A/N: Hey guys! Sorry it's taken a bit longer for me to update. I've had a pretty busy week, plus I also spent a few days freaking out over the new bechloe content so… :D

Anywayyy, thank you thank you thank you for all the reviews! And please let me know your thoughts on this chapter as well? xx

Chapter 22

Chloe felt like she was in a dream. A really, really vivid dream.

Because sometimes she would still wonder if her life right now was in fact all real. Every morning, she would wake up to a 'good morning' text from Beca, and then there would be a bouquet of daffodils waiting for her at her office. Sometimes, the brunette would even come to the clinic to pay her a surprise visit, or just to bring her lunch because she knew the redhead tended to skip meals. And Chloe didn't even need to see the food to know that they would all be her favourites. She knew Beca wasn't doing all those things just for show or to get on the redhead's good side. It was just how Beca was. It was just the hopelessly romantic and sweet side of the brunette that not many people knew of. And this feeling, this giddy, rapturous yet somehow ineffable feeling that she would get every day since the second she opened her eyes might just be how it felt being loved by Beca Mitchell. It might just be how it felt being in love with Beca Mitchell.

And if she was indeed in a dream, she didn't want to wake up from it.

Chloe fluttered her eyes open, hearing her phone chime on her nightstand. She blinked, reached out a hand to grab her phone and instantly smiled upon seeing the text message.

Morning beautiful! Hope you slept well! I miss you terribly already :( – B

Chloe blushed lightly, yes, blushed. Even without presence, the brunette still had the ability to make her blush like a teenage girl and she was glad that no one could see her right now.

I miss you too, but tomorrow night is our date night and I'm really excited about this! – C

Yeah? What do you have in mind? – B

Well, it's a surprise ;) All you need to do is show up at my apartment at 6. The restaurant is closed tmr right? – C

Yep, and I'll ask Jesse to see if I could take a night off at the bar as well. – B

Awes! I can't wait and I wish I could see you right now :( – C

You might see me later, who knows? Better keep your eyes open ;) – B

Chloe laughed. Although she would love to see Beca during the day, she knew the brunette needed to sleep, so she quickly replied,

You better get some sleep young lady. Didn't you just get back from the bar? Now go to SLEEP! – C

Okay okay! You are getting bossy Beale ;) – B

Chloe chuckled, happily putting down her phone. After a lot of persuading and some pouting, she had finally convinced the brunette to let her plan a date for them. She didn't want Beca to do all the work and she wanted to show Beca she was serious about them as well. So finally, tomorrow was it, and she had just the perfect thing in mind.

Beca was on her water break the night before her date with Chloe, busying herself texting the redhead, with a content smile on her face. Chloe couldn't make it to the bar to see her tonight since something came up last-minute at the clinic, so the two had been texting each other at every opportunity they could get.

"Oh God, I guess I'll have to get used to seeing a love-struck Beca from now on." Fat Amy teased the brunette, "Seriously, Beca, do your cheeks hurt from all the smiling?"

Beca finished typing and looked up at Amy, "Deal with it Amy! And what can I say? I'm happy."

Fat Amy chuckled, "Yeah, literally everyone can see that Beca! Yesterday there was a girl asking me why you didn't sing those sad songs anymore! Apparently she just broke up with her boyfriend and came here to listen to you, hoping to get a good cry. But you just kept playing those really cute and sappy songs and I think this messed up that poor girl's mind even worse!"

Beca rolled her eyes, but before she could say anything else, she saw Jesse walk out of his office. So she called out, "Hey, Jesse, do you think I could get a night off tomorrow?"

Jesse walked over to Beca and Fat Amy, "Sure, Bec. Why, what's wrong?"

Beca blushed a little, "Nothing's wrong, it's just Chloe and I have a date tomorrow night, so…"

Jesse laughed, "Where are you taking her this time?"

"Actually, Chloe insisted that she should plan the date this time, and she wouldn't tell me anything about it, so I don't really know what we'll be doing." Beca answered honestly.

"You think you'll finally get lucky tomorrow night?" Fat Amy smirked.

"What?! No Amy! How many times did I tell you that I won't be discussing my sex life with you?! It's bad enough that you already scared me into telling you my life stories, now don't ever think I'll talk about this kind of stuff with you!"

Fat Amy shrugged, "Fine. I just don't understand. You love her, she loves you. What are you guys waiting for?"

Jesse hummed, "I agree with Fat Amy. Life is short, Beca. Don't waste time."

Beca stared at her two friends. What was this? An intervention? Fine, then she might as well make use of it and maybe get some advice.

So she sighed, "I don't know. We agreed to take things slow. And I'm quite happy with how everything is slowly developing right now. I mean we haven't said 'I love you' since her birthday. And we only had an almost kiss the other day. But you know I'm just as happy being able to hug her and hold her hands again."

Jesse smiled, "I know Beca, but I think Chloe can see that you guys are going to work this time, and I know for a fact that if you ask her to be your girlfriend again, she'll agree."

Beca thought about it for a second, "Well, I'll have to think about it. Thanks Jesse." She paused, before scrunching up her face, "You guys are far too involved in my love life for my liking."

Jesse laughed, and went to high-five Fat Amy, while Beca just rolled her eyes at her two friends before walking off to go onto the stage again.

"Bree, can you hand me the tablecloth please?" Chloe called out to her best friend while she was trying to arrange the daisies that she bought in a vase and also placing some of them on the ground to create a casual look.

They were currently on the rooftop of Chloe's apartment building. Chloe decided to plan a perfect rooftop dinner for their date night and had been busy setting everything up since this morning, with Aubrey's help.

Aubrey brought the white tablecloth to Chloe, seeing the flowers, "Why daisies?"

"Because they are Beca's favourite flowers." Chloe took the tablecloth from Aubrey and spread it on the table, satisfied with her work, "She used to tell me that they represent true love because every flower is actually two flowers blended together in perfect harmony, and…" Chloe trailed off, the smile on her face growing bigger.

"And what?" Aubrey asked curiously.

"And when I went to buy the flowers, the florist told me that they also symbolize new beginnings." Chloe answered.

New beginnings. Chloe smiled at this idea. She knew she had told the brunette that she wanted them to take things slow and not rush into anything, but that was because she really wanted them to work this time. They hadn't had the girlfriend talk yet, but after the past few wonderful and dreamy days, she had been thinking about bringing it up herself lately. And if Beca asked her to be her girlfriend first, she knew she would probably say yes. No, definitely. She would definitely say yes. Even though sometimes she could still feel a faint hint of insecurity in the back of her mind, she knew for sure that she would love to be Beca Mitchell's girlfriend again.

Aubrey smiled at her friend, and cleared her throat a little to bring the redhead out of her trance, "Well then they're definitely perfect for this date. But you need to hurry, only 1 hour left before your beloved musician arrives."

Chloe checked everything she had arranged on the small rooftop. Fairy lights, check. Candles, check. Flowers, check. Portable speaker, check. Tableware, check.

"Okay, I think I've got everything set, I just need to bring the food up later. Am I missing something Bree?" Chloe asked thoughtfully.

Aubrey shrugged, "I don't think so? I mean it already looks pretty great."

Chloe took another look around the rooftop, "Why do I feel like I've missed something…"

"Don't be paranoid Chloe, it looks perfect to me. So just relax and enjoy your date with the hobbit."

Chloe smiled, "Thanks Bree, for helping me with this. And you know when Beca finds out you've been calling her the hobbit, she's going to get back at you." She finished with a giggle.

"Well, can you think of a better name? And tell her to bring it on, I'm not afraid of her."

"Yeah yeah, now let's go downstairs, I need to take the food out of the oven." Chloe laughed, before dragging Aubrey away back to her apartment.

Beca had been knocking on Chloe's apartment door for 5 minutes. No answer. She frowned, and took out her phone from her jean pocket to text the redhead, but found a text message from the redhead already.

Come upstairs to the rooftop Becs ;) – C

Beca smiled, putting her phone back and followed the redhead's instruction to go to the rooftop. With each step she took on the stairs, she felt like every fibre of her body was vibrating with anticipation. She chuckled to herself, only Chloe could make her feel like this.

She normally hated surprises, but with Chloe, she would feel butterflies in her stomach and heart flips in her chest. She hated movies, but she would sit on the couch for hours with Chloe watching some cheesy comedy, laughing and eating popcorn, or wiping away the redhead's tears when they were watching a sad movie. She hated dancing, but when she had Chloe in her arms, she would feel complete and she never wanted to let go of the redhead. She hated when people invaded her personal space or anything that would show affection, but she wanted to hold Chloe's hands and to hug and kiss her every second of the day, every day for the rest of her life. And there were so many other things as well. Chloe could make her squeal like a girly girl, make her pout, make her want to cuddle… She felt like she was a different person when she was with Chloe, but at the same time, she'd never felt more at ease and content. So maybe under the tough and cold armour, that was actually her true self, and only Chloe can bring out her true self. Only Chloe can make all her life principles and rules irrelevant.

Beca reached the rooftop entrance. Knowing Chloe was waiting for her on the other side of it, she didn't waste another second to pull the door open. But the scene in front of her immediately sent her into a completely and utterly speechless trance. She just froze at the door, hand still on the door handle and eyes widening in astonishment.

Because the second she opened that door, she was met with a sea of lights. There were fairy lights hanging up all around the small rooftop, twinkling and illuminating the whole space. On the ground, there were candles lying everywhere, their tiny flames swaying with the gentle breeze. And Chloe, Chloe was standing in the middle of the rooftop next to a small table, smiling at her. Even being surrounded by all those dazzling lights, her smile still shined the brightest to such an extent that it was almost blinding. The candlelight and the fairy lights added a soft touch of gold to Chloe's figure, and it looked like she was glowing.

Beca was amazed, actually no, amazed couldn't describe what she was feeling right now. She watched Chloe bounce over to her, and the world just slipped away under her feet.

"What do you think? Do you like it?" Chloe asked, looking into Beca's wide eyes, while bringing out a single daisy from behind her back and handing it over to Beca.

Beca blinked. She looked down at the daisy before taking the flower. "You remember my favourite flower?" She smiled and admired the daisy, touching the petals lightly.

"Of course, and I hope Italian food is okay for tonight? I made lasagne, and I know you always like to have those four kinds of cheese in it. I also got us some salad and tiramisu—"

"It's perfect Chlo." Beca reached out to take Chloe's hand, intertwining their fingers, "And all of this is amazing. I love it. Very much."

Chloe grinned, leaning in to place a kiss on Beca's cheek, "Come on, let's go sit down and eat!"

Beca laughed, and let the eager redhead drag her to the small table which was surrounded by even more candles and daisies, feeling a little lightheaded.

"I've been writing a new song lately." Beca told Chloe, while sipping grape juice from her wine glass. She found it really cute that the redhead used grape juice in place of wine for their rooftop dinner, and her heart was warmed by this sweet gesture.

Chloe's eyes lit up at hearing this, "Yeah? That's great Beca! What's it about?"

You. Beca thought. She smiled at the beaming redhead and said, "Actually it's quite different from all my past songs. I guess I've found some new inspiration and I'm really excited about it."

"Really? Can I hear it?" Chloe bounced lightly in her chair.

Beca laughed, because Chloe looked exactly like a little kid that was just about to receive her Christmas presents.

"Of course, it's just that I still need to add a few final touches to it. But you'll definitely be the first to hear it, I promise."

Chloe squealed excitedly, earning another laugh from Beca. She just really missed being the brunette's number one fan. Because she got to witness all the magic behind the scenes. She got to see the creation process of all those beautiful songs. And she loved the fact that she was always Beca's first audience for every new song that she wrote.

The redhead let out a content sigh, reaching out a hand to pick up her wine glass but suddenly froze when her fingers were just about to touch the glass. Because she noticed a droplet out of nowhere fell into her drink, causing a few tiny ripples.

Chloe blinked, not sure if she was just seeing things. Then she heard Beca's voice, "Chlo? What's wrong?"

Just as Chloe turned her head to look at Beca, she saw another droplet dripped onto her plate, followed by another one, and another one. Oh please don't be… She prayed, and her heart was suddenly racing.

As if on cue, torrents of rain started pouring down, splattering on the rooftop haphazardly.

You've got to be kidding me! It took Chloe's brain a few seconds to grasp what was happening, and she finally remembered the one thing she forgot to check. The weather forecast.

Great.

And of course the redhead didn't bring any umbrellas up here, since she didn't even suspect it was going to rain!

Chloe looked back at Beca with wide eyes, stunned.

"Come on Chlo, let's go back." Beca quickly stood up from her chair, taking Chloe's hand to pull her up as well.

Chloe suddenly came back to her senses, she gripped Beca's hand and started to run to the rooftop door with the brunette in tow. She reached out for the door handle and prepared to push the door open without slowing down. However, the door simply refused to budge and the force of impact nearly knocked her down. Luckily, Beca was behind her so she caught the redhead just in time.

"Whoa, easy there. Chlo, are you okay?" Beca asked, helping Chloe to regain her balance.

Chloe quickly nodded, before surging forward to try the door handle again, but the door just wouldn't open.

After several failed attempts, she finally dropped her hands, "It's locked." She told Beca, defeated.

"What?! What do you mean it's locked?!" The brunette couldn't believe it, she went to try the handle herself and realized that Chloe was right. The door was locked. And they were trapped on the rooftop, without any shelter in this sudden downpour of rain.

"Okay, Aubrey, thanks… Stop laughing! Okay, see you." Chloe hung up the phone and huffed. "Aubrey said she's leaving now to come here and rescue us." She said to Beca.

They were currently hiding under a small eave beside the entrance door, but it was hardly acting as a shelter. Their clothes were mostly soaked by now, and the rain didn't seem to be subsiding any time soon.

Seeing the redhead start to shiver a little in the rain, Beca took off her leather jacket and held it above her head, calling out to Chloe, "Get in here, Chlo. I think this is a bit better shelter."

Chloe moved closer to Beca and hid under her leather jacket with the brunette, letting out a frustrated groan, "I can't believe it! Does the universe hate me or something?! A heavy rain is not enough, it just has to lock us out here too!"

Beca watched the redhead in amusement. She didn't actually care if they were trapped or not. Sure, everything didn't exactly go as planned, but Chloe was here with her, and that was enough.

The redhead went on ranting, "I mean, I've lived here for all these years and I've never heard that the rooftop door would be locked. Why did Earl just have to lock it today? There are people trying to have a romantic date up here and locking them out is just rude."

"Maybe he checked the weather forecast, unlike someone, and thought it was safer to lock the door." Beca teased the redhead.

Chloe gasped, "Hey I know I forgot to check the forecast in the first place, but as a building manager, he should be answering his phone and coming up here to rescue his tenant okay?!"

"Okay, if you say so." Beca laughed.

"Why are you laughing Beca?! This isn't funny!" Chloe turned her head to glare at Beca, but suddenly became aware of how close they were.

Beca's right arm was around her shoulder, holding her close, and her hands were gripping her leather jacket above Chloe's head to shield them from some of the rain. She could hear Beca's breathing, steady and comforting. And if she looked closely, she could see some tiny raindrops glistening on the brunette's long eyelashes.

Chloe felt a little hypnotized all of a sudden. In that moment, all the other noises seemed to fade away, and all she could hear was her own thumping heartbeats. All she could feel was Beca's arm around her. It almost felt like it was just them against the world, standing on a rooftop in New York City in an unexpected downpour. And Beca's leather jacket created a small shield for them, protecting them, and there was nowhere else that Chloe would rather be.

But then, this shield above her head seemed to be shaking a little. Chloe blinked and looked over at Beca, seeing the brunette was laughing. It started with a light chuckle, and soon became a loud hearty laugh.

Chloe folded her arms and tried to maintain a straight face, glaring at Beca, which only made the brunette laugh even harder. After a while, she finally failed to stop the corners of her own mouth from lifting up into a smile. Okay, this whole mishap was a little bit funny. And soon she was giggling as well, joining Beca in the light-hearted laughter.

She reached out a hand to push Beca's arm away playfully, making the brunette drop her jacket and finally calm down a little from her delirious state.

"You know, I was hoping we could dance on the rooftop later tonight if it wasn't raining." Chloe said softly, smiling at Beca, "I was really hoping this date could be perfect but…" She trailed off and let out a small sigh, looking around the rooftop. The candles were long extinguished by the raindrops, and the fairy lights were smudged by the rain which was still falling in sheets.

"We still can you know."

"What—" Chloe didn't even finish saying the word when Beca suddenly took her hand and dragged her towards the middle of the rooftop.

"WE STILL CAN DANCE!" Beca was shouting a little to make herself heard above the noise of the rain.

Chloe was a little stunned. She watched Beca grin widely in the rain and hold out her hands for the redhead to take. So she took them without any hesitation, and Beca immediately led her into a twirl, making her let out a surprised yelp.

"Smooth, Mitchell." When the redhead spun around, she was already giggling uncontrollably, feeling flocks of butterflies dancing wildly in her stomach, despite the pouring rain.

"Anything else that you wanted to do for tonight?" Beca asked, "You know this light rain is nothing." She finished and jumped into a puddle near the table, creating a small splash.

"You are crazy." Chloe laughed at the brunette's childish demeanour.

"I'm crazy about you." Beca's soft voice made Chloe snap her head up and look into the brunette's captivating stormy blue eyes.

Beca lifted their intertwined hands and held them next to her heart, "Every second with you is perfect to me." She whispered, but Chloe heard it loud and clear.

Beca gazed intently at the redhead in front of her. She watched the redhead's lips curve upwards into a bright smile; watched her half bite her bottom lip; watched her cerulean eyes flick down to her lips for a split second.

And in that very moment, Beca decided to just follow her heart for once, to let go all the worries, all the doubts, all the fears, all the insecurities and just let her heart take over.

So she pulled Chloe closer by her hands and connected their lips.

Chloe had probably kissed Beca a million times before, but every time felt like the first time. It sounded cheesy, but it was true. And this time even more so.

It was a slow and soft kiss, but wasn't lacking any passion or magic. Beca's lips felt familiar, they felt like home to Chloe. And the second their lips touched, those eight lost years in the middle started to drift away. It almost felt like she had never stopped kissing Beca, because their lips were still moving in perfect sync. Kissing Beca was exactly as how she remembered it, intoxicating and electrifying.

And this time, this time there was something new. The rain slid down their faces to where their lips met, and Chloe kissed the slightly chill droplets from Beca's warm lips, feeling the brunette's lips smile against hers, and then the rest of the world just slowly disappeared. It was just her and Beca, standing in the middle of a pouring rain, kissing like there was no tomorrow. She felt her knees were getting weak, but Beca was holding her tight, so she knew she would be safe. Her hands were still in Beca's firm grip, resting near the brunette's heart, feeling her each and every heartbeat.

After what felt like hours, they reluctantly broke apart, panting and smiling at each other. Chloe gazed at Beca, seeing the brunette would blink when raindrops fell on her cheekbones, her lips curling upwards. She suddenly felt like even if the world started crumbling away around her right now, she would still have nothing to fear as long as she was looking at Beca.

"I'm crazy about you too." She whispered, before leaning in and crashing their lips together again, in a more passionate and more urgent kiss.

She brought up a hand to sweep Beca's wet brown locks aside and rested the hand on the back of the brunette's neck, deepening the kiss.

Beca smiled into the kiss. She placed a hand on the redhead's waist, pulled her even closer and brought up her other hand to gently caress Chloe's cheek, adding more pressure into their lips, while savouring every moment.

They broke apart for air just for a brief second before locking their lips together again. Neither of them wanted to stop or even cared about the soaked clothes clinging to their bodies, their lips just spontaneously sought each other out, hungry for more.

"Are you two done? I've literally been standing here for 5 minutes!"

Aubrey's voice startled the two, and they seemed to finally come back to reality from their own private world.

Chloe looked over at the rooftop entrance, seeing her best friend was holding the door open, a giant umbrella in her hand.

Beca laughed, and quickly went to give the redhead a final peck on the lips, before taking her hand and running towards the door.

Chloe looked down at their intertwined hands and she wondered if this was how forever felt like.