I still don't own anything and this chapter moves the story forward a bit. enjoy.

Chapter 2

Chloe had a hard time concentrating on the sights they were taken to all day. All she could think about was Beca and the kiss. When they arrived at their restaurant for lunch,she hung back and watched Beca. Beca had managed to make friends with another girl on the tour named Amy and was busy talking to her.

"She's hot, isn't she?" A kid named Jesse asked, walking up to Chloe.

"Who?"

"That Beca girl. Not Amy - that weirdo Bumper has a thing for her." He gestured to another boy a few feet away. "But Beca, man, she's sweet."

Chloe felt her blood boiling. That was her Beca this kid was talking about. But she kept her temper under control. "Yeah, she's cool." Before Jesse could do anything, Chloe decided to go stake her territory and wandered over to the girls.

"Mind if I join you?" Beca looked up and smiled widely.

"Of course not. Come on, sit down. We just discovered that we're going to the same college in the fall," she explained. The three of them fell into a conversation as Jesse glared at Chloe from another table.

"Chloe? Why does Jesse keep glaring at you?" Amy asked a few minutes later. Chloe shrugged, pretending she didn't know and then casually hugged Beca a few minutes later. Beca didn't even flinch as she was used to this by now, and kept up her conversation with Amy. Chloe knew Jesse was about to explode by now and just sat back smiling.

After eating, Chloe got up to use the restroom and Amy leaned across the table to Beca. "What's going on between you two? Chloe looks like a hungry lion stalking her prey with you, if you know what I mean." She asked in a hushed tone.

"Nothing. We're just friends," Beca said innocently, trying not to blush when remembering the kiss she gave her this morning.

"You two are sharing a room right?" Beca nodded. "Are you SURE there's nothing going on behind those doors?" Amy asked, raising her eyebrows in suspicion.

"Oh, stop! We're friends!"

"Keep telling yourself that, Bec. You should see how she undresses you with her eyes.." Beca giggled and Chloe sat down again, ending their hushed conversation.

As the group was heading back to the bus, Jesse approached Beca. "Hey, do you want to sit with me on the bus?"

She looked at him suspiciously and then shrugged. "Okay, why not?" Shooting an apologetic glance toward Chloe, she followed Jesse onto the bus and gingerly sat down.

Chloe plopped herself diagonally in back of them and glared in Jesse's direction. He heard Jesse making conversation with her as they drove toward their next destination.

"So you should definitely go with the group going to the bar tonight, Beca," he was saying. "It's going to be so much fun."

Chloe knew Beca wasn't really a big party girl, she had told her the other night. Chloe smiled in satisfaction.

"Sure, I guess I could try it," she heard Beca say, much to her disbelief. She shook her head, knowing this would end badly and knew he'd have to go wherever Beca went tonight to protect her.

When they got off the bus, Jesse smirked at Chloe, which gave her a bad feeling. She grabbed Beca by the arm.

"Be careful with him, okay?"

"With Jesse? Chloe…what?"

"I just…I don't trust him. Just be careful, okay?" Chloe smiled sweetly.

"Well, you can just come with me tonight to protect me then." Beca linked her arm with Chloe's as they walked toward the museum.

"Don't worry. I'll be there." She looked down at her and smiled. "I'll always be there for you."

"What do you think of this outfit?" Beca asked nervously as she stepped out of the bathroom wearing a maroon tank top with lace near the top and dark skinny jeans that really accentuated her figure.

Chloe looked up and had to bite her tongue to keep her jaw from dropping. "I like it. You look really great," she choked out and tried not to stare.

"Are you sure? I never go out and party so I don't really know if this is good or not…" she trailed off.

"Trust me, Bec, you are fine." Chloe smiled at her and stood up. "Come on, let's go.

A little while later the small group had gathered in a bar/nightclub not too far from the hotel. "What do you want to drink, Beca?" Jesse asked.

"Nothing, thanks. I don't really drink."

"Oh, come on, Bec. You are in Europe, away from parents. Lighten up!"

"Yeah, don't be a baby, Beca!" Stacie chimed in. Her words caused Beca to bristle and she looked Jesse in the eye.

"I'm not a baby. I'll have coke with vanilla vodka."

He smirked and said he'd be right back. She saw Stacie lean over and whisper something to him and he laughed. What had she gotten herself into?

Chloe stood talking to Amy and Bumper, keeping an eye on Beca. She saw her accept a cup of something that looked like soda from Jesse. She narrowed her eyes but stayed where she was.

Beca felt the effects of her drink almost immediately and loosened up considerably. She went to dance and even drank another round of coke and vodka. After her second drink, Jesse knew she was definitely borderline drunk, especially since he had the bartender put more vodka than coke in the drink.

"Follow me, Beca. Let's go somewhere more private to cool down," he said taking her hand and pulling her away.

"Okay!" She giggled, stumbling after him. He brought her into a dark corner and pressed her against the wall. "Jesse, what are you doing?" She asked, still giggling.

"Beca, you're so hot. I want you." He leaned in to kiss her.

"Stop that!" She said, swatting towards him playfully.

"Beca, can't you feel what you do to me?" He whispered in her ear and despite her drunken haze, she felt what he meant.

"Jesse. Stop, seriously." He didn't listen and pushed towards her even more. "Jesse, STOP!"

Suddenly, two hands grabbed Jesse from behind and pushed him out of the way. Chloe. She grabbed Beca's shoulders. "Are you okay?" Beca nodded silently and threw her arms around Chloe.

"I wanna go back to the hotel!" She cried, hiccupping slightly. Chloe nodded and half carried her toward the table where Aubrey, one of their leaders, was sitting.

"Bec," she whispered. "I have to put you down before we reach Aubrey. Can you walk?" She nodded and Chloe held her hand while they walked up to Aubrey. "Hey, we're going to go back to the hotel, if that's okay. Beca isn't feeling great. She still has some jetlag."

"That's fine, Chloe. Just check in with Alice or Donald when you get there."

"Great, thanks." As soon as they were out of Aubrey's line of sight, Chloe supported Beca's weight some more and they made it back to the hotel. Once they were in the room, Beca started to cry, sobbing against Chloe's shirt.

"Why did he do that?" She wailed.

"Jesse's a jerk, Bec. I never trusted him. Sshh…stop crying. I told you I'd be there for you, and I am." Her sobs subsided.

"Thank you," she whispered, snuggling into Chloe's arms. She felt so safe. She also felt…ill. "Chlo? I don't feel so good…"

"Oh boy. Um, okay, come on. We have to go into the bathroom…you're not going to like this…" No sooner had she dragged Beca into the bathroom did she start throwing up.

"Oh, my, god…I want to die…" she croaked out, lying down on the cold porcelain floor. Chloe gently rubbed her back and sat Beca up slowly.

"Here, take this," she said, handing her two Advil and a glass of water. They sat there for a while longer before Chloe was satisfied Beca wasn't going to be sick again. Grabbing Beca's arms, she helped her stand up and walk back into the main room. "Do you want to sleep in your own bed tonight?"

"I don't care. Anywhere is fine, as long as you stay with me," Beca mumbled into Chloe's shoulder. Chloe felt her stomach flutter. Beca was clinging to her for dear life and she cursed Jesse for doing this to her, knowing she'd never trust people easily in the near future.

"Okay." Chloe guided Beca down gently on one of the beds and slid in beside her, wrapping her arms completely around her to give her the message that she was safe with her.

"Thanks again, Chloe. I mean it. You're great…" Beca whispered before curling into her and drifting to sleep.

"Anything for you…" Chloe whispered into the dark and gently kissed her forehead before shutting her eyes.

"UUUHHH," a groan filled Chloe's ears as sunlight filled the room.

"Good morning to you too, sunshine," she said, rolling over to look in Beca's face. She grabbed two more Advil and handed her the glass of water she left next to the bed.

"Thanks," she groaned. "Don't let me do that again, please?" Beca looked at Chloe with sad eyes.

"It was Jesse's fault. He had the bartender make the drinks extra strong to get you wasted and take advantage of you." Another groan filled her ears.

"Why? What did I do to him?"

"Nothing." Chloe grabbed Beca's hands. "Beca, this is not your fault so don't blame yourself. Guys like Jesse, they are just jerks and they think they can have whatever they want." Beca nodded. "Don't let him get to you, especially when you are around him. Just treat him like the jerk he is." Beca nodded again and leaned over to kiss Chloe's cheek.

"I'm so glad we found each other," she said, smiling. "If you weren't on this program, I don't know what I would have done." Chloe pulled Beca into a hug.

"Come on, Bec. We have to get ready." Beca groaned again but pulled herself out of bed and went to take a shower. Chloe let her anger seethe while she was there and vowed to do anything to protect her.

They joined the rest of the group downstairs and Beca noticed some of the people were whispering and looking at her. Jesse looked smug. Something came over Beca and she decided to shut him up once and for all. Turning, she put her arms around Chloe and looked her straight in the eye. Seconds later she had pulled Chloe into a deep, passionate kiss and Chloe's arms immediately wrapped around her. As they pulled apart Beca sighed.

"Thank you for a GREAT night last night." Then she turned and glanced in Jesse's direction. "You're REALLY my type, Chlo." The group of teenagers all started laughing and mocking Jesse. Despite being petty, Beca felt satisfied with herself and smiled, turning back to Chloe who was looking shell-shocked.

"Chlo, are you okay?" Chloe managed to smile.

"Yeah. Yeah, I am. Are you okay now?"

"Yeah. I feel better. I know that was wrong but…"

"Hey, it's okay. You're entitled to act like that for what he did to you."

"Okay, kids, are we ready to go now?" Donald asked, coming up to the group with the other three leaders. Everyone nodded and they went off to enjoy their final day in Paris.

Later on the bus, Beca noticed that Chloe was staring into space. "Earth to Chloe…" She waved her hand in front of her face.

"Oh, sorry. Were you saying something?" Chloe asked.

"Nothing important. What's on your mind?"

"Only the fact that I totally love you…" Chloe thought in her head. She wanted to talk to Beca about the kiss but didn't know if she was ready or wanting to enter into a relationship.

"Chloe?"

Chloe realized she still hadn't said anything. "Oh, um, I was wondering if Nice would be as beautiful as Paris is."

Beca stared at her, doubting that was the issue on her mind, but sat back, not pressing her.

Later that evening while they were getting ready for bed, Chloe suggested they sleep in their own beds.

"Okay," Beca said slowly. "That's fine." She looked down and pretended to play with her book. She had spent two nights in Chloe's arms in bed and one on the airplane. She had already grown used to Chloe being near her and was comforted by it.

Chloe looked away, knowing Beca was upset but also knowing it was getting hard for her to control her feelings for Beca, especially since she'd kissed her twice. They shut the lights off but neither was able to fall asleep. Chloe heard Beca roll around for about 40 minutes before she softly called her name.

"Yeah?" She answered back. Beca heard Chloe shuffle around.

"Come here," she said.

"You mean it?"

"Yeah, get yourself over here." In a flash Beca had scooted out of her bed and into hers, pressing against Chloe and wrapping her arms around her torso.

"Thank you," She murmured into Chloe's back. A minute later she spoke again. "The kiss this morning. It bothered you, didn't it?" Chloe was silent for a moment before rolling over onto her back.

"Yeah. But not in the way you think."

"You liked it?" Chloe turned her head to face hers.

"I like YOU." Despite the darkness, Chloe knew Beca was blushing.

"You…you do? You like ME?" Beca was floored. No one had ever really expressed an interest in her as a person. She was pretty, and before she came out as bisexual guys only asked her out for that reason, which made her more shy and self-conscious.

"I do. Beca, you are like, the greatest girl I ever met. It's only been three days, but, you are so much fun to be with. You are beautiful and you don't know it or act like it. You can get ready in 15 minutes because you don't go out of your way to impress anyone and you just act like yourself. But that is what impresses me the most. You're not afraid to admit you are close to your parents and you miss them. And you are a genuine friend. I don't know what you were trying to prove last night. Drinking like a fiend is not you. I know you would have been just as happy sitting by the pool with a book."

Beca put her hand on Chloe's face. "You learned all of that about me already? And you still like me?"

"Beca…stop doubting yourself. I like you. I liked how you kissed me twice. I like how you learned to stand up for yourself with Jesse. I liked being there to protect you."

"I liked you being there…" she whispered. "You make me feel safe."

"So?"

"So, I like you too, Chloe."

She hugged Beca close. "That's really good news." She kissed the tip of her nose. "We should go to sleep."

Beca snuggled in as close as she could get. "Good night." This time, they both fell asleep within minutes.

After croissants and coffee in the morning, the group headed to Gare du Nord to board a train to Nice. The program was going to tour some of the French Riviera before heading to Spain, Portugal and flying to London. After London they would tour around the United Kingdom and Ireland before flying to Belgium and continuing through some other European countries before ultimately ending in Rome. It was going to be a jam-packed eight weeks. Beca and Chloe were both excited to see all these sights together, as well as building their relationship.

The entire group noticed a change between them as they headed to the train station in Paris. Amy pulled Beca aside at one point.

"I thought you guys were just friends?"

"We were…but we felt it was time for more," she responded mysteriously.

"What happened?"

"Well, I can actually thank Jesse for being such a jerk. If he hadn't tried to like, take advantage of me after getting me drunk, I never would have realized how truly great Chloe is."

"Yeah she is! And she is smokin' hot too!" Amy yelled. Beca just smiled and they re-joined the group.

The train ride ended up being almost six hours and Beca completely passed out on Chloe after the first hour. She didn't have the heart to wake her so she stroked Beca's hair and tried to nap while listening to her i-pod, which obviously wasn't being used. 40 minutes before they were due to arrive, Chloe had to wake her or else she would have had an accident on the seat.

"Bec…you need to get up, we're almost there."

"Mmm, okay." She lazily sat up.

"Be right back…" Chloe jumped up and dashed off.

"Where is she going?" She asked Amy, who was sitting in the seat opposite them.

"Beca – you've been crushing her bladder for the past four hours. She had to pee so bad!"

"I've been asleep that long? Oh, Poor Chloe, she must have been bored."

"Well, she used your i-pod."

"That's fine." Chloe came back as she was saying that and sat down. "I'm sorry…you could have woken me up earlier." She blushed.

"It's okay. You looked so peaceful." They kissed lightly.

"Okay, this is just so friggin cute." Amy said. "Am I going to get sexiled a lot when we live together in school, Bec?"

"AMY!" Both Chloe and Beca shouted. Amy just giggled and went to sit next to Bumper, leaving the two new lovebirds alone.

Chloe noticed Beca was nervously wringing her hands. "Hey…don't listen to Amy. There's no pressure from me for anything. I like you just the way you are." Beca looked into Chloe's eyes and smiled.

"I know." Little did Chloe know that Beca was nervous because she had been having those thoughts herself and it was scaring her because she never thought of being with people in "that way" yet. "One step at a time…" she whispered to herself.

"What's that?"

"Nothing." She smiled up at Chloe and sweetly grabbed her i-pod from Chloe's pocket. "I believe this is mine, thank you!"

"Like you were even using it," she grumbled, putting her arm around Beca. Beca smiled again and leaned back into Chloe's chest.

After the group got off the train and checked into the hotel, the group went down to the beach for the rest of the afternoon before heading into the town at night for dinner and window-shopping. While Amy and Beca went to get some gelato, Chloe disappeared for a few minutes and joined up with them once they were sitting on a bench near a fountain enjoying their treats.

"Hey, where did you go?" Beca called out as she walked up.

"Just went to look at something. What kind of gelato did you get?"

"Some form of chocolate, naturally." Beca made a small sound of protest as Chloe leaned over and licked some of her ice cream from the cone. "Get your own!" Amy laughed and they all heard the leaders calling them to return to the hotel.

After they got ready for bed, Chloe asked Beca to come over and sit with her.

"What's up?"

"Uh…I saw something tonight that I really liked in one of the stores and I wanted to get it for you."

"Really?" She stared at Chloe, surprised. Chloe nodded and handed Beca a small box. She opened it to find a silver necklace with a pendant of two small hearts interlocking through the center. She looked up at Chloe.

"I just thought it was perfect for us. Our two hearts came together."

Beca smiled warmly. "I love it. Thank you. This is the best gift anyone has ever given me." She leaned over and kissed Chloe rather passionately, while pushing her backwards so she was lying on the pillows. Beca crawled on top of her and continued to kiss her deeply.

When she broke for air, Chloe smiled. "You are very welcome." She put her arms around Beca and hugged her tightly, taking time to smell the coconut scent in her hair.

"Chloe?"

"Mmhmmm," she murmured into her hair.

"How do you think we ended up together? I mean, both on this trip, somehow in the same room."

"I don't know, Beca, but whoever played a part in getting us together, I'd like to thank them."

"Me too." She sighed and rolled off of her so she could sleep more comfortably.

Atlanta

"So I heard from Beca earlier," Sarah said to Charlotte over the phone. "They're in Nice now. She said she made some good friends, especially this girl Amy who she's now going to room with in college, but still no mention of Chloe."

"Hmm, well I got a little gossip," Charlotte dished in return. "All she said was 'the kids are nice, except this one jerk named Jesse and I met a nice girl.' So I don't know if she means Beca, or if they are rooming together, but we can only hope."

Sarah sighed. "They'd be so cute together, don't you think?"

"Oh, definitely. Next time you talk to Beca, try to see if you can get her to talk about relationships."

The women laughed and chatted a few more minutes before hanging up.

"Still trying to match-make with Charlotte?" Ben mused once Sarah joined him in the living room.

"Beeennnn. You know this will be good for Beca in the long run." Ben just grunted in return and went back to reading the newspaper.

Until next time...