Thank you again for the reviews and the follows guys. I hope you enjoy chapter 5
(though it broke my heart to write the flashbacks)
Beca let out a long sigh as she lay on her back, her hands together resting on her stomach as she felt her chest and stomach rise and fall with each breath she took. She turned her head to her left, seeing the familiar figure of her best friend in the single bed beside her, curled up on her right-side, breathing heavily as she slept. Beca resumed her eyes on the ceiling of their Final Spanish hotel room and for a fleeting moment was jealous of how quickly Chloe could fall asleep. As far as she was aware, and the evidence from the past two hotel rooms they had shared, Chloe fell asleep very quickly and was not easily disturbed.
As she stared up at the ceiling and listened to Chloe's heavy breathing, memories and thoughts came to the forefront of Beca's mind and she envisioned the memories as though they were projected onto a screen before her. The worst argument she'd ever had with Chloe when they'd been at that stupid acapella bootcamp in their final year of college. She remembered how heartbroken Chloe had looked when she had accused her of being too afraid to leave college. The moment they had spoken about it around the campfire with the other Bella's. Chloe had initiated Beca's audition song which they'd all sung together. The moment it had finished was the moment Beca had suddenly realised she may feel something more for Chloe than just friendship. She remembered laying awake that entire night before finally finding the courage to quietly ask Chloe if she wanted to go for a walk. She'd wanted to see if her feelings still stood, but whilst they sat by the lake together the topic had turned to Jesse. Beca's heart had immediately dropped when Chloe had encouraged her to stick with the difficult relationship, telling her it wouldn't be long-distance for much longer, and Beca had felt guilty for even thinking of feelings that she may have for the redhead because they were clearly unrequited.
Beca turned around in her bed to face Chloe and she let out a long sigh. She hated the way Fat Amy always insisted on nicknaming them 'Bhloe'. It made her feel uncomfortable. Not because she and Chloe had a nickname. That didn't bother her. It was more because the word 'Bhloe' sounded so degrading. As though the two of them together was something to be ashamed about. Not that they were together. But in recent days it had occurred to Beca that actually Fat Amy was teasing her for a legitimate reason. Because Beca had come to realise that she did have feelings for Chloe. Strong feelings. And she really didn't know what to do.
The women gathered in a small circle in the lobby of their London hotel, suitcases gathered between them as they stood, drained, waiting for Fat Amy who had gone over to the reception desk to check them in. Beca, who had been decidedly unsociable since the flight by putting her headphones on, perched on the edge of her upright suitcase as she listened to a song on Spotify. She was grumpy and irritable, a curse she had whenever she was tired. But above all things she was annoyed that Fat Amy still insisted on using 'Bhloe' as a romantic term for her and Chloe. She'd decided that for the meantime if she didn't interact with the redhead in public then they were less likely to get teased. Fortunately her group were sympathetic to her hot-headed nature having travelled with her during their US Tour a couple of years back. And they had been cooped up on a tour bus throughout that time. At least during this tour they'd been staying in hotels.
Beca slid her headphones around her neck when Fat Amy approached the group with a big grin. She held five large keyrings with a key attached to each of them. "Alright, sooooo we've got four twin rooms and a double." Beca furrowed her brow slightly, much like a couple of the Bella's had. All their previous hotels had provided twin rooms for them, why not now? It was then that Beca noticed four of the keyrings were blue, presumably belonging to the twin rooms, and one keyring was red, which was presumably the double room. Amy began handing the keys out, "Jessica and Ashley a key for you. Staci and Flo a key for you. Cynthia-Rose and Lily here you go." Beca swallowed loudly. There was only one blue keyring left, then there was the red keyring. For some reason, throughout the tour, Beca had always ended up sharing a room with Chloe, which hadn't been a problem when their room had been a twin and there were two single beds inside. Her biggest fear was that by sharing a double room with Chloe, the Bella's would start gossiping about them. She didn't mind that so much for her sake, but she was concerned that it may upset Chloe in some way, the redhead being far more sensitive than her.
Now the only people remaining in the group was Fat Amy, Aubrey, Chloe and herself. If it had been three years ago then the room-sharing would have been a no-brainer: she would have gone with Fat Amy, as they had been roommates throughout college. And Aubrey and Chloe had been roommates whilst Aubrey had been at Barden University, so it would've made sense that they shared a room on this tour too. But for some reason, because Beca and Chloe shared an apartment together in NY anyway and had arrived at the first hotel in Spain together at the beginning of the tour, the Bella's had assumed the two would want to share a room too. At each hotel they stayed in. And Beca hadn't minded in the first instance. But during the tour it hadn't been uncommon for Fat Amy to make small, embarrassing comments that implied that Beca fancied Chloe, that Chloe fancied Beca, or that the two of them were made for each other, or even that they may be meeting up in secret. Comments that irritated Beca so much so that she was looking forward to the tour ending so that if she happened to glance at Chloe she wouldn't be immediately teased. Because she liked glancing at Chloe.
Beca held her breath as watched Fat Amy hold the final blue keyring towards Aubrey, "Aubrey, here's our key, come on, you and me." Beca's stomach flipped. She and Chloe would be sharing a room for this leg of the tour, but this time they would also have to share a bed. She saw Fat Amy hold the final keyring out at Chloe who had a broad smile on her face, "Chloe, you and Beca can have the room at the end." And the redhead took the keyring eagerly, "Ooh the double!" she exclaimed excitably in a way that only Chloe did and Beca rolled her eyes, knowing full well that the redhead was presuming this meant a bigger wardrobe. Chloe had this way of oozing an innocent child-like excitement about the small things in life. Like the time some kid in the coffee shop back in NYC had left a bottle of bubbles behind, so she had taken them home and found a lot of pleasure in blowing as many bubbles with one breath, or the biggest bubble possible. Beca had to admit she'd enjoyed it too, bubbles having never crossed her mind as an activity before then. Plus Chloe's giggling had been like music to her ears.
As the Bella's gathered their suitcases Beca sighed, "You know, guys, just because Chloe and I live together doesn't mean we have to share a room too. I see enough of this girl as it is without having to share a room with her." But the women took little notice, with several of them telling her it was "alright" and that they'd "shared a room in the past six hotels" so they "might as well share in this one too". Beca let out another sigh as she pulled her headphones back up to her ears and began following the Bella's to the hotel's elevator. At least they were all on the same floor.
It was decided that they would all drop their suitcases off to their rooms, then meet down in the lobby in an hour to go out for lunch. Beca continued listening to music, even as the Bella's peeled off from the group two-by-two, until soon it was only her and Chloe left walking towards the hotel room further up the corridor. Chloe glanced at her whilst unlocking the door. Beca pulled her headphones back down around her neck and couldn't help the slight "wow" that tumbled out of her mouth as she saw the room that would be theirs for the next four nights. She heard Chloe elicit her little signature excitable squeal as she ran over to the large wardrobe that stood to the right-side of the bedroom.
Beca hadn't realised the small smile that had appeared in the corner of her mouth which quickly dropped when she saw the double bed. Suddenly she felt very nervous. She hadn't shared a bed or been in a shared-sleeping situation with Chloe since the acapella bootcamp in their final year at Barden University. And back then they'd been sharing a tent with eight other Bella's.
Beca lay on her left side, eyes closed, ignoring how uncomfortable sleeping on the ground was as the earth beneath the ground sheet of the tent dug into her left hip. She wasn't sure what time it was nor how long she'd drifted off for. The last thing she remembered was laying on her back, staring up at the canvas ceiling of the tent that she was sharing with her fellow Bella's on their final night of this bootcamp. This stupid retreat that Chloe had insisted on. Except…Beca had surprised herself last night around the campfire when she'd suddenly realised that maybe this hadn't been such a ridiculous idea after all.
Beca kept her eyes closed, taking a deep inhale of breath and smiling as she smelt Chloe's perfume. She twirled a lock of hair between her fingers and thumb, presuming it to be hers, whilst she mulled over last night. Chloe had initiated her audition song around the campfire. She had looked over at her tentatively as she'd begun singing the first line of that song and Beca had simply smiled, surprised that her best friend had plucked that song out of nowhere, a song that she and their fellow Bella's had sung to death together during their sophomore year. There had been a moment when Chloe had looked at her intently, hopefully, as she'd sung the lyrics "and I'm leaving tomorrow, what d'you say?" And Beca felt herself being held in Chloe's gaze, as though the redhead was asking her specifically to run away with her. Her heart had been racing as she'd begun to sing the next line of the song only for Fat Amy to chime in, which had made the brunette jump and drag her attention from Chloe whilst the Bella's continued with the song.
Beca swallowed as she remembered the song finishing. She remembered looking down at her feet as she sang the final lyric, pausing as she stared at her fingers. Flashing in her mind had been Chloe's face, the expression she'd had on her face as they had sung to one another from across the campfire. And suddenly Beca had felt butterflies in her stomach, remembering what her best friend had said to her in the tent the night before, about how this retreat would help them find everything out about each other. But Beca hadn't banked on finding out something about herself. And a small smile had grown on her face as she realised that she felt for Chloe something that she didn't feel for any of the other Bella's. She wasn't sure what, but it was something. And the brunette had turned to look at Chloe with a shy smile, her heart skipping a beat as she saw that not only had her best friend already been looking at her, but the moment their eyes had locked Chloe's face had opened up into a broad smile, clearly thrilled to see Beca looking over at her.
Beca opened her eyes, surprised to see that the dawn light was slowly beginning to arrive, giving the tent just enough light for Beca to become aware of her surroundings. She glanced down at the lock of hair that she had been twirling between her fingers and thumb and her breath caught in her throat as she realised that she had been twirling the end of a lock of Chloe's red hair as it splayed out on the pillow they were sharing. Beca looked from the hair over to Chloe's face. Her heart skipped a beat as she realised the redhead wasn't asleep as she's first thought but was instead staring up at the canvas ceiling deep in thought. Neither woman had spoken to one another since being around that campfire last night. Not even when they had settled down in the tent with the rest of their Bella's around midnight. Beca wondered if Chloe was also thinking about the campfire last night. And if she was then had she had that same odd feeling that Beca had had? Butterflies dashing around her stomach. Leading to imagining a scenario where maybe they spoke about their feelings, and realised they both felt the same way, and decided to actually do something about it before it was too late. Before they both graduated and had to go home to two different states. Perhaps never to see each other again.
Beca's stomach lurched as she continued to look at the silhouette of her best friend. There was only five weeks left before they graduated. She couldn't imagine what it would be like not seeing the beautiful redhead every day. Wait what? Did she just call Chloe beautiful? Beca frowned as she thought about her wording. Sure…yes of course she was beautiful. I mean, she had those bright blue eyes that shone whenever she was excited about something, which was far more than any other twenty four year old probably should get. And Beca had to admit she really liked Chloe's hands. Her fingers were long and slender, and she so often swung them about dramatically when she was talking. Beca smirked as she thought about the times Chloe would get very dramatic. She was so passionate about things. Beca admired her for that. It was annoying, sure. But still admiral in Beca's books.
She continued to look at her best friend, wondering what was going through her mind. Chloe had revealed last night to the group just how scared she was about graduating and Beca wondered if that was what she was thinking about now. They only had five weeks left and Beca had to admit to herself, she was scared too. Scared because graduating meant diving into the real world. And her experience of the 'real world' interning at Residual Heat hadn't been nearly as glamorous or positive as she'd hoped it would be when she'd accepted the job. So for now she wanted to make the most of the safe life she had here with The Bella's. Here with her best friend.
Beca let go of the small lock of hair that she'd forgotten she'd been holding, and gently nudged Chloe's left shoulder. She saw the redhead turn her head slowly to face her and Beca noticed Chloe swallow loudly. She knew why. Their noses were a mere inch from one another. If there was anyone she could talk to about her career fears it was this woman, who had been her biggest advocate from the moment they had first met.
"Wanna go for a walk?" Beca found herself whispering almost silently to her best friend, trying to ignore the feel of Chloe's breath on her face. She knew she would say yes and the redhead indeed nodded her head. So Beca crawled out of her sleeping bag as silently as possible, hoping not to wake the Bella's around her. Particularly Fat Amy who would no doubt want to join them. Beca didn't want anyone to join them. She paused for a moment once she had stood up, looking down at her best friend who was trying to crawl out of her own sleeping bag quietly. Beca held her hand out to Chloe which she immediately took to help her stand. The brunette found her heart rate increase slightly, realising that she liked the feel of Chloe's hand in hers. So she changed her hand position so she could still hold her hand and easily guide them out of the tent, tiptoeing over the Bella's as they went.
The early morning daylight hit Beca's face and she had to let go of Chloe's hand to rub her eyes slightly while slowly walking over to the edge of the lake that stood just beyond the large tent they had been staying in. She knew Chloe was walking alongside her but was disappointed to notice that the woman had folded her arms. She may have held her hand again if her hand had been free. So instead of walking further Beca decided to sit down on the grass by the lake, crossing her legs as she did so. This was far enough from the tent that their friends wouldn't listen in on their conversation if they were awake. The thing was, what was she going to say that she wouldn't want The Bella's to know? Beca was unsure.
She looked up to her left at Chloe who was looking down at her nervously. They hadn't been alone like this in a long time. And in the past Beca wouldn't have felt nervous. She wouldn't have felt anything actually. It was just Chloe. But after last nights campfire…well that was the thing. Now instead of it being just Chloe it was…Chloe. She was alone with Chloe. The girl who had given her stomach butterflies with just one look three and a half years ago at her Bellas audition, and then last night. Beca turned to look at the lake as she heard Chloe take a deep breath before sitting beside her, crossing her legs, her right knee resting against Beca's left. This girl who was the only person on the planet who Beca didn't feel awkward being around. She even struggled with Jesse sometimes, and he was her boyfriend! At least…she thought he still was? Beca pulled a blade of grass from the ground beside her and began moving it between her fingertips as she looked out at the lake. She could tell Chloe was looking intently at her, desperate for her to say something. The first thing since they had been in the tent.
"You know I really am sorry I didn't tell you sooner about my job." Beca said nervously in a low voice. It has been plaguing her over the past few months. Every time she had to dash away from rehearsals. Every time she had handed Chloe a new arrangement for the Bella's to rehearse, knowing it hadn't been up to standard because she was so tired from juggling college assignments with her internship. The guilt she had felt when Chloe had given her concerned looks, clearly sensing that something was up, so Beca would just scurry upstairs to her room. "I just didn't want you to freak out and feel like I was leaving you on your own."
"Are you kidding me?" Beca heard her best friend exclaim quietly, "Beca, I'm so proud of you!" Beca moved her focus down to the blade of grass in her hands as she felt a huge surge of emotion wash over her body. This was uncharacteristic for the brunette. At least it had been, until this past year and the pressures of having to juggle everything whilst keeping it a secret from her very best friend. The woman who was currently gushing about how inspirational she was. Beca felt a lump form in her throat as Chloe mentioned her maintaining a long-distance relationship, and she could feel tears begin to well up in her eyes. It was all well and good Chloe complimenting her. It was what Chloe was best at. Telling her all the ways that she was awesome. And a small smile that Beca hadn't even realised had been on her face dropped. She turned her head to her left to look at her best friend,
"So why do I feel like a failure?" She stared into Chloe's bright blue eyes for a moment as she revealed the one thing that had been on her mind for so long. Beca was surprised that the redhead hadn't put her arm around her to pull her into a hug, or taken her hand as some form of comfort. Normally Beca would flinch away from that sort of contact, even from Chloe, but right now she could really do with a hug. Chloe hadn't said anything though, so Beca turned back to the lake, trying to blink back her tears as she spoke, "My boss doesn't think I'm original enough to make it as a music producer."
"You've got Emily now though, right?" She heard her best friend offer with a quiet optimistic tone, which Beca shrugged at before nodding. "So you produce an awesome demo, then you tell your boss to stick it, and take his job instead." Beca couldn't help but smile slightly at Chloe's suggestion, looking down at the blade of grass in her hand. This was exactly what she'd needed. Chloe was exactly what she'd needed and realising this made her even more disappointed in herself that she'd not told her best friend sooner,"You and your pep talks…" Beca joked before letting out a long sigh and confessed quietly, "I should've told you sooner."
She couldn't bring herself to look at the woman beside her. Not yet anyway. She was nervous. And confused. What should she have told her? Obviously about the internship. But what about those butterflies Chloe had given her last night after that look they'd shared? She'd felt like that before, at her audition three and a half years before then. What if she'd acted upon that feeling later on at the Barden Acapella Hood Night? Before catching Chloe making out with some guy. Maybe then she would have been the one making out with her? There'd been nothing in the rules against making out with a fellow Bella… "It's not until last night that I realised the reason why I'd been so stressed out was because I was hiding something from you." She hadn't realised that she'd been hiding her feelings for Chloe from Chloe, more like. But then was it hiding if she hadn't really known herself?
Beca took a deep breath. Maybe she'd over thought everything. The curse of a hectic couple of days and uncomfortable sleepless nights. Was she really admitting that she had feelings for Chloe that were more than normal for a best friend to feel towards a best friend of the same sex? Perhaps she was just exhausted. Yeah, that was it. She'd laugh about this after a good sleep in her own bed. Beca turned her head to look back over at Chloe and caught a pair of bright blue eyes looking at her. Shit. No this definitely wasn't exhaustion. "I realised I can't juggle all this without you." Beca managed to reveal, but she wasn't really paying any attention to what she'd said. Nor was she really paying attention to Chloe's response. Something about not going anywhere…? Beca glanced briefly down at Chloe's lips. Shit, no, definitely not exhaustion. She was really noticing just how badly she was crushing on her best friend right now and, embarrassed, she turned away to resume her focus on her hands that now had a new blade of grass between them.
Beca felt confused and guilty all at once. How had this happened? When had this happened? Was it last night? Or had she felt like this about Chloe for longer but just hadn't noticed? Too busy wrapped up in The Bella's and College and Jesse. Shit, Jesse. Beca's stomach knotted. Now there was a conundrum. "I don't know if Jesse and I are still together." She confessed quietly out loud. It was the truth. She'd not been able to afford to get out to LA to see him and vice-versa. In fact neither of them had had the time! They'd been great at calling and Facetiming each other at the beginning of the year, but then school and work and life had got in the way. Suddenly Beca had found that she and Jesse were now going up to five days without really speaking to each other apart from the odd text. "I mean…we still talk here and there but…him being away at that film school in LA…I dunno, it's just been really difficult." And now the added difficulty was her having some sort of feelings for her best friend, who appeared to still look at her, speechless. Was she just feeling like this because she missed the comfort Jesse seemed to give her? She missed the sex. She definitely missed the sex. Seeing him for five days over Christmas really hadn't been enough to satisfy her libido for the five months until she saw him next. And surely he had to feel the same way? She'd asked him if he was okay with them remaining in a long-distance relationship and had admired his patience when he'd told her that he was happy to wait for her to graduate before she joined him in LA. That it would be worth it. "Don't get me wrong, he's still the super nice guy he was when we first started going out. But even though he's a nice guy, it doesn't mean I feel any less lonely."
And there it was. She'd finally admitted the thing that had been bugging her about being apart from Jesse. She'd been feeling lonely. He'd been the only one who'd known about her internship. Well until Fat Amy had stumbled across her ID badge. She still wasn't sure why she'd begged Amy not to tell Chloe about the internship. This past year would have been so much easier had her best friend known. But she knew now. And it was like a huge weight had lifted off her shoulders. She wouldn't need to feel so lonely now that Chloe knew.
"Does he make you happy?" Beca felt her stomach twist again as she heard Chloe ask the simple question. Nobody had asked her that before. Of course friends and family in the past had told her that they could see he made her happy. But nobody had asked her. And Beca paused. He did make her happy. Right?
"Well…yeah…" she replied thoughtfully.
"Then hang in there." Chloe said reassuringly, and Beca's heart sank. She focused on picking at the blade of grass in her hand. She'd just spent pretty much the whole night staring at that canvas ceiling in that tent, inches from Chloe's body, steadily coming to the realisation that she may have feelings for her best friend. She had also tried to work out from her memory if Chloe had shown any signs recently of having feelings for her in return. And she'd kinda rested her hopes on the way Chloe had looked at her over the campfire last night that maybe she might. Oh and the fact that she'd revealed to Beca two nights ago that she'd regretted not experimenting more in college. Beca was now kicking herself for having not enquired more into what she may have meant, but the brunette had been too grumpy at the time. Now it appeared that Chloe didn't feel the same way about Beca as Beca did for her. Beca still looked down at the blade of grass as the redhead continued, "Look Beca, this long-distance thing, it's not forever. There's only five weeks left until graduation. Then we've got that long weekend in Copenhagen. Then…you and Jesse can start that big life you've got planned."
Hearing it being said out loud by someone other than Jesse made Beca feel absolutely terrified about life after college. She was not only going to be living away from home, she would be living with Jesse. In a long term relationship. As adults. In the real world. Suddenly she envisioned her independence and career dreams fall away. Jesse had been nothing but supportive with her decision to apply and accept her internship at Residual Heat. But he was also very intense emotionally. She knew the moment she joined him in LA he would begin talking about the next step in their relationship, which would probably be marriage. Then children. Or children then marriage. And Beca could feel tears welling up again in her eyes as she realised that maybe everything Jesse was planning for them, their 'big life' as Chloe had just described it, wasn't what Beca actually wanted. Graduating would mean these hypothetical commitments would soon have to become a reality and the brunette just wasn't ready.
Five weeks left before graduation. That was all that was left of an easier life. Beca began to wonder what her college years would have been like had she never met Jesse. Had she never dived into a relationship with him at the end of their freshman year. And she turned her head back over to her best friend. Her heart was beginning to race. She would've kissed Chloe. Definitely. Totally. Kissing was Beca's most favourite thing to do. She loved it more than sex. And it would've been awkward for a while afterwards if she had but it would've been worth it. Would Chloe have returned the kiss or pushed her away? If she had had a chance over the past few years to be alone with the redhead, and they had maybe had a couple of drinks, yes she would've definitely kissed her. Blamed the alcohol of course. But definitely kissed her. And Beca realised she was now looking at Chloe's lips, so returned her gaze to those bright blue eyes.
Suddenly a sneeze sounded from inside the large tent behind them and the two women jumped, breaking eye contact as they both stared out at the lake. Beca felt her heart racing and she finally exhaled, having not realised she'd been holding her breath. The disruption had been enough to shake Beca out of the numbing thought process she'd been enchanted in and she turned to look back at Chloe. The redhead appeared to be breathing rather quickly as she looked out at the lake and Beca smiled softly. Her terrifying future was looming, but the brunette suddenly felt calm as she realised that so long as she remained best friends with the woman sat beside her everything would be okay.
"Thanks Chlo," Beca saw the redhead turn to look at her, "I couldn't imagine my life without you." And her heart skipped a beat as she saw a broad smile grow on her best friend's face while Chloe gave her a wink, "What are best friends for huh?"
"What, they couldn't even put two singles in this room? It's big enough." Beca observed loudly as Chloe lugged her suitcase onto her side of the double bed, the right-side, the same side her single bed had been in every hotel before then. "Hmm technically we're both single?" she heard Chloe say in a chirpy teasing tone and Beca rolled her eyes as her best friend shot her a cheeky wink before turning to open the wardrobe.
"You know what I mean." the brunette said grumpily as she chucked her suitcase onto her side of the bed, opened it up, and pulled out her laptop. "You know you don't have to put your clothes in the wardrobe they provide." Beca said in a tone that suggested she thought Chloe was crazy. Chloe on the other hand did not look at her, and instead began hastily hanging up her clothes in the large wardrobe, "Uhuh, and you know that I hate leaving my clothes in my suitcase!" her tone sounding tired and slightly harassed. Beca held her hands up in surrender with a small grin, "and you…need another nap!" the brunette accused and she saw a flicker of relief cross her best friend's face, as though having desperately sought permission to nap late-morning.
The redhead spent several minutes in silence unpacking her suitcase whilst the other occupant sprawled over her side of the bed with her Macbook open on her lap. The silence would have been awkward for anyone else in the room, however these two knew each other so well that they never needed to make an excuse for their quietness. They were, as Chloe had once so sweetly dubbed it "unapologetically themselves" around each other.
Beca didn't look at Chloe as the redhead sighed and collapsed onto her side of the bed, having been too focussed on something on her laptop. "I don't know how you always manage to be ready so quickly" Chloe said with a yawn and Beca merely shrugged, "the beauty of choosing not to unpack…"
All of a sudden Beca's heart skipped a beat and she furrowed her brow at the feeling. At that very same time she realised the reason behind it was Chloe, who had scooched over to her side of the bed and leant her head against her upper arm, peering at her laptop's contents. "What you doing?" Chloe asked innocently.
"Just looking to see how many people may be turning up to our show tomorrow…What are you doing?!" Beca said seriously, faining her disgust at Chloe's close proximity, but as she looked down at her best friend she caught a set of bright blue eyes looking up at her and Beca couldn't help the soft smile that slowly grew on her face. Behind closed doors, when it was just the two of them, she really didn't mind this. Them. Just hanging out together, without the fear of Fat Amy appearing out of the blue and using the nickname Bhloe.
She watched Chloe look away and reach her left hand out to tilt the laptop down so she could also see the contents on the screen, "Nothing," the redhead said quietly, sleepily, "Just seeing what you were doing…" Beca rolled her eyes, resuming her attention on the laptop screen, pretending not to be aware of Chloe who seemed to be deep in thought and had begun delicately tracing the fingertips of her left hand over the image of a pair of headphones that Beca had tattooed on the inside of her left wrist. Beca's heart was racing as she felt her left arm tingle. All the grumpiness she had been feeling earlier seeped away. She couldn't quite pinpoint the moment the redhead had managed to break through her walls, giving her the confidence and security to feel comfortable enough to receive physical contact like she was getting now. But she had.
"So there's something I've been meaning to ask you." Beca awkwardly said as she packed her laptop away in her hand luggage, ready to take to Rome airport with them. She glanced across the room to the other single bed where Chloe stood, busy trying to decide which jacket to travel in and which to pack. "Yeah?" She heard her best friend respond, though she could tell the redhead wasn't really listening as she shrugged her first jacket off and pulled her second jacket on, before checking her reflection in the long mirror on the wardrobe door. "Have I done something wrong?"
She saw Chloe furrow her brow, looking at her from the mirror reflection, "No. Why? Do you feel like you've done something wrong?" The redhead asked curiously as she shrugged her second jacket off and returned to her single bed to pick the first jacket up to try back on again.
"No it's just…" Beca shrugged as she struggled to zip her suitcase up, trying to not sound like what she was saying was a big deal, "…you never sit with me. In the hotel lounge." She started to feel extra awkward as she realised just how childish she was sounding. Chloe got to see her all the time, they lived together for crying out loud, she was well within her right to sit with other Bella's. She noticed Chloe had paused by the mirror, halfway through taking her chosen jacket off, looking at Beca in the mirror's reflection with a slightly bemused grin as though trying to work out where this observation had come from. Beca cleared her throat nervously "You know what, it doesn't matter…sorry…I just…I'm just being weird-"
"-I didn't think you'd want me to sit with you." Chloe interjected and Beca looked up from her suitcase as her best friend went back over to her single bed to pack the rejected jacket that she wouldn't be travelling in, "I know how you get when Amy teases you about us so I figured…better not to give her anything to tease you about."
Beca gave Chloe a grateful smile which the redhead reciprocated. It was true, she did hate the Australian teasing her. It so often put her in a bad mood. And it didn't matter that Chloe didn't sit with her, they always had moments like this. Sharing a twin room wasn't really much different from sharing an apartment. Back home it was normal for them to wander into each other's bedrooms freely. Still, Beca couldn't wait for the tour to finish so they could return to normality. "Do you want to pack anything in my suitcase? I think I have a bit of space?" She heard Chloe ask and Beca tugged out her pyjamas, throwing them across to the redhead, before successfully closing her suitcase. She smiled as she heard Chloe chuckle whilst saying something along the lines of Beca probably being able to fit more in her suitcase if she actually folded her clothes.
After a few minutes Beca glanced down at Chloe who had fallen asleep beside her and the brunette couldn't help the small smile that grew on her face as she saw her best friend's long slender fingers delicately wrapped around her forearm. They only had fifteen minutes before they had to meet the other Bella's for lunch but Beca figured she'd let Chloe sleep for a little while. One thing she knew the redhead would be desperate to spend the afternoon doing was shopping, so this nap would probably do her the world of good.
In answer to RavensCryx's comment for the last chapter, sorry the tension's been so slow.
Watch out though, tomorrow's chapter is when they'll finally crack
Reviews and Follows welcomed :) xx