Chapter Text
Beca strode from her bedroom through to the lounge of her LA home, picking at her fingernails anxiously. She took a fleeting look down at her watch and bit her bottom lip. Chloe should be here any minute now. Well, that was a lie - the redhead was due twenty minutes ago, but had texted Beca to tell her that her luggage had been delayed at arrivals so she’d be with her soon.
The young woman wandered over to the long mirror by the fireplace that stood towards the back of the lounge area. She still couldn’t understand why the ridiculously plush home that her new label had provided her had a fireplace in it. It was LA - little to no reason to light a fire unless it was for a barbecue. She hated how fake a lot of this city was. And she hated the fireplace.
Beca stared at her reflection and let out a long heavy sigh to try to calm her nerves. She’d been living in LA for three months now. Three whole months of trying to get used to living alone. And it had sucked. She’d gone from living in a tiny studio apartment with two of her best friends - sharing a crappy fold-out bed with Chloe - to rattling around alone in a relatively large two-bedroomed home in LA. She missed the lack of personal space in a weird way.
She’d tried several different outfits on in the past hour, wanting to look her very best. This was the first time Beca and Chloe had seen one another since Beca had left for LA. Three long months. Their last day together in their Brooklyn apartment had consisted of them waking up around the same time, cuddling for a little while in their crappy little bed, Beca burning their breakfast so the two of them deciding to go to a nearby café for bagels and coffee, the two of them wandering the surrounding streets of their apartment one last time together, having an afternoon nap on their bed in each other’s arms, then Beca having to say goodbye to Chloe as her Über turned up to take her to the airport.
Among Chloe’s final words were six particular words that had haunted Beca since whispered into her ear during their final hug at the door: “I wish things could’ve been different..” They had swam around in her head over and over again. What had Chloe meant? Had she wished for a better last day together? Did she mean she wished they hadn’t lived together for so long after graduation? Because Beca had really enjoyed living with Chloe in the end and had had a really nice last day with her.
The brunette smoothed the front of her black top down, turning to the side to inspect her side profile. She’d straightened her hair and had spent far longer than normal doing her make up. She hoped it was enough. She hoped she looked memorable enough for Chloe to think “Wow”. Because Beca had had a crush on her best friend for far longer than she deemed healthy.
Seeing Chloe today had Beca feeling both sick with nerves and numb with excited anticipation. Beca didn’t get excited about things - but she got excited about seeing Chloe. She hoped she was enough.
The home filled suddenly with a loud ‘ding-dong’ noise that was alien to Beca - she hadn’t ever had a visitor here in LA before. Her heart hammered against her chest while she took a deep breath to steady her nerves and she slowly made her way over to the huge front door. She took hold of the cool metal handle, pulled it down, and tugged the door open.
It had been a long three months, but what felt like the first time since moving, a broad and genuine smile swept over Beca’s face the second she clasped eyes on Chloe. The woman stood alone on the large porch area, a massive grin on her face, and she even appeared to be shaking on the spot she looked so excited - as if ready to explode.
“Can I help y-“ Beca began to say sarcastically but she had to stop her greeting to let out a chuckle because Chloe had wasted no time in lunging towards her and throwing her arms around her waist - the redhead letting out a delighted squeak. Beca squeezed her eyes shut while she held her best friend tight. Finally.
“I missed you so muuuch!!!” Chloe cried out in a tone that sounded almost like a wail. But Beca knew everything about Chloe and the way the woman was. So she knew that wail was one of excitement.
“Missed you too, weirdo.” Beca mumbled into Chloe’s ear, her arms now around her best friend’s neck. She wouldn’t be caught dead acting so affectionately towards someone else. But Chloe was different. Chloe had always been different.
Chloe let out a small squeak and Beca peeled her arms from around the woman’s body just as Chloe began making her way into Beca’s beautiful home, “Oh my goodness! Is this whole place yours? Oh I love those blinds! And that’s rug! And…OH MY GOODNESS…” Beca peered through the door with an affectionate smile as she watched Chloe dashing over to the fireplace, “BECA YOU HAVE A FIREPLACE?!”
Beca chuckled as she watched Chloe smooth her hand along the top of the fireplace, the redhead looking at it in wonder. And Beca’s heart warmed. Her home looked good with Chloe Beale in it, “You like it?”
“I love it!!” Chloe exclaimed, smiling over at Beca brightly, and Beca felt her stomach flip. Chloe was stood in a beautiful light floating dress - having been pre-warned by Beca that the weather was far warmer here on the West Coast than over on the East Coast - and her red hair that Beca remembered last being long had been cut to just below her shoulders. It was a nice length. And Chloe’s hair always grew quickly.
“Yeah, I love it too.” Beca lied. But this was Chloe. She never wanted to say anything opposing Chloe. She forever wanted to be on her side - which was unusual for Beca who was renowned for enjoying thinking she was right and causing a deeper argument than necessary with others.
“Can we light it tonight??” Chloe asked eagerly and Beca turned to collect Chloe’s belongings that the redhead had left on the doorstep. She was here for a few days and Beca couldn’t wait.
“Uh, yeah. Sure.”
She had no idea how they were possibly gonna get that thing lit. But for Chloe she’s do anything (as ashamed as she was to admit it).
“Lets uh…” Beca paused awkwardly, nudging the front door closed with her hip before turning back to her best friend, “I’ll show you your room.”
Beca wandered slowly from the lounge through to the back of the home where the two bedrooms stood, passing the door of her own. She looked over her shoulder, pleased that Chloe was following her, then opened the door to bedroom two. Nobody had stayed in the spare room yet so Beca didn’t really know what it was like. But it had a huge bed and some good electric blinds and a pretty view out the window. She didn’t anticipate any complaints, so was surprised when she heard a sharp “Oh.” fall from Chloe’s mouth as they stood just inside the room.
“Is…this okay?” Beca asked nervously, turning to look at her best friend while Chloe peered around the room with wide eyes. She noticed Chloe’s cheeks flushing pink slightly and furrowed her brow with worry. She didn’t think the room was that bad.
“No..um..i mean yes..obviously it’s okay. I just…thought we’d..um..I’d be sharing your bed this week. Because..well, you know..”
Yeah, Beca did know. She’d felt it too. The first couple of weeks since leaving Brooklyn she’d struggled to sleep because Chloe wasn’t beside her. It was funny how they’d become dependent on one another to sleep comfortably at night - three years of comfort to be precise. But Beca was speechless, her mouth hung open slightly as she watched Chloe slowly wander into the bedroom, looking around with a forced smile on her face, babbling nervously - clearly embarrassed.
“But, you know, this room is great. Brilliant actually. And this bed is really big so…I’ll have some really good sleep while I’m here…” her sentence drifted off, her smile wavering as she looked down at the huge bed in the spare room she’d be sleeping in during her stay. Beca felt a huge knot of guilt.
Just as she was about to suggest that Chloe could sleep in her bed with her instead, the redhead let out a massive exhale and forced a fresh smile on her face, turning to look at Beca, “So it’s your birthday tomorrow!” and Beca snapped her mouth closed, swallowing loudly while Chloe added, “What would you like to do?”