CHAPTER 16

POV- Chloe

Beca and I have gotten so much closer these past few weeks. I'm at her dorm practically every night. On nights when she has the late shift, I'll walk with her from Bellas' rehearsal and she lets me stay in her dorm as I wait for her to get back from the station.

(Yes, I am aware that it seems very "couple-like"…)

I plop down on her bed and pull my laptop out to occupy myself so I don't fall asleep. Typically, it works, but sometimes there are nights (like tonight) where I'll fall asleep and wake up in the morning with Beca's arms around me.

When I wake up this morning, the sun hasn't even come up. I am surprised to see Beca wide awake, staring up at the ceiling. I lift my head from the pillow and scoot closer, draping an arm around her waist.

"Mmm…" I groan, lazily,"Everything okay?"

"Uhh…yeah" She reassures me, unconvincingly, as she turns to face me and begins to rub my back, "Go back to sleep. I'll wake you up in time for class"

"Nuh uhnn," I protest, groggily but with determination," Not until you tell me what's bothering you."

She exhales, taking a moment to choose her words,"Do you remember that night we watched all those weird videos on youtube… and you asked me why I've never had any serious relationships with girls?"

"Vaguely, yes…" I smile, as I think back.

"And how I told you I couldn't because they always leave?"

"Mmhmm….?" I nod, as more of the night's events come back to me.

She starts, "Well… "

She tells me about her mother. About how close they were. About her being a badass sergeant in the Marines but being a big teddy bear at home (Hmmm…who does THAT sound like?) Then she tells me about her mother having an affair with a lieutenant. It really gets to me because I can hear in her voice that she misses her mom.

"I guess I never really got over it," She finishes.

We lay in silence for a while, until I work up the nerve say something.

"Roll over…"

"What?" Beca's lifts her head from the pillow, confused by my request.

"Just…lemme…," We maneuver awkwardly until Beca's back is to my chest and my arms are around her, "…there."

We talk for the next 2 hours or so until the sun comes up. She opens up more and more as I tell her about my childhood. We talk about everything from first crushes to our dream jobs when we were five to high school activities (apparently, Beca was bassist and vocalist for an indie band she started with some guys she used to get high with)…

"You know," Beca starts as if she's had an epiphany, "…This is actually pretty nice…"

"What is?" I ask, stroking her arm absently with my thumb.

She waves her hand back and forth between us, "THIS. I've been missing out."

"Are you actually ENJOYING the "small dip" life?" I tease.

She snuggles back into me, hugging my arms around her stomach,"Shhh…you'll ruin it…"

And that's the last thing I hear before I let butterflies and sleep overtake me.

Later, at Bellas' rehearsal, we get to work, perfecting the mix Beca made from the songs we chose. I have to say I feel like an annoyingly proud girlfriend when I watch the Bellas' reactions as everything starts to come together.

We even take some time to work on the basics. We work on scales for about 30 minutes, using different syllables. (Which is really amusing once we get to "wow" and "nu").

The way the girls are moving and listening to each other, I can already tell this is going to be a good season.