A/N: Hi guys! I'm so so sorry that it's been a while again! I was overseas for 3 weeks and didn't have my laptop with me :( Now, about this chapter… well, I actually really liked writing it, I think it shows that their relationship is stronger than ever and they are truly perfect for each other ;) Anywayy, let me know what you think! I love hearing from you guys! xx

anapfischer: Ahh this is seriously so sweet! Thank you and sorry again for taking so long to get this chapter out! (and I missed you too xD)

mielsita, ChrisM92, RJRMovieFan: Hehe, thanks guys!

Keira: I will use it eventually, but not just yet… ;)

LAJohnson, chuaemmalyn01, DefyDestiny021: Aww you guys! Thank you for finding this story, reading it in one go and then taking the time to let me know your thoughts! I appreciate it very much! Big hugs!

Chapter 25

Beca walked out of Chloe's bedroom in the morning with a yawn. Since they had officially re-established their relationship, she had been spending the nights at the redhead's apartment. And now her sick leave was finally over, tonight she had to go back to work at the restaurant and the bar, which she was kind of glad about, because she was starting to get bored being stuck at home for so long, especially with Chloe gone at work during the day.

She wandered into the kitchen and found the redhead sitting at the kitchen island, flipping through a magazine while sipping her coffee. She smiled to herself and walked over to her girlfriend.

"Morning, beautiful." She said and leaned in to place a kiss on the side of Chloe's head.

The redhead turned to look at her, grinning widely, "Morning babe. Did you sleep well?"

Beca moved to sit down on the stool next to Chloe, "Yeah, I did. But I still wish you'd woken me up earlier. I want to spend more time with you in the morning since I'll have to go back to work from tonight."

Chloe beamed, "I know, but I want you to sleep in. You wouldn't be able to get any sleep during the night for a while."

Beca smiled, and went to kiss the redhead's cheek one more time before she grabbed the bowl on the counter, starting to pour some cereal and milk into it.

Once she finished preparing herself a bowl of breakfast, she picked up a spoon with her left hand, and subconsciously her right hand went to grab Chloe's left hand that was resting on the counter, lacing their fingers together.

Chloe turned to look at Beca, thinking the brunette wanted to say something, but instead, she found that Beca was just eating her bowl of cereal intently and wasn't even looking at her. The redhead got a little confused. She blinked and stared at their intertwined hands for a moment, before looking back at her girlfriend. Then she suddenly remembered that this was Beca, not anybody else that she dated who would only hold her hands or hug her when they needed something from her or wanted to ask her for something. Her heart immediately flipped with exaltation, waking up the butterflies in her chest, and even the taste of coffee remained on the tip of her tongue didn't feel bitter anymore. She bit her bottom lip and just couldn't move her eyes away from her girlfriend, so she let herself continue to gaze at Beca adoringly and elatedly, watching the brunette eat like a cute hamster and feeling her inside melt at this simple yet sweet gesture.

Beca noticed that the redhead was beaming at her weirdly from the corner of her eye, so she turned her head a little and looked at Chloe, "What?" She said with a mouthful of cereal.

"Nothing." Chloe answered, her smile stretching even wider.

"Then why are you staring at me when I'm eating?" Beca asked suspiciously, narrowing her eyes.

"I love looking at you. You are like an adorable hamster when you eat." Chloe teased.

Beca huffed, "First, I'm not adorable, and second, are you mocking my size again? I feel I should be offended."

Chloe giggled and went to place a quick kiss on the brunette's cheek, "Of course not, Becs. You are obviously larger than a hamster, I'd say you are at least a hedgehog… no wait, a meerkat. Yeah, you are totally a meerkat babe."

"Hey careful, meerkats are vicious animals okay? If you piss them off they'll bite your pretty face off."

Chloe laughed, "Then you are totally a meerkat Becs, but you wouldn't bite my face off, I'm your favourite."

Beca rolled her eyes playfully and resumed eating her cereal, "Someone is full of herself."

"Are you implying that I'm not your favourite person?" Chloe gasped and feigned offence.

"You might be, if you come to see me perform at the bar tonight."

"Wouldn't miss it for the world." Chloe grinned.

Beca walked into the bar that night and was immediately greeted by Fat Amy's loud cheers, "Finally! Superstar! Although I hate to admit it, this bar just wasn't the same without you, we were so bored every day!"

Beca smirked, "Good, now I hope you've finally realized how awesome I am so you can stop bullying me."

Fat Amy gasped, "Excuse me? When did I ever bully you?! For your information I'm the nicest person in Tasmania, and…" She trailed off, noticing that there was something different about Beca.

Fat Amy narrowed her eyes and followed the brunette's every movement, watching her hum softly when she walked over to the stage to put down her guitar and then bounced over to the bar to pick up a bottle of water. Yes, Beca Mitchell bounced. Then the blonde suddenly realized something, "WAIT A MINUTE! You totally got laid, didn't you?!"

Beca nearly choked on the water that she was drinking. She coughed violently while quickly turning her head to glare at Amy, face flushing crimson. "Amy! Will you keep it down?! And how the hell did you know?!"

Fat Amy laughed and immediately got really excited, craning her neck to shout Jesse's name frantically, "Jesse! Jesse Swanson, where are you?! Get over here! Jesse!"

"What? What happened?!" Jesse rushed out of his office, thinking there was some sort of emergency.

"Superstar here finally got laid," Fat Amy winked at the blushing brunette, "Now where's my 20 bucks, Swanson?"

"What?! Seriously Beca?" Jesse's shoulders slumped. He then reluctantly pulled out a 20-dollar bill from his wallet and handed it over to the grinning blonde behind the counter.

Beca stared at her two friends in disbelief, but before she could launch into her ultimate scolding, Jesse suddenly exclaimed, "Wait, Beca! Did you talk to red? Is she your girlfriend now?"

Beca eyed him suspiciously, but still nodded, "Yeah, we talked. And she's my girlfriend now—"

"YES! Give me back my 20, Amy! Told you they'd talk!" Jesse grinned smugly.

"Damn it!" Fat Amy muttered and handed the bill back.

Beca couldn't believe it. Seriously?! Why was she even friends with these two?!

"I can't believe you guys bet on us?! What kind of friends are you?!" Beca spluttered, glaring daggers at her two friends.

"Told you we were bored, superstar. But we are happy for you guys." Fat Amy grinned and wiggled her eyebrows playfully.

Beca rolled her eyes, she was not done scolding those two yet. Just when she opened her mouth, she was slightly startled by a pair of arms wrapping around her waist from behind. However, she instantly relaxed recognizing the familiar touch and Chloe's perfume.

"Hey, my girlfriend is here!" Beca immediately grinned, turning her head a little to look at the redhead.

Chloe giggled, placing a kiss on Beca's cheek before resting her chin on the brunette's shoulder, "Hey babe, what's got you all grumpy and whiny?"

Beca huffed, "Those two horrible people over there bet on when we would have the talk and have sex."

Chloe laughed and received a disapproving look from her girlfriend.

"Chlo! Why are you laughing?! You'll just encourage them!" Beca warned.

"Right, sorry babe. Don't worry, I'll give them a lecture for you. Now you go up there and blow everyone's mind with your amazing songs okay?" Chloe was still chuckling.

"Fine." The brunette turned to glare at Jesse and Fat Amy one last time before placing a quick peck on Chloe's lips, "Love you."

"Love you too." Chloe smiled and watched Beca walk off to go on the stage and pick up her guitar, preparing to play.

"So…" Fat Amy's sly voice caught Chloe's attention, so she turned to look at the blonde, "How does it feel being superstar's girlfriend again? Must be pretty amazing huh?"

Chloe grinned and nodded, blushing lightly. Yeah, being Beca Mitchell's girlfriend was indeed pretty amazing.

A few weeks passed by, Beca and Chloe's life quickly fell into a routine. They would take turns to spend time at each other's apartment. Normally, Beca would be home at around 5am, and if Chloe was awake, they would have breakfast together before the brunette went to bed and Chloe went to work. If not, Beca would just go straight to bed and cuddle with her girlfriend for a while until Chloe had to leave. Then, Beca would try to get up at noon to go to the clinic and have lunch with the redhead. In the evening, Chloe would either drop by the restaurant or the bar or both to see Beca until she had to go back to the apartment to sleep at around midnight. Additionally, on the day that the restaurant was closed, they would finally get to have a date night and do something fun together.

The redhead seemed to be quite happy and content with the arrangement. However, for Beca, it was starting to drive her insane, because the time that she got to spend with her girlfriend was hardly enough. She didn't want the redhead to fall asleep alone every night and only get to cuddle with her for only a few hours in the morning. She wanted to spend every evening with the redhead, asking about her work, cooking dinners with her, or even just cuddling on the couch doing nothing. She didn't want Chloe to try to get up at 5am every morning so that she could talk to the brunette when she got home from the bar. And even though Beca had told Chloe countless times to just wake her up if she ever fell asleep during their morning cuddle sessions, the redhead would always let her sleep and leave for the clinic quietly. Sometimes, Chloe would try to leave work early and go home to see Beca before the brunette had to leave for the restaurant, but most of the time, Beca was already gone when the redhead got home.

Therefore, this whole working-at-night thing was not working quite well for Beca anymore, which was also why she had been browsing through some job searching and career websites lately.

And here she was again, sitting at the kitchen island in Chloe's apartment one afternoon, absentmindedly reading some job descriptions on her laptop while hoping to get a chance to see Chloe before she had to leave for her gig at the restaurant.

To be honest, she wasn't even sure what kind of job she was looking for. She had been focusing on her music career all her life and she didn't have a backup plan. Currently, not many jobs related to music that she was able to find were quite different from what she was doing now. And as for the more stable ones like music teachers or instructors, she had no qualifications for them. As a result, she just didn't have a single clue what else she could do or what she would at least like to do for the rest of her life. She knew her 'big break' would probably never happen as she was getting older and older. The only reason she still held on to her dream all these years was just because music was all she had left after she broke up with Chloe back then. It was just always there, acting as an escape, a shelter, a comfort, the string that she was hanging by, and sometimes even a friend to make her feel less alone. It helped her get through so many things in her life. So she figured there was no reason for her to give up her career in music.

But now, now she had a reason.

Because Chloe was back in her life.

Because she was terrified that Chloe would eventually get tired of this kind of lifestyle that they had now. Even if she wouldn't, the redhead still deserved so much better than this. She deserved someone who could kiss her good morning and then have breakfast with her every morning; someone who could text her back during the day instead of sleeping; someone who could plan a surprise date night whenever they felt like it; someone who could keep her warm and tuck her in when the redhead kicked her covers off during the night; someone who could make her feel that they had all the time in the world to grow old together, instead of trying to squeeze time to even see each other every day. And sadly, Beca knew she wasn't that someone who could do any of those things at the moment.

They had already missed 8 years in each other's lives, the last thing Beca wanted was to waste time. But right now, Beca felt like she was dragging Chloe to chase her futile dream. If it was just herself, she didn't mind doing this for the rest of her life, but now she would always wonder if it was really worth it to keep trying. How could she be certain that she would succeed some day? How could she make sure that it wouldn't cost her Chloe in the end? And that was the bottom line, she couldn't lose Chloe, not again.

Beca was quietly packing her last bag in her room back in Atlanta, while Stacie sat on her bed and watched her with worried eyes.

"Are you sure you want to go to LA Beca?" Stacie finally broke the silence.

Beca put the last item in her bag and looked up, "I'm sure Stacie. I need… I need a fresh start I guess."

Stacie sighed, before running her hand through her hair, "I just don't understand, why don't you just call her and explain everything? It's just a big misunderstanding, I'm sure Chloe will unders—"

"Stacie." Beca cut her off, "Just drop it okay? I've made my decision and it's for the best."

"No it's not for the best Beca! Don't you see? You and Chloe are miserable without each other. I'm sure Chloe will hear you out if you just talk to her."

Beca sighed, closing her eyes briefly, "I don't think so Stacie. You didn't listen to her voicemail. I heard it loud and clear. I know what she meant. I really hurt her pretty deep this time, and she has already decided to pull herself together and move on. If I show up now, it'll just be like tearing her wound open again. Besides, I'm too ashamed to even show my face in front of her, let alone beg for her forgiveness. I don't deserve her anymore. Look at me Stacie, my life is a mess now and I almost died from drinking too much recently. I need… I need to fix my life on my own first."

"Okay, and then what, Beca? You are getting her back? And how long will that take? The longer you wait, the harder it will take for her to forgive you. You don't need to be alone Beca, we can help you."

Beca offered her best friend a small smile, shaking her head slightly, "Thanks Stacie, but this is actually something that I need to do by myself. I don't know how long it will take and I don't even hope that she'll ever forgive me. If I'm lucky, then probably I'll get to see her again someday, but if not, I guess I'll just have to live with it. It's my own fault after all."

Stacie let out a frustrated sigh, knowing she couldn't persuade the stubborn brunette anymore, "Fine. Then at least promise me you wouldn't drink that much ever again when you get there, okay?"

"I won't. I won't drink anymore from now on, not even a single drop."

"Beca… you have a problem, you can't just suddenly stop as you like—"

"I can." Beca cut Stacie off and looked into her eyes firmly, "For her, I can."

Stacie looked at her best friend sadly, "If you are doing this for her, why wouldn't you just fight for her Beca? Sure, she was upset and probably said some hurtful words in those voicemails, but you—"

"Stacie," Beca raised her voice slightly, her hands clenched into shaking fists, "I don't have the right to fight for her anymore. She deserves to be with someone perfect, not a failure like me. You need to promise me that you wouldn't call her and tell her anything about my alcohol poisoning. Can you promise me that?"

When Stacie didn't answer, Beca asked again, voice trembling, "Promise me, Stacie!"

Stacie looked up at her best friend's desperate eyes and didn't have the heart to refuse, "Fine Beca. Fine I won't tell her anything." She paused for a second, before adding, "For the record, I don't think you are a failure Beca. You just strayed, everybody strays, big deal? You'll get yourself together, I know you will."

Beca nodded and smiled slightly at her best friend, "Thanks Stace, I'll miss you when I'm over there."

"I'll miss you too Becs, keep in touch okay?" Stacie said, standing up, "Come on, I'll drive you to the airport, it's time."

Beca picked up her bags, and took a last look around, before stepping out of her room.

Still deep in thought, Beca didn't notice Chloe open the door and walk in. The redhead came home early from work and was happy to see that Beca hadn't left yet. She put down her bag and walked over to the kitchen with a grin. But when she saw Beca sitting in front of her laptop with slightly red-rimmed eyes, she instantly got worried,

"Becs? Are you okay? What are you looking at?"

Beca was startled by her girlfriend's voice. She looked up at Chloe in surprise and quickly closed her laptop, putting on a smile, "Hey, you are home early."

Chloe nodded, "Yeah, there wasn't much to do today at the clinic, Emily and Cynthia Rose could handle it so I left early." She walked to Beca cautiously and asked again, "Are you okay babe? You didn't hear me coming in?"

Beca leaned in to press a kiss to Chloe's cheek, trying to act normal, "Yeah, you know, just thinking. Don't worry."

Chloe wasn't convinced, she turned her head to eye the laptop sitting on the kitchen island, "Okay… about what?"

Beca jumped off the stool and picked up her laptop, starting to walk back to the couch, "You know, just… stuff."

Well, now Chloe knew for sure. That definitely meant something was wrong. So she followed the brunette to the living room and sat down on the couch next to her.

"Beca," She started, "We talk everything out, remember? Now what's wrong?"

Beca turned to look at her girlfriend hesitantly, before giving in, "Yeah, we talk everything out…" She took a deep breath, "I've been looking at some job searching websites lately… I'm trying to find a new job I guess."

"Okay." Chloe was a little confused, "What kind of new job?"

Beca laughed at herself, "To be honest, I don't even know either." She looked down, "I want to find a more stable job, you know? So I wouldn't have to work at night and we wouldn't need to squeeze time out of our schedules to see each other. And I've been thinking… maybe I shouldn't be pursuing my career in music anymore, but I don't know what else I could do either so—"

"Wait," Chloe wanted to make sure she heard it right, "What do you mean you've been thinking you shouldn't be pursuing your music career? Why would you give up music Beca?"

"Not giving up entirely, just… career wise. I mean, obviously it'll still be a hobby, but I just don't think I'm cut out for this industry anymore."

"Beca…" Chloe was shocked beyond belief, "But it's your dream. You can't just give up your dream after so long!"

"Exactly, it's been my dream for so long that I don't even know what else I could do…" Beca sighed, running a hand through her hair, "Besides music, all I have is you. And I don't want to lose you again. I don't want you to live like this, waking up early every day so you could see me and going to bed alone every night… You deserve better, and I'd give up my dream for you in a heartbeat."

Chloe blinked back the tears that suddenly welled up in her eyes. She immediately reached out to take Beca's hand, linking their fingers together tightly, "Listen to me, Beca, I don't want you to give up your dream for me. It's your dream, so it's my dream too. We take care of each other, I don't want you to be unhappy."

"I'm happy when I have you." Beca insisted, looking into Chloe's cerulean eyes.

"I know." The redhead smiled, squeezing Beca's hand, "But I also know you'll be happier if you are doing what you love. So please don't give up, okay? I'm happy with my life now, I don't mind really."

"If it's just me, I don't mind living like this either. But now… now I have you back, I… I want to have date nights with you, not only just one day a week when the restaurant is closed. I want to fall asleep with you by my side every night and I want to have breakfast with you every morning, then leave for work together…" Beca trailed off and sighed, looking down at their intertwined hands.

"Beca." Chloe called softly.

When the brunette didn't look up at her, she reached out her other hand to cup the brunette's cheek and stroked her cheekbone with her thumb lightly, "Baby look at me."

Beca took a deep breath and finally raised her head to look into her girlfriend's soft eyes.

"You'll get to do all those things very soon. Right now what you do is just temporary, so just hang on a little longer okay?"

"How can you be so sure? It hasn't happened for 8 years, I don't think—"

"I just know Beca." Chloe cut her off, looking deep into those stormy blue orbs, "I know baby. I know for sure, you'll have your big break. You just have to be a little bit more patient."

Beca sighed, "When you believe in me this much… it terrifies me. I don't want to disappoint you."

"Never, Beca. You'll never disappoint me by doing what you love and holding on to your dream. It's one of the many reasons that I love you." Chloe said softly, "And it doesn't matter how much I believe in you, if you don't believe in yourself, there's no use. So will you believe in yourself a little more, for me? Hang on a little longer, don't give up, okay?"

Beca let out a shaky breath and closed her eyes, letting a few tears escape from the corners of her eyes, "Okay." She said, and then leaned in to bury her face into the crook of her girlfriend's neck, hugging her tight.

"I love you." She whispered slowly into Chloe's hair, feeling the redhead's arms wrap around her protectively.

"I love you too." Chloe smiled, "Now let's go to bed and cuddle for a while before you have to leave, I missed you all day at work."

Beca chuckled lightly and pulled back, quickly wiping away the tears on her cheeks, "Yeah, let's go cuddle, I missed you all day too."

After they were settled in bed, Chloe rested her head on Beca's chest and absentmindedly played with Beca's fingers, while listening to the brunette's heartbeats contently.

"Hey babe," The redhead suddenly spoke, "Have you tried playing your music on the street during the day? It may attract more people you know."

"Hmm… maybe." Beca hummed, gently combing her fingers through her girlfriend's red locks.

"Well I think you should try it some time. I love it when you play on the street, you look really…" Chloe trailed off and mumbled something inaudibly, suddenly blushing a little.

"What? What did you say? I look really what?" Beca didn't catch what Chloe was saying at the end.

"You look really hot when you play your guitar out there and it turns me on, okay?!" Chloe repeated with flushed cheeks.

Beca laughed, and suddenly remembered something, "Wait, is that why you basically jumped me after Luke's street concert the other day?"

"Shut up."

"Oh my god, it totally is, isn't it?" Beca teased the redhead, pulling back a little.

"No it's not! Stop saying that!"

"Make me." Beca challenged, grinning.

"I see what you are doing Beca, you'll have to try harder to trick me into kissing you." Chloe smirked.

"Fine, then how about this?" And before the redhead even blinked, Beca moved and was straddling her hips, placing her hands against the bed on either side of Chloe's head while leaning down inch by inch in a torturous slow pace with that cocky lopsided smile on her face, which was driving Chloe crazy.

Chloe swallowed, and eventually couldn't take it anymore. She reached up and pulled Beca down, immediately locking their lips, "Stop teasing already! You are lucky that I love you."

"I really am." Beca smiled against her girlfriend's lips and melted into the kiss.