Chloe slowly stirred, her eyes gently flickering open and she raised her hand up to her face with a deep sleepy inhale then sigh. Day eight. It was day eight of Beca being away in LA for work. Day eight of twelve. And it had felt like the longest time already. She missed her fiancée desperately.

The redhead turned to look at her phone which lay on her bedside table. 5.30am. A normal time for her to wake up when she was required to get an Uber into the city and continue her internship with Gloria Delgarno. Chloe was overjoyed that the woman seemed to like her and after a successful five months by her side, Chloe appeared to be thriving in her learning role. Gloria even told her on Wednesday that she could see the redhead taking over from her one day as one of Broadway's leading choreographers, something that Chloe had immediately called Beca about.

Chloe sat up in bed and yawned, stretching gently. A light giggle rippled out of her mouth when she felt a tongue wind it's way up to the back of her ear and lick her skin ferociously. The redhead brought her hands to her dog's fluffy body and pushed her back.

"Alba sto-hop!" Chloe giggled, and the white Labrador sat back, wagging her tail while looking at the woman adoringly. Okay so she hadn't exactly told Beca that she'd been letting Alba sleep at the bottom of the bed overnight while the brunette was away. But Chloe couldn't see what the harm was in doing that. After all, Alba appeared to miss Beca as much as Chloe did.

The woman furrowed her brow and turned to her bedside table as her phone began ringing. She looked at the screen and was pleasantly surprised to see it was her fiancée calling. The redhead picked her phone up and answered it, a smile sweeping across her face the second she heard Beca's voice.

"Oh, hey babe. I wasn't sure if you'd be up yet as it's Sunday." Beca said in a tired voice, "I was just gonna leave you a voice message before I went to sleep so you had something to wake up to."

Chloe shuffled back down into their bed, holding the phone to her ear as she smiled softly. Her fiancée had been telling her all week about how exhausting this project that she was working on at the moment was. She couldn't wait to wrap her arms around her in four days time. Beca sounded like she could do with a cuddle.

"I've just woken up." Chloe said in a sweet voice, rubbing her nose gently, then reaching over to her bedside table to slide her engagement ring onto her finger. The redhead let out a sleepy sigh, staring up at the ceiling while she held her phone to her ear, "I miss you" she said quietly, sadly.

"I miss you too babe," Beca said equally quietly down the phone and Chloe's heart yearned to be with her when she noted just how unhappy her fiancée sounded, "so much."

Chloe smoothed her left hand through the soft fur of their dog, loving the way Alba adjusted her position so she rested her head on her owner's tummy, "Alba's missing you too."

"Oh I'm missing her so muuuch!" Beca said down the phone in an uncharacteristically winey voice. That was when Chloe's stomach twisted. Because she hated it when Beca was upset. But this was the curse of the younger woman's new position at Residual Heat. Beca was expected to travel over to LA from time to time to work at the label's studios over there. This was now her third trip in two months, but the first time that she'd decided to stay away.

The first time away had been at the end of January, just after the mammoth yet successful wedding dress shopping day. Beca had been required to go to LA for five days, then had a couple of days off (in which she flew back to NY to spend the weekend with Chloe and Alba at the theatre where the redhead was interning at with Gloria) before having another five day stint in LA. It had been as though Beca was flying back home on the weekends. It had been exhausting for the brunette and heartbreaking for Chloe who had hated having to work while Beca had been home for thirty hours or so. The second time had been a few weeks after that, and this time Beca had had to attend a couple of meetings in LA over the first couple of days, had had a day off mid-week, then had spent three days after that in the studio in LA. And though both Beca & Chloe had missed each other during that time, they'd both agreed it had been better that Beca not use up so much time and energy flying home on her days off. So this time Beca was staying in LA, at an Air BnB apartment that the label was renting for her. And she was staying there for the duration of the time that she was required to be there, which happened to be twelve very long days.

Alba's ears appeared to twitch at the sound of her other owner's voice, and a small smile grew on Chloe's face, "Alba heard that you know?" and her heart rose when she heard a small chuckle fall from Beca's mouth.

"Really?"

Chloe loved the way her fiancée's voice appeared to lighten slightly at the idea of their dog having heard her from down the phone. Chloe loved that they were able to cheer Beca up even from across the other side of the country.

"Yep. She's here with me now. Hold on.." and Chloe put her phone on loudspeaker, "..you're on loudspeaker babe."

"Hey Alba!" Beca said in a bright tone and Alba suddenly raised her head, her ears twitching as she cocked her head and looked curiously at the phone that Chloe now held out while Beca continued talking, "Albaaa!"

Chloe let out a light giggle, "She's looking at the phone!" and Alba brought her nose to the device, sniffing it loudly, her ears still forward in curiosity.

A chuckle sounded from the phone again and Beca continued, "Are you looking after Mommy like we agreed?"

A loud snuff fell from the dog's nose and a light "yap" sounded as Alba recognised the sound of her other owner and couldn't quite work out why she couldn't see her. Chloe let out a light giggle as their dog stood up on the mattress to inspect the phone. Beca's chuckle rippled out of Chloe's phone on loudspeaker and the redhead noticed the way Alba's tail wagged in further recognition.

"Good," Beca said down the phone, talking to their dog, "so long as you're looking after Mommy then that's all I ask buddy."

Chloe's heart warmed at Beca's words, loving how affectionate her fiancée was. She was obviously missing being at home with them.

"The apartment feels weird without you Mama." Chloe said sadly on behalf of Alba who had sat back down and was cocking her head at the phone in Chloe's hand. "Alba will tell you that Mommy's been pining away after you."

She heard a heavy sigh fall from Beca's mouth and her stomach churned. Chloe felt guilty. She hadn't meant to make Beca feel extra unhappy. But she felt so unhappy too that it would be a lie for her to say that she didn't miss her at all. Because Chloe missed Beca desperately.

The redhead lay in their bed, her left hand fingers whispering across the skin of her stomach as Beca's would normally do whenever they woke up on a Sunday morning together. Chloe had been sleeping in one of Beca's oversized t-shirts over the past eight nights. It no longer smelt of the brunette and it killed Chloe to realise just how quickly parts of Beca that made their apartment their home were slowly seeping away. The washing up was always done. The laundry loads were smaller. Chloe had eaten far healthier than she had done in years because Beca wasn't there to suggest they just get takeout. She no longer woke up in the middle of the night because Beca was having some form of night-terror. She missed the feel of her fiancée's arms around her when they spooned overnight, or when they first got into bed, or when they woke up in the morning. Their bedroom was the tidiest it had been in a long time. And their bathroom was pristine. But..this place was starting to feel less like home, because Beca wasn't really there much any more.

"Why don't we just move to LA?" Chloe asked slowly with a sigh, "You need to be there loads for work, and…I don't know if I want to go this long apart from you so frequently."

Chloe had been mulling over the idea since Beca had told her she had to go back over to LA again, this time for twelve days. Yeah they'd have to pack everything up here. Pack it all in and move across to the other side of the country. They'd have to make new friends. Chloe would have to find a new job or internship or something to keep herself occupied. But…it would mean she and Beca would be together properly again. Plus there was the bonus of almost year-long sunshine and warm weather which Chloe, who adored basking in the sun, saw as a total perk.

"Um..well yeah it'd mean we wouldn't have to live apart for so long every month.." Chloe heard her fiancée say, but Beca's tone was somewhat uncertain, "I just..you're doing so well with this internship Chlo. What sort of woman would I be if I took you away from all your potential achievements?"

Chloe tapped the 'loudspeaker' button on her phone, and brought her phone back down to her ear, letting out a gentle sigh. Because she'd thought this all through too. "Beca, as cheesy as this sounds, the life that we've built together - our relationship – that's my greatest achievement. It's taken me years of patience, and love, and dedication. I could leave this internship with the drop of a hat and my world would still feel complete because I'd have you." Chloe thought she heard her fiancée sniff down the phone but she didn't pause to find out what might be wrong. Because she knew Beca got a little emotional when she was tired and Chloe was pouring her heart out to her. "God, Beca, you wouldn't be taking away my potential achievements by allowing me to move us over to LA. You'd be helping me build on my greatest achievement. You'd be allowing me to build us a new home where we can make new memories as Mrs & Mrs Beale and our faithful pup Alba!"

Chloe paused, getting that now was probably a good time to let Beca process what she'd just told her. Chloe wanted this because she wanted Beca. Chloe wanted this because she loved Beca.

"Okay," Beca said with a sigh and another sniff, and this time Chloe knew her fiancée had been crying, "I-I'll have a chat with the boss tomorrow about relocating and how to go about it."

Chloe smiled calmly, "Okay babe. And I'll speak to Gloria tomorrow about it."

"God, she's gonna be devastated Chlo.." Beca said with a sniff but Chloe simply shrugged while her left hand now smoothed across Alba's hair, the dog having settled back down, resting her head on Chloe's stomach once again.

"She'll live. She gets it. After all, she's had to put up with my pining for days. She'll be glad to see the back of me." Chloe said and let out a light giggle.

"I doubt it. Her son told me only the other day how she sees you as another daughter." Beca said kindly, and Chloe swallowed loudly.

"Oh God, well don't make talking to her harder than it's already going to be!" Chloe said in a joking tone and Beca chuckled gently.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry."

Chloe giggled. No matter how much they missed one another they were still able to laugh together. That was the beauty of knowing each other so well.

"For what it's worth," Beca added affectionately, "I always feel so proud whenever people talk to me about you."

Chloe's smile softened, "People talk about me?" She asked in a quiet tone.

"Yeah of course! I have a photo of you and Alba on my phone lock screen. Whenever people see it they ask me about the pretty girl and the dog."

"They never say that!" Chloe said with a giggle.

"They do! And I correct them and say that the woman on my phone is beautiful and is actually my fiancée with our dog and it's the best because then I get to talk about you for ages because people love hearing our story."

"Our story.." Chloe echoed quietly, affectionately, her smile broadening.

The conversation fell quiet and Chloe stared at the photo of her and Beca on the dresser opposite their bed. Because their story was complex and yet so simple. Two women who met in college, fell in love but never found the bravery to tell one another, remained in love while they became the very best of friends, moved in together, lived together, then finally told one another how they felt and the rest was history. They'd been together ever since.

"I miss you." Beca said with a quiet sigh, and Chloe turned in their bed, facing the side that was normally Beca's, and stared the empty pillows beside her.

"I miss you too." Chloe said softly, trying to be strong and ignore the aching in her heart.

"And I love you." Beca said in a slightly bright voice and a soft smile washed over Chloe's face. Because hearing Beca say that never got old.

"I love you too, babe." Chloe said sweetly, running the thumb of her left hand along the bottom of her engagement ring.

Only four days until Beca was home. Only four days to go.