So I want to just thank everyone for continuing to read this. Everyone that's commented, and followed it. It really does mean a lot, so thanks.
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"This is so dumb," Beca groaned in frustration, throwing herself back into the folds of her bed sheets. "I mean what do I even pack?" She whined to no one in particular.
(Well, she was whining at Kimmy Jin actually, but the expressionless stare she got in return was enough to tell her she may as well be complaining to thin air).
She wasn't sure why she'd agreed to go on this dumb trip in the first place. Sure, Chloe most certainly had a persuasive nature (abet, a slightly perverse one) but the entire concept of what she was about to undertake was absurd beyond words.
First off, she was going to Tampa. Now Beca wasn't big on geography (her high school teacher had made the grave error of placing her in the back corner, a.k.a: prime sleeping location) but Tampa was in Florida, and Florida was warm, and Beca burned. And not "burned" as in going a little red and then having it peel away to reveal a beautiful sun kissed glow (god she wanted to shank bitches that could pull that off), no, she meant turn tomato red for about a week, then have it peel away excruciatingly slowly to leave her paler than when she'd started. So Tampa; not cool.
Then there was of course the slight issue of her being Chloe's girlfriend. Now, that's not to say that Chloe was in any way unattractive, because that would be an outright lie, and Beca's mother had most certainly not raised a liar (an occasional shoplifter maybe, but never a liar). It was more the fact that in the three months that she'd known Chloe, and in spite of the frequency in which the pair seemed to shower together, she'd not really spent that much one on one time with the red head.
It's not that she had any aversion to her. More that she had an aversion to spending time with people in general. That being said the other woman had always made a conscious effort to make Beca feel included and accepted in the Bellas (in spite of Aubrey's juxtaposing efforts) and whenever the pair did talk (fully clothed obviously) Beca had always found herself oddly at ease, which was something she often found difficult around new people.
So really, she could even come to terms with spending that much time around a relatively new person in her life if she tried (though she was sure Chloe would do most of the trying for her anyway).
No, when it all boiled down, her real issue was the overall concept of this plot. Be Chloe's girlfriend to fool her entire family. Beca wasn't even sure she wanted to pick apart the plan, that she was sure had more holes in it than the Titanic. Though then again, as with the Titanic, it's not so much the quantity of holes in this plan, as the size of them. And this one was huge. Beca had no idea how to act around anyone's parents, never mind Chloe's, and on top of that, she was about 500% sure that she wasn't the kind of person the red head would bring home, like at all.
She felt like a prisoner being led to the Gallows every time she let her mind wander to the thought of her awkwardly hugging Chloe's mother and awkwardly shaking her father's hand. She wasn't even sure if the red head had siblings. In fact, she wasn't even sure on the name of the cousin whose wedding she'd be attending, though Chloe had promised her a crash course in her family on the drive down (and Beca was so nervous she'd actually been dorky enough to buy a notebook and pen to keep track of the red heads family tree).
(Then again, given that was the first notebook and pen she'd bought in the entire five months she'd been at Barden, it probably wasn't so much dorky as it was a reflection of her complete disinterest in learning).
Beca wasn't sure how long she'd been lying in her own (completely rational) misery, but it took her a second to realize that there was a knocking on her dorm room door quickly pulling her back to the present.
It took her another begrudging second to realize Kimmy Jin had absolutely no interest in the whole wide world in leaving her laptop to check who it was. With a mumbled sound of protest Beca rose from the bed, hopping over her half-filled case and throwing an unimpressed look at her roommate as she went to the door.
It was Chloe of course. Bright and bubbly as ever, inviting herself inside before either of them even opened their mouths (well, if you're willing to invade someone's shower without asking, then why not their room as well).
Not that Beca minded. Ever since Chloe's first visit to the dorm room, in which she'd ended up on bended knee pleading for a date (and revealing far more than the brunette ever wanted anyone to know), Kimmy Jin had a distinct hatred towards the red head (because yes, apparently the Asian woman could even hate the most lovable person in the world). Therefore, it took all of 2.5 seconds for her laptop to be slipped into its case and carried out the door, along with a swift trail of raven black hair, and smoke rising from the carpet after her.
"How's packing going?" Chloe seemed oblivious to Kimmy Jins departure as she perched herself happily at the edge of Beca's bed (though for it to be a bed it needed to be wide enough to fit one whole person. Beca liked to think of it as more of a plank of wood with some sheets on top).
"It's is ridiculous Chloe," Beca groaned by means of an answer. "I mean I have all this crap packed, and I don't know what I'll need, or what I won't need… it's just dumb." She knew she sounded childish, but couldn't find it in herself to care as she instead opted to throw herself dramatically onto the strip of mattress known as a bed, almost knocking Chloe off in the process.
"We're only going for five days…" Chloe reminded the brunette, smirking in spite of herself.
"I know…" Beca lifted her head from the plethora of sheets she liked to cocoon herself in. "But it's a wedding. I need some kind of fancy outfit for that, and another one for the rehearsal dinner I suppose, and I'm just going to go on ahead and presume it's always summer in Florida, so I need loads of summery clothes, which by the way, I have none of. Though then knowing my luck it'll be monsoon season, or some shit like that, so I need to pack water proof stuff as well and then…" Her rant was in full swing by now, and it took Chloe's hand closing around her mouth gently to shut her up.
"Okay crazy," the red head laughed. "I'd never have taken you as anal retentive… you and Bree may actually get along if you could just overcome your differences." Her teasing earned her a glare, so she moved on quickly. "Look, we have the wedding sure, and if you really want you can come to the rehearsal dinner, though you're by no means obliged to, and I actually kind of presumed you wouldn't be going, so there's that. As for the rest of the time, we can do what you want Beca. You were kind enough to do this for me…"
"Kind enough to do this for you…? Is that what they call peer pressure and bribe's these days," Beca challenged playfully.
"Whatever." Chloe nudged the brunette. "I still managed to convince you in the end, so I'm not going to take you down there and make things even more miserable by dragging you about Tampa against your own free will," the red head promised with a genuine smile that Beca couldn't help but believe.
"So you're not going to take me shopping all the time, and to see all the sites that I could just google image if I really wanted to look at?" Beca queried.
"I'll not even take you out to eat if you don't want to," Chloe swore, placing her hand dramatically across her heart.
"Don't be ridiculous. I come with instructions to be fed at least three times a day," Beca informed her seriously.
"Oh god, you come with a manual," Chloe giggled at the other woman's nonsense. "I'm in way over my head here."
"Well how about you go read up on me and I'll pack a smaller case?" Beca suggested then, a smirk tugging at her lips as she watched the way Chloe's face scrunched with laughter.
"Sounds like a plan," the red head nodded; standing and stretching off the bed. "See you tomorrow around one?" She questioned as she stepped gingerly over Beca's case.
"Thirteen hundred hours. I'll be there," Beca saluted with a wiry grin.
"Wow, how military of you. You really should consider hanging out with Aubrey," Chloe commented; laughing and ducking as a pair of socks were thrown at her. "And on that note, I bid you fare well," she added; skipping from the room and clicking the door shut behind her.
Beca rolled her eyes, still looking at the spot Chloe had stood. This trip would be weird no doubt, but something told her that as long as it were a trip with Chloe, it'd never fail to be interesting, and dare she say it, maybe even fun.