I'm back! I'm sorry this one took so long; I've had some stuff to deal with in university, lots of life-changing decisions to make and stuff, so my muse abandoned me for a while. I tried something a little different from the other chapters this time, and I must confess, I'm not sure I like this chapter very much, but I've looked at it a lot and I can't decide how else to tweak it.
A few things: this was supposed to be the chapter before the last, but I've recently realized that Brittany Snow does have another tattoo besides the ladybug on her wrist. This leaves me - and you! - with some decisions to make. I'd like to know if you guys would want me to include that tattoo in the series and have that be the next chapter, or if you'd rather we just get to the last chapter next? Please note that the last chapter is already completed, and only needs a few minor adjustments.
Also, if anyone has any requests to make for this series, whether for a specific tattoo or a specific kind of story, please don't hesitate to leave me a comment or a PM. The closer we get to the end of the series, the less time you'll have to ask.
Thank you, as always, to all of you who follow, favorite, review, and drop me kudos. Your kindness is the reason I keep doing this.
Lengthy A/N over, please read on and enjoy!
The door shuts with a resounding bang as Beca runs through it. The brunette needs a minute though, doubling over with a hand clutching the table they keep by the door for keys and such as she pants.
"You'd think three years of cardio would have left Beca in better shape than this."
The woman in question glares at Emily, but due to her out-of-breath state, not even the legacy finds her intimidating.
"Nah, Beca doesn't actually do the cardio. Hasn't since Aubrey left and nobody's been around to force her. She just inflicts it on the rest of us."
Beca barely manages an eye roll at Stacie before she straightens and opens her mouth to ask something only to be cut off by Fat Amy as the Australian walks by on her way to the kitchen.
"She's still waiting upstairs."
Amy's not even done with her statement when Beca bolts for the stairs, not stopping until she's doubled over again and barely on her feet in Chloe's doorway.
"Finally! I've packed and repacked and checked everything twice. There wasn't much else for me to do to stall until you got here. I need to head to the airport, like, right now, Beca."
Beca uses the doorframe to stand up a little, her eyes squinting a little as she wheezes out a response.
"Sorry, Red… late… Station… Jesse…"
The ginger blinks, seemingly just realizing that Beca looks ready to drop.
"Dude, are you okay? Come here, sit down. I'm already late, I can't deal with you dying on me too."
Beca shuffles in and drops on the bed without care, throwing a sarcastic smile up at the redhead hovering worriedly over her.
"Thanks, Chlo. I run the whole way here to catch you before you leave and you repay me by saying mean things to me. Why do you wound me so?"
Chloe, for her part, rolls her eyes as she mutters something about Beca being a drama queen before she moves back towards the suitcase she's packed, looking over it one last time.
"Well, this 'drama queen' scored Jesse's car so I can take you to the airport. But if you're going to be so ungrateful about it, then I can always-"
"No! God, are you kidding? I get a little more time with you. Now get up so we can go before I miss my flight."
So Beca grabs Chloe's suitcase and the pair head to the car. The brunette drives, letting her guard down as she sings along to Taylor Swift on the radio because she's with Chloe and it's impossible not to smile and goof off and act like a total dork when Chloe's looking at you with toothy grins and shining eyes.
Too soon, Beca finds herself trapped in the ginger's arms for what Chloe refers to as "the mother of all hugs," and she has to remind Chloe that she's only going away for a week and plead with the redhead to let her go because she can't breathe and her vision is going black at the edges from the lack of oxygen.
Beca's drive back to the Bella house is significantly quieter.
The Bella captain won't admit it, but she stays up later than usual that night, claiming that she's working on a tricky mix, when in reality she's hoping to hear something from Chloe who's promised to let her know as soon as she arrives at her destination.
She's jolted awake sometime after 2 a.m. when her phone buzzes by her head and she fumbles for it in the dark. Wiping the faint trail of drool from her chin, Beca curses like a sailor at the brightness of her phone as she reads Chloe's somewhat lengthy text message.
"Sorry it's so late! Got swept into family gatherings. First time I've been alone all day. I promise to send texts/emails every day. Oh, Paddy said to say hi! He'd LOVE to meet you, Becs! Now go back to bed or the Bellas will kill me for being the reason you're a little Gremlin tomorrow. Love you! xxxx"
(As far as the brunette's concerned though, just because she's heard from Chloe is no reason for Beca to not give the Bellas a hard time in the morning. She keeps that in mind as she clears a path to the coffee machine with the sheer power of her scowl – secretly relishing in the way Legacy trips over her own feet to get out of the way. It takes her two cups of black coffee before Beca feels bad about it and silently makes a note to herself to be a lot nicer to Emily for the rest of the day.)
Beca's day just manages to get more hectic as the seconds tick by. Soon enough she's so occupied at her internship, the radio station after that, and keeping the Bellas in check that she barely has time to use the bathroom. But now it's dark, and Fat Amy's out of the room – probably doing obscene things with Bumper – and she's alone for the first time all day when the quiet actually sets in and she realizes that it's been following her all day; the silence of not having Chloe around is deafening as it blankets her.
Beca's shoulders drop even further because she's just so tired and she needs today to end and for it to be next week already so she can be at the airport picking Chloe up again.
But it's not next week – it's not even tomorrow – and she has more work to do, so she drops ungracefully onto her bed, mindlessly plugging her phone – which has been dead for hours – into the charger as she boots up her laptop.
She's momentarily distracted by some software update for her precious mixing apps that she doesn't pay much attention as her fingers go on auto-pilot and swipe at her phone, sparing the barest of glances as she opens someone's text. Eventually though, a flash of red catches her eye and she's pushing her laptop to the side altogether, smiling softly as she looks at the picture Chloe's sent her.
The redhead is beaming into the camera, her blue eyes shining so bright they rival the ocean water behind her. The brunette smiles softly as she pictures, with startling and unparalleled clarity, Chloe's process as she braids her bangs to the side while opting to let her hair down, her beach waves catching in the sun just enough to make the redhead's hair look like a living breathing fire that Beca would gladly run her fingers through, burn risks be damned.
Beca lets her eyes roam a little longer – mindful not to linger too long on Chloe in a bikini – her heart constricting a little at the caption the redhead attached to the photo.
Wish you were here with me, Becs. xxxx.
Eventually, Beca admits defeat and starts doing actual work for a number of hours she doesn't even bother to keep track off. So it comes as a surprise when she gets a notification that she's got an email from Chloe at – after a lot of tired blinking and squinting at her screen to focus her eyes – 3:30 am.
A part of Beca – a big part of her – is super pleased to hear more from Chloe, but a tiny voice in the back of her mind is nagging at her that something's wrong. She chooses to ignore that voice when she opens the email and finds that Chloe's attached some more pictures to the email, along with the nicely sized body of text.
Opting to open the pictures first, the brunette smiles at the sight of Chloe, who has her head thrown back in a clear giggle (which Beca can practically hear in her head as if Chloe's sitting across from her, but whatever) and her arms spread out to her sides, posing in front of the statue of Mickey Mouse and Walt Disney. The picture's caption reads, I got you Minnie Mouse ears so we can match, Tiny Maus ;)
The brunette rolls her eyes, knowing she'll never live her encounters with the Kommissar down.
(She also makes a mental note to secretly print this photo of Chloe and discreetly add it to the frames of the girls' pictures spread around the house. And maybe get a private copy for herself.)
The next picture warmed Beca's heart immensely; the sight of Chloe with her arms wrapped tightly around an older man – presumably the redhead's beloved Paddy – made Beca feel guilty for ever wishing the ginger had chosen against going on this family retreat. She racks her mind, but Beca can't seem to recall a moment in which she's seen Chloe so unabashedly joyful, and looking downright like a little girl. This photo is captioned, Paddy can't wait to meet you! He totes loves you already.
The next few photos showed Chloe with a host of people at some bar or club; Beca assumes they're all Chloe's cousins or brother because she's not entirely comfortable with how this one dude keeps popping up in all of the photos with a hand around Chloe, or planting a kiss on her cheek, or just general touchy-feely gestures that leave the brunette feeling itchy. It doesn't help that the redhead's only captioned the first photo in the series and it says nothing about who anyone is, just a simple, Still nothing like a Bellas party.
The brunette idly wonders if this email is the result of a wild night on the town, and Chloe's just 'drunk dialing', so to speak.
"Hey, Becs! I miss you soooooooo much, and it's actually kinda ridiculous because I've only been away for, like, a day.
I am so bringing you here with me as soon as possible. I mean, you'd totes hate it with all the sand and the sun and the fresh air. Not to mention the people; there are so many people all over, Becs, and they're all so happy. All. The. Time. Imagine a city just full of me! You would absolutely lose your shit here, it'll be hilarious."
The brunette rolls her eyes affectionately, thinking to herself that it wouldn't be as bad as Chloe seems to think if Beca were in a city inhabited by only Chloe.
"It's pretty overwhelming to be with my relatives all at once again; I haven't been with them in ages, I forgot how many I had! Or how loud and nosy they are… barely 24 hours and all they wanna talk about is how I'm still single. I swear, if my aunt tells me about "this really nice guy" she knows one more time, Becs, I'm going to join a convent! They just can't seem to grasp the idea that I'm just waiting for the right someone…"
Beca swears she sees her heart casually walk out of her feet, whistling some show tune as it struts away from her.
Who's this "right someone"?
"Anyway, none of that matters. What does matter is Paddy. God, Becs, I've missed him so much! Remind me again why it's taken me this long to come out and see him? I've spent the whole day with him; he took me to the beach and made sandcastles with me, just like when I was a kid and was being left out of all the games because I was the youngest. He hasn't stopped calling me Little Mermaid since I arrived. It's the best feeling ever.
We went to Disney World too! Ohmigod, Becs, Paddy's like the biggest big kid I've ever known! He had the whole layout memorized and was constantly rushing me to certain spots so we could meet all the characters. We bought balloons, and had all the snacks we could find in the park, and went on as many rides as possible without straining him.
Later, we went to this bar and spent the rest of the night drinking and laughing until he got too tired to keep going. We spent the time there checking out girls and trying out cheesy pick-up lines. He bet me that he could score more phone numbers than I could, and like a sucker I agreed to his bet. I'm ashamed to say that he did get more girls' phone numbers than I did."
Beca has to pause after reading and rereading this a few times. She's not sure what she finds more surprising; the fact that Chloe was flirting with other girls, or the fact that she wasn't very successful about it.
(Beca ignores the part of her that is throwing a party because Chloe failed in her attempts to pick up girls. It's the same part of her that flared up with searing jealousy the first time she read the sentence. She ignores that too.)
She shakes her head and keeps reading.
"He told me all about how he met my grandma too! It's the cutest story ever, Becs, remind me to tell it to you when I get home.
I got home not too long ago and found him in the kitchen all alone. So obviously I pulled a stool next to him after finding the ice cream and cookies stash, along with glasses of milk. We spent the past hour or so just talking.
It's been one of the best days of my life."
Beca smiles fondly, picturing the old man from the picture and Chloe running around and goofing off with kids while other adults gawked in envy. She could see it now; where Chloe had gotten her love of life and personality from. It becomes clear to Beca that Paddy is a force to be reckoned with in Chloe's life, and obviously one hell of a guy to know.
"I've told him all about you, y'know. How we met at the activities fair, you with all of your snark and menacing earspike, me all innocent and sweet as I try to save my Bellas. Obviously I had to tell him about your blatant lie that you couldn't sing, which then led to telling him all about The Incident and us singing in the shower. Told him all about your clashes with Bree, your awkwardness, how tiny you are.
How you've led us to victory and greater heights ever since we met. That you're a genius musician who's totes going to take Los Angeles by storm and turn it on its axis once you make it out there. He's even listened to your music and he agrees; you're brilliant, Becs."
Beca's breathing catches and she has to reread things a few times to make sure it's not all just a dream. Inexplicably, she feels a blush covering her cheeks and neck, knowing that Chloe's been singing her praises to someone who is probably the most important person in the redhead's life makes Beca feel lightheaded and bashful, both honored and humbled that Chloe thinks so highly of her.
"I'm sorry, I don't know what just got into me; I let my sap show, and I know how uncomfortable that makes you feel. I guess it's just the euphoria of today leaking through coupled with how late it is.
What about you? Are you alright, the Bellas? Treating Legacy okay? Don't be too mean and Gremlin-like to her, okay? She's Baby Bella. I hope I don't actually wake you up with this. Actually, if you're still awake, please go to bed. I know today's one of your busier day and you're probably so tired you needed to squint at the screen to tell the time. Sleep before you mix your way into an early grave, Becs.
I need to get some sleep, big plans tomorrow and all, but I'll text and email like today. Tell the girls I said hi and that I miss them.
Missing you the most,
Chloe."
Beca types out a quick reply, nothing fancy or lengthy, a simple, "I'm glad you're having fun, Chlo. You deserve to relax a little. Paddy seems like a genuine blast, and I can't wait to meet the dude myself. I miss you too, Red. Stay safe."
The brunette shuts everything off, settling into bed with a content smile on her face and her mind mostly occupied with visions of red and tints of blue, but there's still something about all of this that's bothering Beca, the brunette straining to ignore the little voice that's telling her to be ready.
Naturally, her brain was obnoxiously right because Beca didn't hear anything from Chloe for the rest of the week. At first, she convinced herself that it was probably because Chloe was having too much fun and didn't have a lot of time to herself to sit down and send Beca a lengthy email. But her logic won out because she knows that no matter how busy Chloe gets, the redhead will always have time to shoot her a quick text.
Sadly, Beca's week continues to get busier, not leaving her with enough time to call Chloe as many times as she'd like, so – thankfully – before she knows it, the week has come to an end, and the brunette finds herself in the Bella house's doorway, panting as she tries to catch her breath because she's late again. She's missed picking Chloe up from the airport, but that's fine because the brunette had received a text from Aubrey telling her that the blonde would pick Chloe up.
As the oxygen finally remembers how to come and go inside her body, Beca becomes sharply aware of some things:
There is no welcome committee to mock her at the door.
No redheads have trapped her in a massive bear hug that leads to Beca being lifted a few inches off the ground.
The house is quiet. Too quiet.
Short, shaky legs carry Beca into the living room where her blood runs cold because the girls, including Aubrey, are huddled up together and looking devastated – Emily's even crying, much to Beca's increasing terror – and no redhead in sight. The brunette strides into the room and draws Aubrey's attention to her with a sharply hissed out, "Hey!"
As if Beca wasn't scared enough, Aubrey adds to her worries by referring to her by her name, and not some teasing nickname designed to take a jab at her height.
"Beca, it's Chloe. She's upstairs-"
The blonde never finishes her sentence because Beca's already rushing up the stairs, instinctively turning in the direction of her own bedroom.
Her heart seizes at the sight of the redhead curled up in her bed, a big wet patch forming on Beca's pillow right where Chloe's cheek meets the pillowcase. The brunette drops her stuff by the door without care as she steps inside the room, noting how small Chloe looks. Her movements draw Chloe's attention towards her and Beca's heart breaks as she watches Chloe's already shaking body shrink further into her bed and shake even more violently, the redhead's sobs coming out harder and more broken.
Beca doesn't say anything, doesn't even need to ask why Chloe is in such a state. There really is no need because she's been in Chloe's shoes four years ago when she lost her Nana. She knows how empty words can be in such a time, and she's never been very good at them, so she opts for actions instead. The redhead likes actions better anyway.
Ever so gently, Beca pulls the covers back, slipping under them and into her own bed. Her arms have barely opened to go around Chloe when the redhead's arms find Beca's waist and pull her closer, Chloe scooting down the bed and burying her face in Beca's middle as her sobs come more freely, her tears hot as they soak through Beca's shirt and make contact straight with the younger woman's skin.
Beca's hands find homes in the redhead's hair, fingers scratching and massaging Chloe's scalp soothingly, her lips whispering soft, sweet nothings and gentle prayers into the top of Chloe's head, occasionally planting kisses in between her words.
The brunette's arms tighten around Chloe whenever she feels the redhead's sobs wrack her body violently, like a personal natural disaster that leaves only casualties in its wake.
They stay like that even long after Chloe's cried herself into a fitful sleep full of sad whimpers and silent tears. Beca spends the whole night awake, keeping vigil over Chloe as the ginger sleeps and soothing her with fingers softly brushing through red hair whenever her dreams prove to be too painful.
In the morning, Chloe finally lifts her swollen and red eyes to meet Beca's, whose heart breaks because there's so much pain in Chloe's baby blues it's a wonder Chloe's still breathing. Beca knows she wouldn't be.
Chloe's eyes are filling with tears again, and Beca just can't stand it so she plants a lingering kiss on the redhead's forehead, closing her eyes as she hears Chloe's hoarse, tear-laden voice.
"He was saying goodbye, Beca. They said something about a heart condition that he kept all to himself and he-" Chloe's voice breaks again, shattering to a bazillion tiny pieces like her soul, the shards of which embed in Beca's skin.
"Why'd he have to leave me like that, Beca? Why?"
They go back to lying there after that, Chloe's fragile and childlike voice searing itself unpleasantly into Beca's memory as she just holds a sobbing Chloe.
Hours later, when Beca's jolted awake after losing her battle with exhaustion, she finds her bed empty and panics. Thankfully though, Chloe emerges from the bathroom soon after, looking like she took a stroll down the darker parts of hell.
Beca thinks she'll never meet another woman as beautiful as Chloe.
Silently, Chloe pulls Beca out of bed and the two leave the house.
For now, Beca's content with sitting in a chair next to Chloe and holding her hand, pressing soft and sporadic kisses along the back of the redhead's hand as she lies back with her shirt lifted up at the hip, a tattoo artist inking a simple but incredibly meaningful four-leaved clover into Chloe's flesh.
Days later, when Chloe's only crying in bursts, she'll tell Beca the story about how the four-leaved clover had always been Paddy's good luck charm – even though it's totally cliché – because he found one right before he walked into a bar and met her grandmother, and he found one for each one of his kids and grandkids before they were born, and especially how he found two before Chloe was born.