It's four days before they're supposed to leave for Atlanta, Georgia, and Beca's rushing to complete the first draft of the demo music reel she's supposed to submit for Blue City before she takes four days off from work. John isn't too happy that she's going to be gone for so long - sees it as a personal betrayal - but eventually pulls her aside and grudgingly tells her to enjoy herself while she's away. "God knows you need some joy in your life," He'd said sourly, "Hopefully you'll come back looking more upbeat."
Beca told him that he wasn't exactly Mr. Sunshine himself. He conceded the point.
For the past week, she's been working all night at the bar and all day on her laptop. It's starting to show in the dark bags underneath her eyes. She's practically running on coffee and Chloe's smile. "Can't you submit the reel after you come back?" Chloe asks, not for the first time, as she watches Beca climb wearily into bed at 8 in the morning for a two-hour power nap before she's up again to work on the soundtrack.
"I can't," Beca says, stifling a yawn. "He wants to look through it and give me some comments so I can work on it once I'm back."
"You're going to work on it while we're in Atlanta?" Chloe asks, unable to keep the edge of disappointment out of her voice. She knows how much this movie deal means to Beca, and she wants nothing more to see her succeed. But she'd been hoping, well.. to have Beca to herself, both of them free from work.
"Well, yeah, I think so," Beca says apologetically. "Sorry Chlo, I wish I didn't have to, but-"
"No, don't apologise, I get it," Chloe says. "G'night Becs. I'll see you later this evening."
…
Three days later, Beca's putting the finishing touches on the soundtrack. She has a meeting scheduled with the movie's director and head music composer in thirty minutes, and the closer it gets to the deadline, the more anxious she gets. "Shit, Beale, I'm not done, I can't - it's not ready - what if he doesn't like it? What if he says it's shit?" The uncertainty in Beca's eyes sends an uncomfortable chill down Chloe's spine.
She quickly pulls Beca into a fierce hug. "Don't worry about it," She says softly. They stay like that for a full five minutes before Beca pulls away. She gives Chloe a shaky smile and gets ready to leave. "Good luck," Chloe says, giving her a quick peck on the lips.
…
The moment Beca returns to the apartment ashen-faced and miserable, Chloe knows the meeting hadn't gone well. "Oh Becs," She says, running to scoop her into her arms. Beca crumbles wordlessly into her arms. She doesn't cry, but Chloe can feel her blinking furiously against her chest. She doesn't try to say anything, just stands there and holds her tight.
"They said it didn't fit the movie," Beca says, sounding so small and broken that it breaks Chloe's heart. "They aren't going to use it." Beca opens her mouth, then closes it again. When she opens it once more, the words tumble out like tiny, frightened things. "As - as a kid, teenager, whatever, they tell you anything's possible, and you believe them. You think you're going to change the world, all that bullshit.. but then you go out into the real world, and you realise that you're nobody, nothing.. just a kid with a far-fetched dream."
Chloe cups her hand on Beca's chin and lifts it gently. "Beca, you're the most talented, amazing, special person I know," she says, fierce with conviction. "And if they can't see that, then they're idiots." She pauses. "Big, fat, ugly, loathsome, rotten, foul-smelling, idiots," she clarifies, each word spat out more venomously than the last.
A small, watery grin spreads slowly across Beca's face. "You forgot 'toad-like' and 'wart-faced'," She says. Chloe almost sighs in relief.
"I think you should go to bed," Chloe says, releasing the smaller woman from her grip. "Things will look better in the morning." Beca does as she's told, and before long, she's snoring softly in Chloe's arms, both of them snuggled comfortably under the covers.
When Beca opens her eyes, Chloe, already awake, scoots closer. "How're you feeling?"
"Better," Beca says, voice still hoarse from sleep. She leans in and kisses Chloe. It lasts longer than a morning kiss should, what with morning-breath and all that eye-gunk obscuring their vision, but neither of them seem to mind. When they pull back, Beca looks as if she wants to say something but doesn't know quite how to put it.
Chloe lays a gentle hand on the smaller woman's shoulder. "What is it, Becs?" She asks softly.
"I'm sorry about last night. I kind of.. overreacted," Beca sighs. "Thanks for having my back."
Chloe moves closer and reaches for her hand. "Hey, it's totally fine."
"He said it was pretty good," Beca admits. "Just that he'd made a mistake and my sound didn't fit his movie very well. I spent so much time on that thing, and he's not going to use any of it. I guess I can't exactly complain, though - he's still paying me as per the contract. And-" She smiles wryly at Chloe. "It means I don't have to work on the bloody thing anymore. Some sleep at last."
"Sleep? I wouldn't be so sure of that if I were you," Chloe says, eyeing her wickedly.
Beca bursts out laughing. They lie under the covers for an hour more, chatting lazily, too lazy and comfortable to get up. Eventually, though, Chloe decides she's too hungry to continue lying in bed and sits up. "We need to invent something that drops food from the ceiling," Beca grumbles, staring wishfully above her.
"We could always move our fridge into the bedroom," Chloe says.
"Which bedroom, though?" Beca asks. "Mine or yours?"
Chloe raises a perfect eyebrow. "At this point, Beca Mitchell, does it really matter?"
Beca bursts out laughing. "Good point." Then, after a moment's pause, "Wait, does that mean I can move into your bedroom f'real?"
Chloe blinks, then grins at the expression on Beca's face. "Well, yeah, of course. We already live in the same house though, so I don't think it'll make a huge diff-" Before she can finish her sentence, Beca cackles gleefully and launches herself out of her sleeping position to pull Chloe into a tight bear hug. Chloe shakes her head in wonder - how Beca manages to move so quickly on a soft, bouncy bed is beyond her.
They start packing for the trip once they've eaten. They plan to arrive two days before the wedding and stay one more day after. Aubrey, Fat Amy, and Stacie have all offered to put them up for the duration of their stay and were all waiting for a confirmation from them. "Please not Aubrey," Beca says. "I mean, I know you love her, and I love her too - but living with a crazed life coach with a strange vested interest in our relationship scares the living shit out of me."
Chloe concedes the point. "Not Fat Amy," She says, after a moment's consideration.
Beca shrugs. "Why not?"
"I don't want to intrude on Fat Amy's uh. Blissfully married life." Chloe says, wrinkling her nose.
Beca guffaws. "You mean, you don't want to hear them having sex at night." She gives Chloe a long, slow, highly purposeful wink. "We could always out-noise them, you know."
Chloe turns a violent shade of red. "Stacie," She insists.
"Chloe - it's /Stacie/ we're talking about," Beca says, wringing her hands. "What makes you think /she's/ not going to be having a ton of sex?!"
Chloe nods. "I know, but we can at least convince her to have it over at the -whoever it is she's banging's- place!"
A short pause. "Ahh," Beca says, nodding and grinning. "Smart."
Chloe raises her eyebrows, as if to say, what did I tell ya? "I'm a damned good catch, Mitchell."
Beca starts pretending to gag, but sees the look on Chloe's face and stops, the feigned disgust on her face melting away to cheesy innocence. "No arguments there," Beca says sweetly.
Chloe smirks. "Good."
Beca calls everyone to tell them that they've decided to stay with Stacie, and Chloe prepares some sandwiches for lunch. They've booked plane tickets to Atlanta, Georgia, because neither of them have a car and Chloe found cheap last-minute flights while surfing around the internet a few days ago. Their flight's at six p.m. and is due to reach Atlanta at approximately eight thirty, which gives them plenty of time to relax until they have to leave for the airport.
It's been about a week since Beca has had any semblance of free time, and she's relishing every moment of it. After all, a couple of hours later, they'll be plunged back into the noisy, turbulent company of the other Bellas, and God knows she wasn't going to be 'resting' then. "Wanna watch a movie?" She asks Chloe.
"Sure."