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Beca Mitchell hates airplanes.
She didn’t trust the flying metal object, how did they even fly? She didn’t understand why, but she hated them. The turbulence shaking the plane scared her to death, and she wasn’t sure why she decided to even board it in the first place. Maybe it was because she loved her grandparents and she was willing to be in fear for a few hours to see them.
But today, she was on an airplane, from New York to Georgia,
She gets in her seat, gets ready for takeoff, and buckles herself in. She reads the safety booklet once, twice, three times. She needed to understand all these safety percussions in case of emergency. She tunes in to the safety video like its nobody’s business, and gets her earplugs. Her ears couldn’t handle the air pressure change without them, so she looks for them everywhere, and finds it in her carry-on bag after the mini-panic attack. She puts them in, She clutches onto the armrests and holds on tight as the aircraft leaves the ground.
She waits for the plane to stop shaking so much before she take her earplugs off and opens her laptop and plugs her headphones in, fiddling around with her new mix. She’s about to finish up her mix when the flight attendants start to hand out drinks. She settles on an apple cranberry cocktail and braces herself for any turbulence that may kick in. She decides that she’s gonna give sleep a try and closes her eyes, when the plane shakes, making Beca jolt and clutch onto the armrests. The plane jolts again, and Beca gasps, bracing herself to the seat. Her breath shallows, and she feels a panic attack coming.
Was she overreacting, or could it be the end of her life?
Then, she feels a hand on her shoulder. She jumps, and looks at the person who had touched her.
“You’re okay. Calm down.” A ginger in the seat across the isle from her says as she gently rubs her back. “I’m Chloe. Your name?”She asks her.
“I’m Beca. Sorry. I’m not good with planes.”
“You’re okay Beca. I promise.” She smiles, looking at her with the most beautiful blue eyes she’s seen. “What were you doin on your laptop earlier?” She asks.
“Uh… I was making a mix. I… uh, mix music.” She breathes out.
“Wow. That’s pretty awesome, can I listen?”
“I-its not that good. I just play around with it.” She mutters.
“I’m sure it’s good. But if you’re not comfortable with it, it’s fine. “ Chloe rubs her back.
Beca takes her headphones off her neck and hands it to the ginger. “Here.”
The ginger takes it from Beca with a smile and puts it on, and waits for the brunette to play the music. She chooses the mix she had just been working on, Betty and All Too Well mashed up. “It’s still a bit rough but,…..”She mutters to the ginger who obviously can’t hear her because of the headphones, and so concentrated on the music. A smile appears on her face and its kinda a relief for Beca. She either likes it or thinks its a joke. At least it was one or the other.
Then, Chloe looks at her and smiles even bigger, and takes her headphones off. “This is amazing….. Beca, this is amazing!”She looks into Beca’s eyes. “Do you have more?”
Beca nods, and selects the next song, the mix with Only Just a Dream and Just the Way You Are, and Chloe puts her headphones back on.
It seems like Chloe’s smile gets bigger as the song goes on, and when she’s finished listening to the mix, she takes her headphones off and hands them back to her. “I love it Beca. Any where you post these?” She asks.
“Um, I, no. I don’t post them anywhere.” She says fiddling with the cord of her headphones.
“I want to hear more of them. Thats if you’re okay with it. “The ginger smiles, and then the seatbelt sign goes off, and Beca realizes that the turbulence had calmed down.
“Thank you.” Beca looks at the ginger and smiles, and Chloe knows what she’s talking about.
“No problem. Thank you.” She smiles back and rubs her back again. “ Don’t worry. It’s just a few more hours.”
“If I freak out, just tell me to fuck off. Okay?” She jokes, and she gets a chuckle from Chloe.
“You’re fine. Everyone freaks out sometimes.”Chloe says, “I freak out sometimes.” She giggles.
“Do you guys want to switch seats?” An older lady sitting next to Chloe says from her window seat. She had been sleeping during the whole turbulence incident but had woken up from her nap. “You two are very cute together. Reminds me of my Nephew and his husband.” She smiles.
“Oh… were not…”Beca starts but before she can even finish, Chloe jumps in.
“Thank you so much. I’d appreciate that. C’mon Beca.”She smiles and then shoots a wink at her.
The lady takes off her seatbelt and gets up and Chloe does as well, Beca quickly shoves her stuff in her backpack and gets up leaving the seat and waiting in the isle as the lady sits in her seat.
“Thank you.”Beca smiles at the lady and then sees that Chloe chose the window seat and she’s patting the isle seat next to her. She sits down and puts her backpack down and puts her seatbelt on.
“I hope you don’t mind that that the lady thinks we’re together.”Chloe whispers to her and Beca feels herself blushing.
“I.. It’s okay.” She says as she feels her cheeks getting redder.
“You’re cute.”Chloe giggles, “So, am I allowed to hear more of your mixes or…?”
“Umm…. Yeah… sure. “She grabs her laptop from her backpack and hands her the headphones. “I don’t know what you like, but just, I guess pick whatever you like?…” She says turning her laptop so that Chloe can choose from her list.
“Thank you!” She gets a quick side hug from the ginger and she feels her cheeks burning again.
Beca finds herself watching the ginger who is enjoying herself listening to her mixes. “They’re amazing Beca. You should post them somewhere!” The ginger exclaims, handing the headphones back to her.
“I don’t know…. Maybe someday. Not.. not yet. “ She says, putting her headphones back on her neck and then unplugging it from her laptop after making sure that the music had been paused. She didn’t want to make the mistake of playing her mixes full blast in the plane full of people.
“Who sings in them? Is it you?”
“Um.. yeah. They’re just drafts.”
“Your voice is gorgeous. I love your voice.” Chloe smiles, holding her hand out for Beca to hold. “So Beca, where are you headed after this?”
Beca blushes, but can’t resist but take Chloes hand. “Um, I’m headed to my grandparents house in Atlanta.…?”
“Where are you from?”She asks.
“I’m from Atlanta but I live in New York for work right now.” She says.
“Oh, cool.” She smiles. “I’m from New York but I live in Athens right now for vet school.” She says, “Sorry, I tend to overshare.”She giggles.
“Oh. That’s nice.”Beca smiles just as the seatbelt sign turns on and the pilot goes on speakers.
“Passengers, cabin crew, please take your seats for landing.” Beca’s body tenses, she breathes out shakily.
“It’s okay Beca. I’m right here.” Chloe says squeezing her hand and looking at her.
Beca clenches onto the gingers hand and tries to breathe normally, but as the plane descends and shakes and gives her stomach the weird feeling, her breathing speeds up, almost hyperventilating.
“Hey, hey, Beca, calm down, you’re okay. Look.” She says, putting her free hand on Beca’s shoulder and squeezing it, “You’re okay.” The ginger says.
“S-sorry…”She says shakily, looking down at her lap.
“Hey. You’re fine.” Chloe pulls Beca’s face up by her chin and then places her lips on Beca’s lips. The ginger deepens the kiss and Beca follows her lead.
“See? You’re okay.” Chloe smiles as she parts her lips away from Beca’s.
Beca realizes that the plane has landed, and that the plane is heading towards the passageway. “Oh my god…..” She says as she looks at the ginger.
“I told you you were okay. “ She smiles and pecks her lips again. “You’re a pretty good kisser.”She winks.
Before Beca can get her words back and say anything, the seatbelt sign goes off, and everyone starts exiting the aircraft.
Grabbing a pen out of her backpack, Chloe jots down her number on the paper napkin from her drink earlier. “This is my number. Call me, Beca.” She says getting up from her seat and handing it to her.
She makes sure to take the napkin from Chloe and puts it in her backpack, getting up from her seat and walking out with Chloe.
She exits the plane, grabs her bag from the baggage carousel, and walks to the exit of the airport.
“Bye Beca. Call me.”Chloe says as she gets in a cab that’s parked in front of the airport.
“Bye Chloe.”She smiles still a bit buzzed from the kiss on the plane.
She calls her grandparents to let them know that she’s at the airport, and they tell her that they’re waiting for her nearby. She waves goodbye to Chloe, still smiling like an idiot.
She grabs the napkin and starts texting a message to Chloe’s number into her phone. ‘This is Beca. I hope this is Chloe and not a random number she gave me.’
’This is Chloe, text me if you’re free while you’re in Atlanta. I’d love to hang out with you:)’She replies, ‘Oh and I’d love to kiss you again;)’ She adds, making Beca grin even bigger.
Beca’s gonna have to take more trips to Atlanta.