Chapter 7: A Moment of Truth

The first thing Beca noticed when she woke up was the smell of food cooking. She slowly turned over, seeing Chloe still asleep next to her. Their camping trip had ended yesterday, and they welcomed the change of sleeping in a bed instead of a tent. Beca couldn't help but admire the redhead in her slumber. The way her hair sprawled out on the pillow, how her lips were slightly parted as her chest rose and fell — it was beautiful.

Chloe eventually began to stir, and the first thing she saw when she opened her eyes was Beca already looking at her. "Hey," she murmured softly, taking in a deep breath.

"Good morning." Beca reached over and tucked a stray piece of hair behind Chloe's ear. The two of them remained quiet for a moment, with Beca being the one to eventually break the silence. "How did you sleep last night?"

"Great, actually," Chloe said tiredly. "As much as I love camping, nothing beats the comfy mattress of an actual bed," she yawned, which Beca found absolutely adorable.

"Yeah, I'll pick a mattress over sleeping on the ground any day," Beca chuckled. She then put an arm around Chloe's waist. "You know, I sleep a lot better with you next to me," the brunette mentioned softly. Beca often said what was on her mind in the morning since she didn't have enough energy for a filter.

That comment made the young actress blush. "Is that your way of asking me to move in with you?" Chloe teased, making Beca chuckle tiredly.

"I mean, that wouldn't be the worst thing in the world," Beca said with a slight shrug.

"You're funny, Beca Mitchell," Chloe giggled before sitting up in bed. "What's the plan for today?" She asked.

"Well, I was thinking of working on music for a bit. This trip has me feeling inspired," Beca said. "How about you? What are you gonna be up to?"

"I'm going to spend a couple hours rehearsing my lines for This Is Us. The first table read is a few days after we're getting back to LA, and I want to make sure I'm prepared," Chloe said as she started to pull her hair back in a ponytail.

Beca sat up and leaned against the headboard. "You should have Tyler or Bailey practice your lines with you. They're big fans of that show."

"Bailey already offered to help, so I'm definitely going to take her up on that," Chloe replied with a smile.

"Well, if your character has any kissing scenes, let me know and I'll fill in," Beca said with a wink.

"Trust me, you'll be the first person to know," Chloe promised, winking back at the brunette.

Beca was currently in the basement, working on a song she'd be performing on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon. The talk show host was bringing her on to perform 'Watermelon Sugar', but she was also going to play this new one afterwards as a surprise.

Even though there wasn't a studio in her brother's house, Beca was still able to record some stuff since she had brought her laptop and a guitar. The brunette opened Logic Pro X on her MacBook, pulling up a blank song template to work on. She then picked up her guitar and began strumming different chords to see if any progressions struck her fancy.

Six words had been stuck in Beca's head ever since the party a few weeks ago. Shut up and dance with me. Chloe said that to her when they started to dance together. "Shut up and dance with me," Beca thought aloud. She closed her eyes as words started to fly around her head. Then, the lyrics for what would become the chorus of the song suddenly came to her.

"Shut Up and Dance" - WALK THE MOON

"'Oh, don't you dare look back

Just keep your eyes on me'

I said, 'You're holding back'

She said, 'Shut up and dance with me'

This woman is my destiny

She said, 'Ooh hoo

Shut up and dance with me.'"

"Nice job, sis."

Beca jumped a little when she first heard Tyler's voice. "You scared me," she chuckled as her brother walked into the room.

"Who's that song for?" Tyler teased, sitting down next to his sister.

Beca glared at her brother. "Shut up."

Tyler smirked, then his expression turned more serious. "Is that all you have so far? Because it sounds really good."

"Thanks," Beca muttered before tucking the pencil she was writing with in her ear. "I'm starting to get anxious, though. I know this is probably something you don't want to hear about, but Chloe and I...we haven't…you know."

"Ah," Tyler said, getting what Beca was hinting at. "Why are you anxious about that?" He asked.

"I just...I really like her," Beca started, feeling her cheeks turn red. "I don't want to mess up and have her break up with me because of that," the brunette continued.

"Have you seen the way Chloe looks at you? She's head over heels for you, dude. There's no way she'd break up with you over something small like that," Tyler reassured his sister.

If only she really was head over heels for me, Beca thought to herself. "Thank you, Tyler."

"Of course," Tyler stated. As the two siblings sat there together, a light bulb suddenly went off in the brother's head. "Hey, what if I helped you write some lyrics for this song?"

Beca was intrigued by this. "I never thought you'd want to help me write a song," she remarked.

"Well, I've been in your shoes before — maybe I can offer some perspective," Tyler pointed out.

"Fair enough." Beca then tore a piece of paper from her notebook and handed it to Tyler, giving him a pen as well. "How do you want to go about this? I usually start by singing a bunch of random words until they eventually make sense," she mentioned.

"Sounds good," Tyler said as he took the pen and paper from Beca. "What did you have in mind?"

"In terms of a story, the song is taking place on a dance floor. The inspiration for the lyrics I have so far came from a party that Chloe and I went to," Beca explained.

"What happened at this party?" Tyler inquired.

"Well…" Beca trailed off as memories from that night began to flood her brain. "...I was pretty nervous beforehand. There weren't too many people there, but Chloe was the only person I really knew."

Tyler started writing on the paper. "Tell me about when you two first got to the party."

Beca closed her eyes, recreating the scene in her head. "The first thing I noticed when I walked in was the music. It was so loud that the speakers seemed to be shaking," she recalled. "Chloe and I hung out on the balcony for a while, we talked, I was asked to play a couple songs. It was fun."

Tyler continued to write as his sister spoke. "So, what happened after that?" He asked, taking a break from the notepad for a second.

"Chloe's friend Stacie turned the music back on and said everyone should start dancing. I wasn't thrilled with the idea, but Chloe convinced me by telling me to 'shut up and dance' with her," Beca answered, a smile tugging at the corner of her mouth as she said that.

"Very nice," Tyler commented as he jotted down his final thoughts. "How about something like this?" He then gave the piece of paper back to his sister.

"Helpless to the bass and the fading light

Oh, we were bound to get together

Bound to get together

She took my arm

I don't know how it happened

We took the floor and she said..."

Beca smiled as Tyler read the lyrics he had come up with. "Those are perfect, Ty," she said, patting her brother on the back. "Maybe you got some songwriting genes in you after all."

Tyler chuckled and gave Beca a high five. "Thanks, sis. I hope that kick-starts some more lyric ideas for you."

Chloe and Bailey had just returned from a run and were doing some stretching out front. "It really is beautiful here," Chloe said while doing a quad stretch.

"You guys should get a vacation place out here," Bailey suggested. "You're always welcome to stay with us, of course, but I know it's nice to have your own space sometimes," she added with a smile.

"I mean, we just started dating, but it is something I'd consider," Chloe replied, reaching down for her toes.

"You know, Beca really likes you. I can see it in how she looks at you," Bailey mentioned before sitting on the ground to a butterfly stretch.

"Really?" Chloe asked, honestly pretty curious. "How does she look at me?"

"Like you're the only girl in the world, as Rihanna would say," Bailey answered with a soft chuckle.

Beca's just good at acting, Chloe thought to herself. Still, those words made her heart flutter a little bit. "She's one of the most amazing people I've ever met." Chloe switched to arm stretches. "I really like being with her. She makes me feel wanted." Even though hers and the singer's relationship was feigned, Beca did make her feel that way.

"You two are too cute," Bailey said while playfully scrunching her nose.

Chloe blushed. "We are pretty cute," she added, smiling at the thought of Beca.

"Are you just now realizing that?" Bailey teased.

"What? No, I've known that for a while," Chloe said. "I guess I just don't think about how cute we are all that often," she continued, which got Bailey to raise an eyebrow. "I just think more about how cute she is, that's all," the redhead explained.

"I'm sure she does the same when it comes to you. There have been quite a few times over the last couple days where I've caught her daydreaming," Bailey remarked.

"Hmm," Chloe hummed while going to open the door. "I wonder what she was daydreaming about."

Once they were inside the house, Chloe decided to spend some time rehearsing her lines for This Is Us. Beca was still working on music, now playing around with different instrumental elements. Bailey went downstairs to check on her sister-in-law while her husband went to pick up lunch for everyone. "How's the songwriting process going?" She asked, taking a sip of lemonade as she sat down near Beca.

"It's gone pretty well so far. I had writer's block at first, but Tyler helped me work through it," Beca answered with a smile. "I've never tried writing a song with him before, so that was cool."

"He's always admired your ability to write music," Bailey mentioned.

"Believe it or not, but Tyler wrote a lot of the lyrics for this song. I'm really impressed that he was able to come up with them so quickly."

"That's awesome," Bailey said, smiling at Beca's words. "Can I hear what you came up with, or is it a secret?" She asked.

"You'll be able to hear it if you tune into Jimmy Fallon's show next week," Beca teased, which caused her sister-in-law to pout playfully.

"You're really going to make me wait until then?" Bailey complained.

"Everyone else in the world has to wait until then," Beca pointed out. She then paused for a moment. "Actually, I guess they won't know they're waiting for a new song since I'm not going to announce it until right before it comes out."

"You're such a tease," Bailey chuckled. "But, I consider myself lucky to at least know you're coming out with a new song."

"You, Tyler, and my band are the only people who know. Jimmy Fallon doesn't know. Even Chloe doesn't know," Beca chuckled. She then pretended to be stern for a moment. "You better not tell Chloe about it. I don't want the surprise to be spoiled," the brunette stated.

"My lips are sealed." Bailey pretended to zip her lips, lock them, and throw away the key. "You two remind me of Tyler and I. It's so sweet to see you in a happy relationship." For a split second, Beca winced at what Bailey said. It was enough for her sister-in-law to notice. "What was that for?"

"Huh?" Beca asked, furrowing her eyebrows in confusion.

"You contorted your face just then," Bailey observed, a confused look on her face as well. "Why is that?"

Shit. Beca ran her fingers through her hair, frantically trying to come up with a response. "I, uh…"

"Is Chloe not treating you right?" Bailey asked, concerned.

"No, no. It's…" Beca trailed off again. It seemed that there was no way out for her; she had to tell Bailey the truth. The brunette took a deep breath. "What I'm about to tell you, you can't tell anyone else. And I mean it. Okay?"

Bailey nodded, a bit confused as to why Beca seemed so stressed to tell her this. "I promise I won't tell anyone," she vowed.

"Not even Tyler," Beca stated firmly.

"Not even Tyler," Bailey repeated back to her sister-in-law.

"Okay." Beca took a deep breath as she tried to think of how best to phrase this. "Chloe and I...we're not actually dating."

Bailey just sat there for a moment. "But you two seem so happy...you aren't even together?"

Beca shook her head. "It originally started as a publicity stunt arranged by our agents, but...I'd be lying if I said I haven't started to catch feelings for her," the brunette admitted.

"Beca…"

"I didn't mean for it to happen." Beca leaned back in her seat and let out a long sigh. "She's just so wonderful; I can't help it. Whenever I'm around her, I act like a flustered teenager around their crush."

"So, what are you going to do about these feelings?" Bailey asked.

Beca scratched her head. "I don't really want to do anything about it, not yet at least. I don't want to weird Chloe out and make the situation awkward," she replied.

"Is that what the song is about?" Bailey asked. "Is it about Chloe?"

The young singer looked down and nodded. "Yeah. It is."

"Well, I think Chloe will be flattered by the fact that you wrote a song about her. I don't know why she wouldn't," Bailey said.

After letting out a big sigh, Beca looked back up at Bailey. "I don't think she feels the same way about me."

"And what makes you think that? Because from what I've seen and heard, I wouldn't be surprised if she does," Bailey stated truthfully.

"She's a great actress," Beca pointed out.

"Acting can only go so far," Bailey countered. There was a moment of silence before she continued. "Out of curiosity, why did you agree to this publicity stunt in the first place?"

"I thought Chloe was really cool, and I could tell she was just as reluctant to do this as I was. We kind of bonded through that and made the best of it," Beca explained.

"I see."

"I really enjoy spending time with her, and being around her in general. She's a great person," Beca added with a soft smile.

"I can tell that you really do like this girl. Even if the relationship isn't real, you're not acting anymore," Bailey observed.

Beca couldn't help but chuckle. "You're not wrong." After she stopped laughing, the expression on Beca's face turned serious. "I honestly think I might be falling for her."

"Well, I hope that you find the courage to tell her one day. All you need is ten seconds of courage to tell someone how you feel about them," Bailey stated, hoping Beca found her advice to be helpful.

"I know. I just don't want to ruin what we already have by confessing my feelings too soon," Beca said quietly.

After her revealing chat with Bailey, Beca worked on "Shut Up and Dance" for another hour or so before she decided to check on Chloe. She found the redhead practicing her lines in the guest bedroom. "Hey, am I interrupting an important scene?" Beca asked, poking her head through the doorway.

Chloe got startled by Beca's voice at first, but she smiled when the brunette walked into the room. "No, not at all. What's up?"

"I finished working on music for the day, so I thought I would come see how you're doing with running your lines," Beca replied, sitting down on the end of the bed.

"It's convenient that you showed up just now — I have a kissing scene to rehearse," Chloe mentioned, wiggling her eyebrows at Beca.

Beca smirked. "Oh yeah? And which character is going to have the honor of kissing yours?" She asked.

"A character named Kyle, my character's ex-boyfriend from high school that I'm reconnecting with," Chloe explained while briefly looking over her lines.

"Sounds steamy," Beca joked.

"Yeah, right," Chloe said sarcastically. She then looked back up from her script. "Needless to say, I'd much rather kiss you."

Beca tilted her head to the side. "Really? Then I'll definitely help you rehearse, so you can experience it more with me than with your scene partner," she stated, a smile tugging at the corner of her mouth. "Can I see the script so I know what lines to say?"

"Of course," Chloe replied, flipping to the scene in her script before giving it to Beca. "Have you read a script before?" She asked curiously.

"I have, actually. When I was first trying to make it in the music industry, I ended up doing a couple cheesy commercials for some extra cash," Beca cringed at the memory. Chloe then handed her the script, so she looked over the lines real quick before getting into character.

"What makes you so eager to leave this town? You have family here, people that care about you."

"But do they care about what I want?" Chloe countered. "That's what I thought," she continued after Beca followed the stage direction to stay silent. "You, of all people, know I left to get out of here...to find people that are supportive of me."

"I never stopped supporting you," Beca said.

Chloe sighed. "Oh come on, Kyle."

"What, Sally? Give me an example of a time I didn't support you," Beca stated, raising her voice just a tad. "I supported you with every decision you made. As soon as you got accepted into Stanford, I supported your decision to leave even though it killed me. You were it for me, Sally."

"Kyle, I-" Chloe's voice caught in her throat, and she paused for a second. "I've lived in this town for almost my entire life. I can't stay here forever; I don't want to stay here forever. I need to spread my wings and see what else the world has to offer."

"Even if it means leaving the people you love?" Beca said, moving closer to Chloe. "I never left this town because I couldn't leave. Now you're back visiting, but you haven't stopped talking about how much you want to leave again. Hearing you say that almost hurts as much as watching you leave six years ago."

"Would you rather I lie to you?" Chloe asked. There were tears in her eyes, which impressed Beca. "I'm telling you the truth because I loved you too, and you deserve to know the truth. I don't lie to the people I love," the redhead stated firmly.

"You won't lie to them, but you'll abandon them without a second thought? Sally, I loved you more than I've ever loved anyone before," Beca whispered.

"I don't lie to the people I love," Chloe repeated. "Not being transparent would be doing them...you...a disservice. I can't stay here, Kyle."

Beca stepped back as the script told her to. "Then go. You've made it clear that nothing will ever bring you back here, and nothing will ever be enough for you to stay," she stated, her tone now cold. "Here's another disservice you should avoid from now on: giving me false hope," the brunette added.

Wait, that's not in the script...did Beca just improvise? Chloe thought. She quickly recovered by asking, "What do you mean by false hope? When did I do that?"

"When you told me you would come back," Beca answered, getting back on script. "I was going to come live with you in Stanford, but then my dad got sick. I had to take things over at the restaurant so my mom wouldn't be stuck doing it on her own. When I told you I couldn't leave, you said you'd come back for me. You never did."

"Things change, Kyle. People change. I'm not the same person I was six years ago. I'm not who I was when I made that promise," Chloe pointed out.

"Yeah, I know. You don't need to remind me." Beca paused for a moment to create more emotion for the delivery of the next line. "A lot of things did change, but the fact that I love you never did."

This caught Chloe's character off guard. "Y-you still love me?" Chloe asked, her voice barely above a whisper.

"It's like I said before, Sally. You were it for me, and that hasn't changed." Now it was Chloe's turn to stay silent. Beca waited for about a minute as the script instructed her to, then spoke again. "Please say something."

"I-I," was all that escaped Chloe's lips.

Then, the script instructed Kyle to nod and speak again. "That's all I need to hear. I should go." Beca turned away, only for Chloe to grab her hand and turn her back around.

"Wait," Chloe said quietly, gazing into Beca's eyes. She had the script pretty much memorized so she executed her next move, which was to run a hand through Kyle's (well, Beca's) hair.

Beca decided to improvise a little more by bringing her hand up to wipe a tear away from Chloe's cheek. "Sally," she muttered, which was part of the script. "I always hated seeing you cry."

Chloe couldn't help but laugh a little, sniffling as well. "I remember you saying that before," she murmured before putting a hand over Beca's hand that was still cupping her cheek.

"I hated it even more when I made you cry," Beca stated, using her free hand to tuck some strands of red hair behind Chloe's ear. "I'm sorry for ever making you cry," she added, their eyes glued on one another.

"It's okay," Chloe whispered back. Her gaze moved down from Beca's eyes to her lips and flickered between the two for a moment. The redhead then began to lean in slowly, making eye contact with the brunette again as their faces got closer. "I'm sorry for not keeping my promise to you."

Beca shook her head. "I forgave you a long time ago for that. I just never got a chance to vent or yell about it," she said, making Chloe laugh. Beca then leaned in closer, kissing Chloe's lips deeply but slowly.

It took a moment for Chloe to kiss Beca back, but she responded enthusiastically when she did. The redhead wrapped her arms around Beca's shoulders and pulled her closer to deepen the kiss.

"And scene." Beca smiled as she pulled away from the kiss. "You really are an excellent actress," the brunette said, tucking Chloe's hair behind her ear again.

"And you're not too shabby yourself. I think you were quite good, as a matter of fact," Chloe complimented, also smiling.

"I also think I'm a much better kisser than any guy that you'll have to kiss in Hollywood," the singer added.

Chloe chuckled at Beca's comment. "I second that statement." The redhead then brought Beca into a tight embrace, which surprised the brunette. "Thank you for rehearsing that with me. It means a lot," Chloe said softly.

"Anytime. After all, it's good practice in case we ever play a couple in one of my music videos," Beca commented, smirking.

"That's right," Chloe said, raising an eyebrow out of curiosity. "Would you actually consider me to play your love interest in a music video?"

"Oh, hell yeah. I'll take any chance I get to make out with you," Beca stated, being one hundred percent serious about that even though she said it in a playful manner.

Chloe could feel a blush creeping up onto her face. "Well then, I'll be happy to oblige if you ever need someone for that."

"Was that kiss how the directors want it to be? Or do I need to tone it down a notch to give you proper practice for the scene?" Beca asked curiously.

"Are you asking if you can kiss me again?" Chloe giggled.

"Maybe, maybe not," replied Beca, shrugging her shoulders. "Let's say I did want to kiss you again. How would you react to that?"

"Depends on how good you kiss me," Chloe answered with a wink.

Beca raised an eyebrow at Chloe. "Is that an invitation to go ahead and kiss you?" She wondered aloud.

Chloe responded by nodding her head, then starting to lean in slowly. "Yes, it is."

"Good," Beca muttered before closing the gap between them, which caused butterflies to erupt in Chloe's stomach. Beca sat back down on the bed and brought Chloe with her, pulling the redhead onto her lap. "Is this okay?" The brunette inquired.

"Mmhm," Chloe hummed. She moved her hands up to cup Beca's face, briefly pulling away from the kiss to smile at the brunette. "Has anyone ever told you how beautiful you are?"

"Wh-what?" Beca's face instantly began to heat up. Am I imagining this? She asked herself. "Uh, no, but thank you," she said sheepishly. The singer then pulled Chloe closer to her. "You're beautiful as well," she muttered before kissing the actress once again.

"Not as beautiful as you," Chloe murmured back, running her fingers through Beca's hair and gently tugging at the ends of it.

The kiss continued to grow in intensity, and this was definitely the most passionate the two women had been with each other. "Chloe," Beca whispered.

Chloe stopped for a moment. "Yeah?"

"Are you okay with this?" Beca asked after a moment of silence. She bit her bottom lip as she awaited Chloe's answer.

The redhead took a deep breath before she responded. "I am. Are you?"

At first, Beca didn't say anything. She had wanted this for awhile, and couldn't believe she was in this position. The way Chloe was looking at her made her heart race even faster. "I am too," the brunette finally declared.

Chloe studied Beca's face for a moment. She could tell the brunette was still hesitant, even though she had said she was okay with this. "Are you sure?"

Beca closed her eyes and sighed softly. "I want this, but I'm a little confused," she said quietly.

"Why are you confused?" Chloe asked curiously.

"I guess I'm confused about what it means...or if it even means anything," Beca admitted, her voice barely above a whisper now.

Chloe furrowed her eyebrows at the brunette's words. "What do you want it to mean?" She asked, still caressing Beca's hair with her hand.

By now, sirens were going off in Beca's head telling her to abort the mission. She hadn't meant to get on that topic of discussion, but here they were. The brunette looked away from Chloe as she tried to find a way out of this hole. "I…" Beca looked back to Chloe, whose eyes had a touch of concern in them. "I can't right now, I'm sorry," she said before getting up swiftly and leaving a dumbfounded Chloe behind her.

Well, well, well. Beca is getting closer to telling Chloe how she feels, and Chloe is starting to realize she may have feelings for Beca too. These next couple chapters are going to be action-packed, so stay tuned!