"Though lovers be lost, love shall not."
-Dylan Thomas

A low-fat Blueberry Muffin and a Proposal

Eight years later

The petite brunette dressed in her signature leather jacket and tight fitting dark jeans opened the door with the sound of the bell tinkling softly and entered the diner.

"Well look at who we have here," A voice called from the opposite side of the counter. Beca grinned and took a seat on one of the cherry-colored stools near the register.

"Hey Ron, long time no see," She greeted with a half smile as ran her long fingers through her chocolate hair.

"No kidding, stranger. How've you been?" The pudgy gentleman in his mid 50s asked, drying a slightly worn white ceramic coffee cup with what look liked an old rag.

"Oh you know, traveling and playing. Same old, same old." Beca answered nonchalantly taking a look at the menu before setting it back down. She already knew she just wanted a black coffee with two sugars and a low-fat blue berry muffin. Just like old times, she pondered. Has anything changed since then?

Ron noticed the distant look in the girl's eyes and smiled knowingly. He set the cup in front of her as the DJ reached for a muffin from the basket with a napkin.

"She's in the paper you know..." He said as casually, pouring her coffee. Beca's head snapped up in attention.

A dark eyebrow raised and she couldn't help it as a small grin crept on her cheeks. "Oh really?" He gave her a nod and pointed to the stack of newspapers sitting not two feet away from her.

"Look for yourself," Ron said and winked before turning and walking into the kitchen.

Beca gave him a confused look before shrugging and reaching over to grab the paper. She skimmed through the sports section as it was at the top of the pile then mentally slapped herself. Yeah, Chlo in the news for sacking the QB, she mused with a soft smile. Instead she searched through the pile and pulled out the front page. Deep sapphire eyes widened at the picture that took up most of the front page.

If possible, Chloe had gotten even more beautiful than she remembered. The photographer had taken a picture of the auburn haired girl walking out of what looked like a busy nightclub with her back away from the camera but she had turned to face the camera with a wide, carefree and incredibly beautiful smile. Beca felt her heart melt.

Her hair had grown much longer, waves of the softest looking copper tresses waterfalled past her shoulders and reached mid-back. Only to curl into little C's at the bottom, she noticed. How cute. No doubt Chloe was definitely the real life version of a mermaid. Beca took time to look at every detail of the other girl's face since they had last seen each other.

She still had the same creamy alabaster skin that seemed to extenuate the dark auburn that flowed around her heart-shaped face. Pink lips led to dazzling white teeth, slightly opened in a happy expression. But what really struck Beca were her eyes. They were still the same pools of deep sea blue and they even had the special sparkle and shine Chloe was known for. Holding the picture in her hands, Beca gulped. Those eyes looked as if they were staring right at her. Smiling right at her.

"Oh Chlo..." Beca whispered, wiping a tear away. She chuckled at how emotional she was getting before reading the caption that went with the photo.

'World-renowned violinist, Chloe Beale, leaving local party scene with newly engaged fiancé Kenneth Henderson'

Wait, what?

Her heart stopped. She reread the caption again. And again. Chloe was...engaged? Beca frowned, her eyebrows making a deep V at the base of her forehead. Against her better judgment, she numbly continued reading the article.

'The town's 'Golden Couple' has finally engaged! It had been reported that the romance that began when the two were merely children had morphed into true love. Sources stated that after six years of being together officially, the couple have finally decided to tie the knot.'

"I love her more than anyone in the entire world. Since the day I met Chlo I knew I just had to have her. No one else deserves her love like I do." Ken tweeted on the day of the engagement.

"Big news, eh?" She looked up from the paper to see Ron sitting next to her. Beca swallowed the lump and her throat and gave a nonchalant roll of eyes.

"Yeah, I guess. I'm just surprised it took this long." She shrugged her shoulders for good measure.

"She is quite a catch," Ron said, "But you allowed her to slip through your fingers, didn't you? Can I ask..." The burly man paused hesitantly, "Can I ask why?"

"Simple. When you love something, you let it go."

Before he could even respond, Beca was already out the door.

—X—

"So what are your plans for today, Chloe?" The violinist sat down across the table from her fiancé.

"I'm planning on going on a hike actually. I feel like I haven't really been one with nature lately."

"A hike? In the actual...forest? Are you sure? Perhaps you can just go to the park down the street." Chloe stifled a sigh before standing up and kissing Ken on the forehead.

"Don't worry. I'll be careful. And it's mountain, Ken." She said with a little giggle.

"Yeah, yeah... It's still dangerous," He muttered under his breath, but Chloe was already gone.

—X—

It was the perfect day for a hike. It wasn't too cold nor too uncomfortably hot. The sun was high and there wasn't a single white puff visible in the vast blue sky. It was weird, although she always felt most comfortable in the sea, for some reason whenever Chloe looked up at the heavens and felt the tickle of the wind, she was perfectly content too. It's probably just due to the fact that they were both blue, she figured.

Chloe trekked up the mountain for a few hours until she felt utterly exhausted. She checked her watch and saw that it was only 1:00. Seeing that it was around lunchtime, she took a seat on one of the larger rocks that was set near the edge of the mountain and pulled out a sandwich from her backpack.

The violinist took the sound of silence and savored it. There were no annoying soccer moms screaming into their tiny little blackberries, no hum of televisions or computers, and especially no Ken.

Ken. Chloe felt bad. She was engaged to Ken yet she knew she could never love him with all her heart. She didn't know why exactly, but she knew there was something missing. But Chloe just shrugged it off. Everyone kept telling her how he was the best. Even her parents kept telling her how 'he's the best man for her'.

So if her own parents, the ones who raised her and knew her better than anyone else in this world, insisted that Ken was the best man then Ken was the best man. He was there since her accident eight years ago and never once left her side. After a couple years the violinist figured that if she were to be with someone, might as well be with the 'best man'. Or so she had been told.

A husky voice pulled her out of her thoughts suddenly. "Oh, I didn't realize anyone else could make it this far."

Chloe turned around and nearly let out an audible gasp. Who ever this person was, she was beautiful. Dressed in short cargo shorts and a perfectly worn white tank top, the woman with ebony wind-blown hair was a model of pure perfection. Chloe nearly choked on her sandwich.

Beca was thankful for the little distraction the other woman dealt. She could get a good look at her former lover. If a picture is worth a thousand words then the real thing is worth millions. Seeing Chloe here, in the one place she least expected to run into anybody, was either the best or worst thing to happen to her. Beca wasn't sure if she should run into the arms of the violinist or run away.

"Who are you?"

Again, those same exact words shattered Beca's heart into pieces. But instead of bursting into tears, she laughed and took a step towards Chloe.

Thanks for the reviews! They're like the cookies to my cookie monster.