A/N: Yayyy! Flashbacks will start from this chapter! The flashbacks will continue to be pure fluff for a while! So enjoy while you can ;) ps. I have already finished the draft for quite a few more chapters, so updates should be pretty regular and quick for a while. Annnd thank you guys for following, favouriting and reviewing this story! xx
The song in this chapter is Real Love by Tom Odell.
Disclaimer: I do not own Pitch Perfect or any songs used in this fic.
Chapter 3
Beca just finished her gig at the restaurant and was packing her stuff when she heard her phone ring in her bag. She went to look at it and saw it was a text from Luke, another street musician she met a few weeks ago.
Hey Becky, how was the gig? Did you check out the place I told you that is perfect to play your music? – Luke
Beca rolled her eyes, and replied,
It's Beca! How many times do I need to tell you my name?! But yeah, I went there yesterday, it was quite nice and more people stopped to listen, so I made more cash than I did at other places. Thx for letting me know. – Beca
A few seconds later, another reply from Luke came in,
You're welcome! By the way, that place is very popular among street artists and one has to literally battle for a spot! But my spot is yours from now on! You can go there every night because I have a better spot in the city now! ;) – Luke
Beca laughed and typed out a reply,
Dude, no need to brag ok?! But thanks, and don't worry, I'll use your spot wisely! – Beca
Luke's reply came instantly,
You better! I might drop by sometimes to check up on you! – Luke
Beca smiled and put her phone away. It was 10:10pm, she decided she would go back to Luke's spot in the park and play a few of her songs, before she had to go to her shift at the bar as a bartender.
Chloe was on her way home at 11pm, after another long day at work. Chicago was leaving in 4 days and was still waiting for her answer, but she barely had time to think about this with so many things to attend to at work. So, she was glad she could use this 15 minutes' walk home to at least clear a few things up in her mind.
In the morning, although Chicago said he would give her time to think about this, she could see he was getting impatient with all the time she took. Apparently for him, one sleep was enough for her to decide she wanted to go with him. Chloe rolled her eyes at the thought of this, and couldn't stop replaying his words from this morning in her head.
"Why are you hesitating? I thought you've always wanted to go to Europe, to Paris, Rome and Barcelona?"
"Well yeah, I want to travel to those places for sightseeing, but this is about living there for years! I need to consider if that's something that I want." Chloe countered.
"Okay…" Chicago said, a little frustrated, "And if this is about your job, I just want you to know that you don't even have to work there! You can just go wandering around the cities all day and do some sightseeing. That's what you love isn't it? And if you want, there will be other veterinary jobs in Europe anyway, it's not like it's some important job and you can't be replaced in this clinic."
Chloe couldn't believe his words. So that's how he felt about her passion, her dream job? All this time he just thought her job was something like a hobby? After hearing this, Chloe just grabbed her bag and stormed out of the apartment without saying a word.
Chloe sighed, she knew deep down she didn't really want to move away from New York, at least not in the recent few years. And living in Europe with Chicago just…didn't feel right somehow. But Chloe also knew that if she said no, she would have to have a good reason to give to Chicago and think about what that meant for their relationship.
This thing is just a whole big mess. Chloe thought. And when she was near her apartment, she hesitated to just walk in. Something in her stomach just kept tugging at her, and before she knew it, she was walking towards the park again.
Part of her wanted to see if Beca was still there, and part of her wished Beca wasn't there at the same time. And her heart beat faster when she thought of what she was going to do if Beca was indeed there. But she decided to not think about this and tried to tell herself she was just curious, and nothing more.
After another 15-minute walk, she arrived at the corner from yesterday. After taking in a deep breath, she turned the corner and saw that the brunette musician was there, with a small crowd around her, just like yesterday.
Chloe took a few steps closer in order to hear what the musician was singing. She found herself a spot behind the crowd so that the brunette wouldn't spot her and listened quietly. It was a song that she never heard of, but knowing the brunette's talent, she knew it was probably a song that was written by herself.
All my little plans and schemes
Lost like some forgotten dream
Seems like all I really was doing
Was waiting for you
–
Just like little girls and boys
Playing with their little toys
Seems like all we really were doing
Was waiting for love
Don't need to be alone
Don't need to be alone
It's real love
It's real
It's real love
It's real—
Chloe couldn't listen to it anymore, she turned around and began to walk back, eyes filled with tears. She tried to calm herself down after turning that corner, angrily wiping the tears that fell down her cheeks. She shouldn't be crying, she shouldn't be feeling anything anymore. But here she was, leaning on the wall and just couldn't stop the tears from falling down.
9 years ago…
"You have a lovely voice!"
Beca stopped playing her guitar in the music room of her high school and looked up at the owner of that perky voice. A redheaded girl was leaning on the door frame with the brightest smile she had ever seen.
"What were you singing? I've never heard that song before."
"Oh, it's just…something that I wrote." Beca shrugged.
The redheaded girl's eyes widened at this, "Really?! That was so beautiful! You are very talented you know?"
Beca didn't know what to do with the sudden compliment, so she just shrugged again.
The redhead didn't seem to be discouraged by the brunette's rather cold responses. She bounced closer to Beca and sat in a chair near her, beaming at her. Beca blushed at the sudden closeness and awkwardly looked down and fidgeted with her guitar.
"It's so cool that you can play the guitar so well! I've always wanted to learn but…" The redhead sighed, admiring Beca's acoustic guitar.
Beca looked up, and before she knew it, she was saying, "If you want, I can teach you." Then, she mentally kicked herself for saying that. Where did that comment come from? Why would someone want to take guitar lessons from a random stranger?
But to her surprise, the redhead gasped and squealed, "Really?! You would do that?!"
Beca looked at her, unsure, "Yeah, sure. Why not?"
"Oh my God! That's awesome!" And then Beca was tackled by a bear hug from the redhead. She wondered for a moment if the guitar sitting between them was hurting the redhead, but then the redhead pulled back with an even wider smile. "I'm Chloe." She said.
"Beca."
Chloe finally calmed down from her mini breakdown at that street corner. After wiping all those tears, she laughed at herself. This is just pathetic Beale, after all these years, you still cry over her. She didn't even know you were there for god's sake! She scolded herself in her mind and started walking home. There was a bigger life changing decision still waiting for her to make, she didn't have time for this.