. Beca's hands slid up Chloe's legs slowly as her lips worked over the delicate lace fabric of Chloe's black thong. Beca hooked both of her thumbs under Chloe's panties as she placed a delicate kiss over Chloe's center before pulling the fabric down and removing them.
Chloe bent her knee's pulling her legs up as Beca positioned herself in between them placing soft kisses on the inside of Chloe's left thigh. Chloe's right hand reached down towards Beca's hair as she picked her head up to look at her girlfriend. Chloe pushed some of Beca's hair behind her left ear as Beca slipped her tongue into Chloe's folds. Chloe's head dropped back down to the bed at the feeling of Beca licking up and down her adding soft kisses to the tender area. Chloe's hips bucked slightly as Beca pressed her tongue against Chloe's clit. Beca's thumb replaced her tongue on Chloe's clit as she drug her tongue back down through Chloe's slit. "No babe" Chloe moaned.
Beca stopped.
"Together" Chloe begged.
Beca pushed herself off of the bed to remove her pants and panties. Chloe reached her right hand out. Beca interlaced their fingers as she returned to the bed positioning herself directly over Chloe. Chloe reached up locking her lips to Beca's moaning at her taste on Beca's lips. Beca straddled Chloe's right leg and pulled the redhead's left over her right hip as she met their wet centers together. Beca paused at the sensation of Chloe against her and Chloe squeezed her hand. They began moving together creating the necessary friction they each craved. Chloe bit her bottom lip as she felt the tightness begin to form in the pit of her stomach. Beca darted down taking that lip between her own and Chloe raised her hips to keep the necessary contact. Beca increased the pace her hips were rocking as she continued to massage Chloe's tongue with her own. Chloe pulled out of the kiss, tilting her head to the side. "I'm" she breathed. "I'm close."
Beca pushed herself back up increasing pressure but maintaining a steady rhythm. "Okay" she nodded and whispered huskily.
"Cum with me" Chloe requested locking her eye's on Beca's.
"Okay"
Chloe straightened her left leg that was wrapped around Beca's hip and laid it up Beca's chest extending over the brunette's right shoulder changing the position of their centers slightly but enough to help push Beca over the edge. A couple more thrusts and Chloe began to come undone. Her free hand gripped the bed tightly. Beca's body reacted to Chloe as an orgasm ripped through her body. She was able to grind a little bit longer trying to prolong the feeling for as long as both girls could handle it. Beca turned her head and placed a kiss to the side of Chloe's knee before the redhead removed her leg letting it fall back down to the bed. Beca pushed herself off of Chloe and laid down on her stomach next to her girlfriend. Chloe let her breathing return to normal before she turned to her left to face Beca.
"I love you" Chloe whispered as she placed a soft kiss on Beca's bare shoulder.
Beca turned her head to face Chloe meeting her dark blue eyes Chloe's baby blues before turning to lay on her back sliding an arm underneath Chloe and pulling the actress to her chest. "I love you too" Beca replied as Chloe laid her head over Beca's heart and wrapping and arm across her waist.
AN: Song credit: Lost Boys by Ruth B (I'm obsessed with this at the moment)