Beca was holding her breath, the silence in the room was unbearable. She could feel Chloes hands shaking, but the older girl looked more confident than ever. Becas eye met her mothers and felt a calmness overtake her. She just dropped a bomb on her family and she had no idea what would happen, but at least her mother was happy for her. It felt like hours had gone by, the two girls were still standing in front of everyone and Becas family was all too silent. Sure they needed time to understand but time seemed to have stopped.
"Well, I think it's time we eat. What do y'all say?" Becas mother broke the silence and stood up from the couch. The rest of the family still staring at Beca until her mother left the room. She grabbed Chloes hand and followed her mother into the kitchen. At least now her family wouldn't be playing 20 questions with her about her love life.
Dinner was awkward to say the least. The longing looks across the table and the silent murmurs from aunts and uncles. Needless to say it probably wasn't a good idea to just blurt out that they were getting married. But Beca didn't have any other choice, Chloe was leaving tomorrow because her family didn't want her to deal with the "ups and downs" of being accepted. So Beca took a chance and hoped for the best.
"So how long has this been going on between you two?" Becas aunt was the first one to break the silence. She had always been supportive of Beca and her music career, maybe this was acceptance. Who knew. Beca felt Chloe grab her hand underneath the table and the younger girl exhaled, this was the calmest she had felt since she dropped the news on her family.
"Well we met in college, you know during the acapella team. We started dating right after graduation - well sort of." Beca chuckled at the mess they made after graduation and how long it really took for them to actually be together. Her aunt nodded and returned to eating her pie. Beca had no idea if her aunt actually cared enough but there wasn't any fighting so they seemed to be in the clear.
"I'm happy for you Rebecca." Her oldest cousin looked up from his food and gave both of the girls a smile. All it took was one person's acceptance and Beca felt fine. That's all she wanted - for someone to say "I'm happy for you and I wish you well" but she knew that her family wasn't always accepting.
Thankfully the rest of dinner went by quickly which left Beca and Chloe to wash dishes and eat until they were content. Becas mother ushered out the last of the guests and returned to the kitchen with the two girls.
"This evening went well, don't you think?" Becas mother laughed, she knew that Beca wanted more not only for her but for Chloe as well.
"Uh yeah, sure." Beca rolled her eyes, she wasn't sure if she should tell her mother that Chloe would be flying back to LA tomorrow. "Mom, do you think you could help Chloe finish the dishes, I don't feel too great. I think I'm going to shower and go to bed early." Chloe had a confused look on her face but understood that Beca was upset about things that happened earlier in the day.
"Sure kiddo, sleep well. I'll see you in the morning." Becas mom turned to Chloe to help finish up the last of the pots and pans used earlier in the day. Beca cleaned her hands off, kissed Chloe on the cheek and walked upstairs, careful not to slam the door behind her. Yes, she was upset about what happened at dinner but all she could think about was taking Chloe to the airport because her family was afraid that her family wouldn't "accept" her - hell they hardly accepted Beca as she was.
Beca took her time in the shower, mostly just standing there letting her thoughts overtake her but she didn't want to have an argument with Chloe before she had to leave. She didn't understand why Chloe decided to leave during their holiday - yes her family was important but Beca was her fiance, she should stand behind her with support. While Beca was changing into her pajamas (which really consisted of pajama pants and a Barden shirt that Amy cut the sleeves off of) she could hear her mom and Chloe talking, she was always grateful that they got along.
Beca returned to her room and sat on the floor in front of her laptop. She opened iTunes and plugged in a blank thumbdrive. She knew that a playlist would help Chloes 3 hour flight, she opened a new voice message and began speaking as quietly as possible.
"Hey Clo, I'm sorry that this didn't go as planned. I wish things could be better and we could be happy but you know how family is - always getting in the way. I hope you like this playlist, I love you." Beca started arranging songs, deleting tracks here and there until she made the perfect playlist.
Track 1 - Voice Message
Track 2 - Hotline Bling Cover by Sam Smith.
Track 3 - All Eyes On You by
Track 4 - by Rationale
Track 5 - Last Request by Paolo Nutini
Track 6 - All That You Need by The Saint Johns
Track 7 - When We Were On Fire by James Bay
Track 8 - All The Time In The World by The Heyday
Track 9 - Warm Water by BANKS
Track 10 - She Treats Me Well by Ben Howard
Track 11 - Love You Crazy by Mikky Ekko
Track 12 - Never Far Away by Active Child
Track 13 - By My Side by Great Good Fine Ok
Beca saved her playlist, shut her laptop and put the thumb drive in a tiny zipper on Chloes backpack that had somehow already been packed. Beca got in bed and waited for Chloe to come upstairs. She wasnt in the mood to fight, she just wanted to spend a little more time with Chloe before she flew back home. Beca closed her eyes and patiently waited.