Author's Notes: Hey guys, in honour of the fact that I'm about to start writing the final chapter, (yes, I have finally made it) I thought I would post another chapter today. Also, this one and the next few are some of my favourites. So I really hope you enjoy them as much as I did writing them. And Happy Independence Day to all of my American readers. Have a great and safe day. Enjoy! :)

Standing in a large glass pod, Stacie and Beca look out over the city of London. Stacie grabs Beca and pulls her into a selfie with the Big Ben in the background. Stacie laughs at Beca's grumbling, but Beca secretly loving it. It had been so long since she had gone on an adventure with Stacie. Stacie had been in London for four days and she had been stuffing Beca with food ever since. Beca still looked a little underweight, but she was looking less gaunt. Beca had also been sleeping better and honestly hadn't felt this good in months.
"Beca, this city is beautiful!" Stacie says, in awe, looking at all the beautiful buildings.
"It's a cool place, but I do miss New York." Beca says, with a sigh.
"It smells better here though." Stacie says, thoughtfully.
"I never thought I'd say this, but I miss the smell of grime and urine." Beca admits, with a sheepish grin.
"With a mix of dirty water hotdogs and a mountain load of trash bags." Stacie sniggers, as Beca starts laughing, nodding her head.

Beca turns back towards the window as their pod gets higher, she brought her camera with her today. She takes care not to get to close to the edge as Beca's heart thumps a little. Being up this high never sat to well with Beca. She takes a deep breath before she snaps a few pictures of the city, capturing the most famous parts of London.
"I thought you weren't supposed to be working this week." Stacie says, with a whine.
"I'm not, I just figured since we're up here, I'd take some pictures." Beca shrugs, before muttering, "And if I do it now, I won't have to come back up here again."
"Oh Hello Scaredy Cat Beca, it's been a few years." Stacie says, sarcastically.
"Shut up! I'm just not good with heights, you know that. Besides, I'm only up here because you wanted to come up here." Beca rolls her eyes, snapping another photo.
"Sure blame me for wanting to do touristy things. You know, we haven't had an adventure since we went to Niagara Falls. Almost four and a half years, Beca!" Stacie cries, "So don't make me feel bad for wanting to do something awesome with my best friend in the whole wide world. You could at least pretend you're enjoying yourself."
"God! Laying guilt trip on a bit thick, aren't we Stace?" Beca says, rather amused, "Fine, I won't whinge about it. I'm enjoying myself. See?" Beca plasters a huge smile on her face.

Stacie grins, she had missed bantering with Beca. She will be sad to leave her again, but she know it's only for a few more months and then Beca is coming home for good. Stacie couldn't wait for Beca to come home, New York hadn't been the same without her. Stacie throws her arms around Beca, giving her a giant squeeze.
"Why is this happening?" Beca asks, a little startled.
"Can't I just hug you without you being suspicious?" Stacie says, squeezing her harder.
Beca smirks, knowing how much Stacie had missed her. She feels extremely loved as her best friend continues to hug her.
"Ok, ok, I won't question your motives, but I'm still not putting out tonight." Beca jokes, remembering she woke up with Stacie spooning her this morning.
Stacie lets go suddenly, "Well, damn Beca!"

*ring ring*

"I'm going to answer this, but I'm going to pretend that our friendship is more than just friendly hugs, because if it's not, than I don't even know why I'm here!" Stacie pretends to be very offended that Beca's not willing to have sex with her, "And don't get to close to window, it might break."
Beca knows she's joking, but she eyes the window cautiously. Stacie smirks at Beca taking her words a little seriously. She looks down at her phone and sees Aubrey is calling her.
"Hey Bree." She answers, gleefully.

Beca ignores the conversation and lifts her camera to take pictures of the surrounding areas of the London Eye. She pans down toward the riverside, she see a cool little market place set up by the River Thames. There were so many people out and enjoying themselves. So many people laughing and smiling, enjoying the beautiful spring day. She takes a picture of the happy people, when something catches her eye. Someone was sitting on the large cement wall that was built along the river, just dangling their legs over the edge. Beca found this behaviour very strange, the last thing you want to do is to fall into the river. Beca zooms in a little closer and is shocked at who she sees.

*click*

'That couldn't have been her, could it?' Beca thinks, lift her face away from her camera.
"WELL WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU LOST HER? HOW THE HELL DID YOU LOSE HER?" Stacie shouts, very concerned.
The shouting temporally startled Beca, she looks up and sees a very white looking Stacie. Beca turns back to the river, trying to find the person she saw again, but alas she was gone.
"I'm 400ft in the air at the moment, I'm not going to be any help for at least another 20 minutes!" Stacie stresses, clutching her head.
Something about that sentence tweaks Beca's interest, briefly forgetting the weird picture she just took. She looks over at Stacie. She wraps up the call promising to help as soon as the get back on the ground.
"What was that about?" Beca asks, looking up from her camera.
"Ah, so it turns out Aubrey, Amy and Chloe decided to come over for a visit." Stacie explains, "But they stopped to get some food and they got separated from Chloe."
Beca's eyes widen in surprise, suddenly remembering the surprising picture she took. She clicks open her photos. She pulls up the one she just took.
"I knew it! I knew it was her!" Beca exclaims, pointing at her camera, "I saw her sitting down by the river! I thought I was hallucinating."

Stacie rushes over to look at the picture and there she was, Chloe Beale, sitting on the concrete wall letting her red hair blow in the breeze. Her red hair sparkles in the sun and she has a very relaxed look on her face as she leans back embracing the sun on her face. Everything around her is busy and chaotic, but Chloe seems to not even notice.
"Once again, you take an amazing picture of our reckless woman." Stacie shakes her somewhat amused.
"She appears at very strange times in my life, doesn't she?" Beca muses, staring down at the picture.
"That she does. I better call Aubrey and give her an area they can search. Chloe's apparently not answering her phone." Stacie says, taking out her phone.
"I can't believe they're here. Why didn't they tell us?" Beca asks, surprised.
"They wanted it to be a surprised, I guess." Stacie shrugs as she puts the phone to her ear, "We'll down soon and we can look for her."
Beca turns back to the window, looking out over the city again. She was closer to Chloe than she had been in 15 months. The thought makes her heart rate quicken.

…

"Ok, ok, I get it! I'm not allowed to sit on the wall." Chloe says to the police officer that was pulling her through the crowded market place.
"Miss, you could have fallen in." He grunts, annoyed.
"I'm sorry, I got lost and being by the water calms me down." Chloe says, sheepishly.
"I don't care what your excuse is. If I see you near the wall again, I will arrest you." The officer rolls his eyes, "Bloody Yanks!" He mutters as he walks away.
Chloe breaths a sigh of relief, the last thing she needed was to get arrested. She walks back through the market place, looking at all the pretty wares that are for sale. Chloe looks around, she wasn't completely sure where she was. A part of her feels guilty for wandering off on Aubrey and Amy. They stopped for food and Chloe got distracted and then got lost in the crowd. Somehow she ended up here.

But the market place was very cool, Chloe decides to stick around for a while. Maybe her friends weren't to far away and if she stayed in one area they'll probably find her. Chloe continues to look at all the stalls, gazing at all the interesting items for sale. She walked around the markets for another 10 minutes, purchasing a few items that would go well in her room back home. Chloe looks around again, she still hadn't come across her friend's yet.
"Maybe I'll just call them." Wondering why on earth she didn't think of that before.
She reaches into her bag to look for her phone when she realises it's not there. Chloe tries not to panic too much.
'At least I'm in an English speaking country.' Chloe thinks, trying not feel too overwhelmed.
Chloe can't seem to recall the hotel they decided to stay in, they came here so quickly and Aubrey was the one who booked everything. She instead tries to remember where Beca lived, maybe she could go there instead. She takes a deep breath and thinks about all the things that Beca said to her about where she lived. She remembers something about her living near Hyde Park. Maybe she could catch a cab over there or maybe she could walk.
"It can't be that far." Chloe thinks out loud.

She asks someone walking past her how Hyde Park was from here. They informed her it wasn't far by car but it was at least a 35 minute walk. Chloe was already lost in a foreign city, she didn't want to make her situation worse. She decides to take a cab. She hops into a shiny black cab, asking to be taken to Hyde Park. She was eternally grate she still had her purse with all of her money and ID. Chloe gazes out the window as they crossed the Westminster Bridge. Chloe looks up at Big Ben, wishing she knew where her phone was so she could take pictures. She couldn't believe what a beautiful city London was, it seemed so historic. Chloe lets out a gasp as she sees the Buckingham Palace come into view.
"So pretty!" Chloe gasps in awe at the magnificent structure.
A few minutes later Hyde Park comes into view. It was then Chloe starts to get a little worried. She didn't realise Hyde Park was huge.

After Chloe pays the taxi driver and gets out. She looks around at the beautiful park, but it wasn't providing her any comfort.
"Well shit! It's almost the size of Central Park." Chloe anxiously, turning her head from side to side.
Looking around nothing about her surroundings looked like Beca ever described to her, maybe Beca didn't live near here after all or maybe she lived on the other side.
"Jesus Chloe, why didn't you just stay where you were?" Chloe huffs at herself.
Chloe notices a hotel across from the park. She's not sure if it was her one but she might be able to use a phone. She enters the hotel, admiring the fancy foyer. Marble floors as far as the eye can see with a big fountain right in the middle. Chloe approaches the main desk, explaining her situation. The happily let her use the phone.

"Hello…Aubrey.." Chloe says, finally reaching her.
"Where the hell are you? I have been calling you for almost an hour!' Aubrey shouts down the phone.
"I'm sorry I got lost. I was near the London eye for a while but I still couldn't find you, so now I'm near Hyde Park." Chloe explains, looking around.
"Hyde Park! That's no where near where we are! Jesus! Why didn't you call us?" Aubrey continues to shout.
"I've lost my phone, I'm sorry!" Chloe apologies, feeling a little guilty.
"You've obviously lost your mind too!" Aubrey mutters, very annoyed and worried, "Just tell me exactly where you are and don't move!"

Chloe gives Aubrey the details of the hotel she was currently in, promising she wouldn't leave. Chloe felt a little guilty having made her friends very worried. The woman at the desk says she should wait in the bar and would tell her friends where she was when they arrived. Chloe walks into the bar that was just off the the foyer. It had beautiful white panelled walls, with grand chandeliers hanging from the moulded ceiling. The bar had beautiful hardwood floors and expertly crafted leather chairs at every table. Behind the very long bar was built in glass shelves that were all lit up to show off the types of alcohol they carried. Off to side of the room were floor to ceiling windows, giving guests fantastic views over Hyde Park. The bar was fairly empty, it was just after lunch. Chloe presumed she missed the lunch time rush. She goes and sits up at the bar and orders a drink. She might as well have one after the day she's having.

"Well it least it can't get any worse." She mutters to herself as her drink gets put in front of her.
"What can't, love?" Asks the bartender.
Chloe looks up and sees a man smiling at her, he wouldn't be older than 50 with average built and salt and pepper hair.
"My day." Chloe answers with a sigh.
"Do you want to talk about it?" He asks, with a grin.
"Isn't that a little cliché? Talking about your life's problems with a bartender?" Chloe smirks a little.
The man chuckles heartedly, "I suppose you're right, but I can't imagine it would hurt."
"I guess so." Chloe shrugs, "Have you ever messed up really badly and you're not sure how to fix it?"
The man thinks for a moment, "I guess that depends on what you did."

Chloe sighs taking a long drink from her glass of wine.
"My girlfriend and I broke up a while ago because she came over here for work." She starts, "I thought we could stay in touch and it wouldn't matter how long she was gone for. And then when she got back home, we could just get back together."
"So you're an optimist?" He asks, leaning against the counter.
Chloe snorts, "Yeah, I guess I am."
"Well that's not always a bad thing." He smiles kindly.
"But I didn't stay in touch like I really wanted too." Chloe admits, continuing the story.
"How come?" He asks, seemingly interested in Chloe's story.
"A few reasons…But, I thought if I stayed away, she wouldn't regret leaving." Chloe leanings her head again her hand.
"Did that work?" He asks, tilting his head.
"No." Chloe says before taking another mouthful of her drink.

The man can see his customer was having a rough day, so he continues to listen to her story hoping he can make her feel better.
"So, is that what you did to mess up?" He asks, wondering if he was close.
"Pfft! I wish! You see, I found out she had a one night stand with her high school crush while she was travelling." She explains, "And I kind of lost it and stop the contact with her all together."
"So, you were jealous?"
"Yeah." Chloe's sighs, disappointed in herself.
"But, she didn't do anything wrong, right? You guys aren't together." He says, trying to figure out what kind of advice he needed to give.
"I know, I had no right to get upset! But you should see this woman!" Chloe says, trying not to feel so bad about being jealous, "She's this gorgeous 6ft blonde German Goddess. She has these big beautiful blue eyes, amazing smile and a body any woman would kill for. Oh and of course she turns out to be a god damn model! Ugh! I can't stand it!"
"Did you stalk her on social media?" He gives her a raised eyebrow.
"I am offended that you would insinuate that I would do such a th…" Chloe starts, quite offended, before the bartender's face makes her admit the truth, "Yeah ok, I did!"
The bartender gives her a sympathetic laugh, "Well love, you can't help your feelings, but you should talk to ex girlfriend. Maybe you can still fix things."

Chloe smiles at him, "That's what I'm doing here in London. I came over to surprise her, but I got separated from my friends and ended up here. I'm waiting for them to come get me now, because of course, I also lost my phone."
"I can see now why you're having such a rough day." He chuckles, "But the universe is a funny place, so don't go saying you're day can't get worse again, because I can guarantee it'll throw something else at you."
Chloe laughs nervously, "Oh god! I hope not!"
"Ah, look love, your friends will be here soon and you can get everything sorted out." He gives her a genuine smile, "But until then, I'm Arthur, your friendly bartender."
He holds his hand out to shake Chloe's, she laughs lightly, taking his hand and shaking it.
"I'm Chloe, the crazy American."
"It's a pleasure. Now let me get you another drink, it'll calm the nerves." He says, giving her a knowing wink.

Arthur walks away to get Chloe another drink. Chloe turns her stool to look out the window. Hyde Park reminded her so much of Central Park, though not quite as many trees. Chloe relishes in the thought she would be speaking to Beca really soon. She could apologise for everything. She hopes they could start over, maybe even if they just start out as friends again. Chloe would take anything at this point. Chloe turns her stool back around, she suddenly hears footsteps approaching her. It couldn't be Aubrey yet, she had only been in the bar for 5 or so minutes. She turns her head slightly just to have a glimpse of who entered. Chloe's stomach drops and her breath catches in her throat.
'Holy. Fuck.' Chloe thinks as they walk past her and sit down the other end of the long bar.
Chloe seems rooted to her seat, her heart starts to race and she begins to get incredibly nervous. She feels a lump in her throat as she turns her head towards the other end of the bar.
"Oh my god!" Chloe whispers, snapping her head back to her empty glass.

Arthur begins to return with a new glass of wine for Chloe, speaking with the new guest that he'd be back in a second.
"Here we are love, a nice glass of liquid courage otherwise known as Moscato." He chuckles, before noticing Chloe was having a mild freak out, "What's the matter?"
"Arthur!" Chloe whispers as quietly as she could, "That's her!"
Arthur had been a bartender for a long time, so when a customer gives a general point to something, while giving a panicked whisper, he knew not to be obvious when he looked. He slowly gives the customer another glance, before he realises who she's talking about. She was tall, blonde, with big beautiful blue eyes.
"The German goddess?" He asks, whispering back, Chloe nods desperately, "Oh damn, the universe is really messing with you today!"