They've booked plane tickets to Atlanta because neither of them have a car and Chloe managed to find some cheap last-minute plane tickets while surfing around the internet a few days ago. Their flight's at three p.m. and is due to reach Atlanta at five-thirty. As soon as they finish their lunch, they pack up and hustle out of the house with their backpacks and the shared suitcase.
Chloe shuts and locks the door behind them. "Bye house," Chloe says, sounding genuinely sad. "We'll miss you."
Beca snorts. "Dork."
"Hey!" Chloe says, nudging her with her butt. Beca titters a little and nearly bumps into the wall, but Chloe grabs her arm and steadies her, shaking her head. "See. That's what happens when you pick on someone bigger'n you."
Beca laughs and pulls a face. "Whatever."
It doesn't take them long to reach the airport, and they make it to the boarding lounge without much of a hitch. Beca mentions the word 'bomb' in a sentence once and Chloe turns to look at her wide-eyed. "Shhh," She whispers, "They can hear you."
Beca gulps. "Sorry," She whispers back.
"You better be," Chloe says, and shoots her a feigned stern look that melts into tender bemusement when she realizes Beca is actually legitimately terrified.
The flight attendant announces that the gates are open for boarding over the intercom. They gather their belongings and head for the end of the line.
They've got seats next to each other, and Beca'd called dibs on the window seat the instant they booked the tickets. The seats are crammed so close together that even Beca, in all her 5'2 glory, feels like a giant forced into a doll's house. But it does give her the excuse to lift the arm rest for 'more space' and scoot closer to Chloe, so she isn't going to complain. The redhead is busy shifting through movies on the flight, nudging Beca excitedly whenever she finds something interesting.
It's not the first time they've flown together (first time had been en route to the World Championships in Copenhagen) but it's the first time they've flown together alone, without Fat Amy's lewd jokes or Stacie's chattering or Lilly's non-sequiturs or Aubrey's barked orders. As much as she tries to hide it, Beca is, for the most part, excited about meeting the rest of the Bellas again. But this - this feels different. It's quiet, peaceful, and well, rather nice.
Chloe clicks on the music portion of the in-flight entertainment and can barely contain her excitement. "Wow! They have Imagine Dragon's new album in here," She says, pressing one side of her earphones into Beca's ear. They start humming along to the music under their breath, drawing amused glances from the old couple beside them. Thirty minutes later, Chloe realises that Beca has fallen asleep on her shoulder. She plucks her earphones out of Beca's ear and starts watching a movie.
She's almost at the end of the movie when the pilot announces that they're about to land. Beca sits up and rubs her eyes. Chloe passes her a raisin bun and a packet of nuts. "Saved this for you," She says.
"Thanks." Beca tears open the plastic wrapping and starts on the bun first.
Beca peers at Chloe's screen. "Magic in the moonlight," Chloe says, by way of explanation. "Emma Stone's in it." She offers Beca an earpiece.
Beca laughs and waves it away. "No thanks. You're like on the last fifteen minutes." She peers out of the window and watches as the farmland and tiny specks of buildings and houses start to sharpen and grow closer. They're dropping through the clouds at a speed that makes Beca's heart lurch. Fortunately, the turbulence doesn't last long, and ten minutes later, the wheels hit the ground with a gravelly crunch. The pilot's voice comes on the intercom again, wishing them all a great day ahead. Seatbelt signs come off and the plane comes to a complete stop. People start getting their luggage off the overhead compartments and Beca stands up to stretch. Chloe glares at her screen, outraged.
Beca peers down at her and raises an eyebrow. "What's up?"
"The guy's proposing and they switched off the screen! He was being all cute and awkward and romantic too - dammit, Beca, curse my luck."
Beca bursts out laughing. "I'm sorry, Beale. If it helps, I'm cute too."
Chloe laughs and stands up to plant a chaste kiss on Beca's cheek. "I guess you are," She says, stuffing her earphones back into her pocket. They both walk over to get their hand-carry backpacks from the overhead compartment and make their way out of the plane. Beca sends "watch out, we're in Georgia, betches" to the Bella group text, which Chloe follows up with a heart-shaped emoji and a ton of smilies.
They collect their shared suitcase and head out to the arrivals hall. They're on their way to the taxi queue when they get mugged by a bunch of screaming, dancing Bellas. "MY FAVORITE NEW YORKERS," Fat Amy exclaims, smothering them in a hug that nearly crushes their lungs. Beca pulls away, wheezing exaggeratedly. Chloe rushes to Lilly and gives her a hug, chattering excitedly. Lilly says something inaudible in response. Stacie announces that she's already banged Lilly's groom's bestman and that "the Japanese have the best moves." Aubrey manages to get halfway through her well-rehearsed rant/lecture about coming to Georgia to visit more often before Chloe tugs her into a tight, almost tearful embrace. Cynthia Rose gives Beca a chest bump in the meantime. Flo tells everyone that she nearly got deported whilst trying to fly back into the United States for the wedding, which causes everyone to lapse into silence for a few seconds.
"I hope we have more than one car," Beca says. "Because I'm not squeezing into one vehicle with all of you at once, I think I'll go mad."
"Once, I rode on the back of a truck with nine farmers, two fat goats, eleven chickens, and one cow," Flo says.
Fat Amy, who has just joined them from the restroom and hears only the second half of the sentence, frowns confusedly. "What, are we talking about Stacie's latest sexual conquests?"
"What?!" Stacie asks, deeply offended. "I'll have you know that I've banged way more than nine farmers just this month alone."
Beca and Aubrey groan almost simultaneously. "Nobody needs to know-" Aubrey begins, "-the gory, gruesome details of your grotesquely active sex life," Beca finishes.
Aubrey nods. "And can we get out of this airport before we get arrested? Yes, Lilly, don't look so indignant - I heard what you said just now, and maybe the Feds did too. Move it, people!"
They comply. It takes them a while to figure out the seating arrangements, but in the end Fat Amy, Beca, and Cynthia Rose get into Stacie's car with her, leaving the rest with Lilly. "By the way," Cynthia Rose says as they pile into the back, "I heard about you and Chloe - it's about bloody time," She says, grinning gleefully. "Made a bet like, five fuckin' years ago and finally got to collect my damn winnings from that loser-" She jerks a thumb at Stacie, who lifts both hands from the steering wheel to flip her off.
Beca's eyes widen. "Hey! If you kill me now I swear I'll come back and haunt you every single time you have sex," She says, clutching at her seatbelt.
"Aw Beca, you can have a threesome with me while you're alive, too," Stacie says, grinning devilishly. "I know you're dying to."
"Ha. Very funny," Beca says, pretending to gag.
Fat Amy slaps her thigh and guffaws. "Count me and Bumper in!"
Stacie grunts in agreement, before adding, "And we all know Chloe's down if Beca's in."
Cynthia Rose nods - "And Aubrey's in if Chloe's in." Everyone cackles and Beca only manages to hold out for two seconds before joining in.
It was, all gross sex-talk aside, good to be back.