Loving your series of one shots bud!! I, myself, am a massive fan of fluff and happiness (tooth rotting), how about a prompt where Beca is in LA with Khaled (post PP3) and she is finding it really tough, physically and mentally, especially knowing Chloe isn't there, she hasn't spoken to her in a while, and she believes her to be happy with Chicago elsewhere... and when she returns home... She finds Chloe there. Waiting. (Or the equivalent, where Chloe is engaged, Beca hasn't spoken to her in a while, and she comes home to see her there) xxxxx
Hi, thank you so much!
I might have gotten away from the prompt a little, but I hope you like it anyway.
I’m kind of tired and emotionally tonight so I don’t know if this is any good, and it’s kinda long so I hope that’s okay haha
Read on AO3
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“Beca, are you listening?”
Chloe Beale is single.
“Mhm,” Beca said, pulling her eyes away from Facebook on her phone and looking back at Theo. “Sorry.”
“Everything alright?” He asked, knowing it wasn’t like Beca to zone out in a meeting like this.
“Yep,” Beca said, turning her phone face down. He raised his eyebrows. “It’s Chloe.”
He closed his eyes with a sigh. “Is it an emergency?”
“No,” Beca said, putting her hands in her lap to resit the urge to pick her phone up again. “I am super focused and professional.”
“Can we talk about your album for, like, ten more minutes?” Theo said, trying to keep up his face stern.
“Absolutely,” Beca said, her eyes dropping again, briefly, to her phone.
The meeting felt like it lasted a lifetime, but eventually Beca hurried out and back to her own office, puling Facebook up on her phone.
Chloe Beale is single.
Chloe’s profile picture had changed from the sickeningly sweet picture of her and Chicago showing off her engagement ring, to just a simple selfie.
Beca clicked into her contacts list and her thumb hovered above Chloe’s name.
She should call her, right?
She scrolled down further, and hit call on Aubrey’s name.
“Aubrey Posen,” Aubrey said, using the same tone of voice she would use to greet a stranger, and not one of her closest friends.
“Aubrey what’s going on with Chloe?”
“I’m doing great Beca, thanks for asking,” Aubrey replied.
“Aubrey.”
“I don’t know,” Aubrey said, her tone softer. “She’s been unhappy with him for a while.”
“She has?”
“Yes,” Aubrey said. “When did you last speak to her?”
“It’s… It’s been a while,” Beca said, sounding guilty. “Work has been a bit much.”
“I know,” Aubrey replied. “You should call her.”
“Yeah,” Beca said. “Thanks.”
“Speak to you later, yeah?”
“Yeah,” Beca said. “I’ll call you.”
She ended the call with Aubrey but once again hesitated before calling Chloe. Apart from the occasional surface level text or exchange of snapchats and memes, she really hadn’t spoke to Chloe for a while. Not properly. Not the way they used to.
She was scared that if she called her now, Chloe would be mad at her.
She drummed her fingers against her desk, her stomach twisting slightly, as she tried to decide what to do. She never handled confrontation very well, it’s why she’d spent so much of her life just walking away from situations.
Beca picked up her phone again, and typed out a text.
Beca: Hey Chlo’. I’ve just seen Facebook, are you okay? xx
She hit send and closed her phone before she could overthink it, and tried to focus on her work again.
She had a bunch of album art she needed to look through and pick her favourites. (Yes, her job was pretty awesome.)
She also had twenty unread emails that had popped up in the ten minutes she had spent on the phone to Aubrey/deciding what to do about Chloe. (Yes, her job was also pretty demanding.)
As her phone buzzed on her desk with Chloe’s reply, Theo poked his head through her office door.
“What’s up?” She asked, resisting the urge to pick up her cell to read the message.
“Have you got plans tonight? Because you need to cancel them if you do,” he said, looking stressed.
“Why?” Beca asked with a sigh.
“The head of the label is coming in for a meeting tomorrow morning and he wants to hear your new album and it is nowhere near ready for that,” he said.
“Isn’t he in Europe?” Beca said with a groan.
“He is literally flying in for this meeting. There is a lot riding on this album, Beca,” he said. “He took a big risk when he signed you as a solo artist after the Khaled collab.”
“I know that,” Beca said, running a hand through her hair. “I know. But it isn’t getting released for another two months, why does he need to hear it now?”
“I don’t know how his mind works, I just know we need to impress him tomorrow,” Theo said.
“Okay,” Beca said.
“No distractions tonight, okay? Take an hour now and we can get started at,” he glanced down at his watch, “5:30.” He closed the office door behind him, and Beca immediately picked up her phone, pushing away the sudden wave of nerves.
Chloe: I’ve been better xx
Beca: Are you free right now? xx
Chloe: Yeah, I just finished work. xx
Beca called Chloe, this time without hesitation, and the redhead answered on the second ring.
“Hey,” Chloe said, her voice sounding heavy.
“Hi,” Beca replied, sinking back into her chair at the sound of Chloe’s voice. She hadn’t realised how much she’d missed hearing it. “What happened?”
“Can we not talk about it?” Chloe asked. Beca could hear the sound of New York traffic over the phone and she felt suddenly homesick.
Not for New York specifically, but for that tiny apartment she and Chloe had shared in Brooklyn. For that level of closeness and intimacy.
She liked L.A. fine, and her new home was, on paper, a thousand percent better than the Brooklyn apartment, but it still didn’t feel like home. She would trade her state-of-the-art kitchen, king-sized bed, hot-tub - all of it - for one more night in that apartment. One more night sleeping beside Chloe. One more night where Chloe’s arms would snake around her waist and pull her close, mumbling that she was cold. One more morning eating breakfast together before they parted for work. One more evening making dinner and watching trashy TV.
What made it hurt more was that she knew there was no going back to that apartment. Chloe had moved in with Chicago, Beca had moved out to L.A., and Fat Amy was somewhere in the Bahamas. Someone else was living in their apartment now. Sleeping in their cramped bed, making food in their kitchen.
“How’s work?” Chloe asked, breaking Beca out of her thoughts.
“Busy,” Beca said. “It’s… It’s a lot right now.”
“Are you taking care of yourself?” Chloe asked. And Beca thought just how like Chloe that was. While she was going through a heartbreak, she’d rather make sure Beca was okay.
“I thought that was your job,” Beca said, smiling at the soft laugh Chloe gave. She could hear the sounds of keys jingling and a door opening.
“That’s kinda hard to do when I’m all the way in New York,” Chloe said. “God it’s so cold outside. I need a vacation.”
Beca glanced at the sun streaming through her office window. “Maybe you should come to L.A.,” she said, without really thinking. As soon as the sentence left her mouth, she realised this was something she wanted more than anything right now.
“That would be nice,” Chloe said with a laugh.
“I’m serious,” Beca said, feeling a mixture of nerves and excitement.
“Come on, Becs. I can’t do that,” Chloe said. “I have work.”
“Take some time off?”
“The flights are expensive-”
“-I’ll pay for the flights,” Beca said, cutting her off. “I think… Chlo’ I think I need this. I need some time off. And I think you need it too?”
“Yeah, I need it,” Chloe said. “Are they even gonna let you have time off?”
“I can ask,” Beca said. She looked down at her watch and saw she only had ten minutes before she had to get back to work. “Look, if you want to come, I can make it happen. I’m working for the rest of the night, but give me a call tomorrow afternoon.”
“Okay,” Chloe said. “I’ll call my boss.”
“So you want to come?”
“Yeah. Yeah I want to.”
——
Beca glanced around her nervously as she stood at the arrivals gate of L.A.X. airport a week later. She was wearing a baseball cap and a pair of sunglasses but she was still afraid someone would recognise her.
Then she caught sight of ginger hair and suddenly Chloe was walking towards her and Beca felt her nervousness drain away.
Chloe grinned when she spotted her, and started walking more quickly, practically running by the time she got close enough to hug her. She dropped her case and flung her arms around Beca, squeezing her into the tightest hug she could manage.
Beca was going to make some sarcastic joke, but the feeling of Chloe’s arms around her caused her voice to die in her throat and her eyes to fill with tears.
“I’ve really missed you,” Chloe said, squeezing tighter and planting a kiss on her cheek and releasing her.
“Missed you too,” Beca said, grabbing the handle of Chloe’s case. “How was your flight?”
“It was fine,” Chloe said, grinning. “Why are you dressed like a spy?”
“Um, because I am?” Beca said, laughing. “I just don’t wanna get spotted.”
“Right,” Chloe said. “You’re a big deal now.”
Beca laughed and shook her head. “It’s a lot,” her voice was a little quieter.
Chloe frowned slightly, and then her eyes widened as she saw a few men with cameras hovering outside the entrance to the airport.
Beca sighed. “Just ignore them and stick close to me.”
They walked out of the airport quickly, and as soon as the men spotted her, they started yelling.
“Beca! Beca! How’s the album going, Beca?!”
“Beca! What do you say about the rumours that you’re dating your producer?!”
“Holy shit,” Chloe muttered under her breath as they made their way to Beca’s car, the paparazzi following them, continuing their barrage of questions.
“Beca! Introduce us to your friend!”
“Beca is it true you’re dating-”
Whatever name he was planning to say was lost in the sound of Beca slamming her door shut, and starting her car. She honked the horn a few times to get them to move out the way.
“Beca, what the fuck was that?” Chloe asked, pulling on her seatbelt as Beca pulled out of the parking lot.
“Fun, right?” Beca asked, glancing in her rearview mirror, making sure they weren’t going to follow her home.
“Does that happen every time you go out?”
“Not always,” Beca said. “To be honest they were probably there just hanging about to see if anyone would turn up. I don’t think they knew I was there before they saw me.”
“Jesus,” Chloe said. “I forget you’re like a legit celebrity now.”
Beca pulled a face. “I’m not. Not really.”
“Are you alright?”
“Yeah,” Beca said, glancing over at Chloe. “Yeah, just… Just really looking forward to this time off. I had to work a lot of late nights to get Theo to agree with this.” Chloe frowned. “You know that guy was full of shit, right? There’s nothing going on between me and Theo. I haven’t been dating him. I haven’t been dating anyone.”
“Why not?” Chloe asked.
“Why not, what?”
“Why haven’t you been dating anyone?”
Beca shrugged. “I haven’t met anyone I liked.” They were quiet for a little while longer as they continued to sit in L.A. traffic. “So, can we only talk about my love life or are you going to tell me about you and Chicago?”
“There’s nothing really to tell,” Chloe said, turning to look out of the window now they had gotten off the highway. “I just… It wasn’t working. We were fighting a bunch. I wanted him to be different and he wanted me to be different.”
“I’m sorry, Chlo’,” Beca said.
“It’s okay,” Chloe said. “It’s better in the long run. At least we weren’t married with kids before we figured it out.”
They sat in a comfortable silence as Beca drove them the rest of the way to her house, the radio playing quietly.
When Beca pulled up to to her house, Chloe let out a low whistle.
“Right, you live in a fucking mansion now,” she said.
“It’s hardly a mansion,” Beca said, feeling embarrassed. She took Chloe’s bag from the trunk and they made their way into the house. “You want the tour?”
“Please.”
Beca showed her around, dropping her bag into the guest room. The tour ended on the deck, and Beca grabbed a bottle of wine and two glasses from the kitchen on the way. They sat in comfortable loungers and looked out as the sun set over L.A..
“I’m really glad you’re here,” Beca said, pouring them some wine.
“Me too,” Chloe replied, cheers-ing her glass against Beca’s. “Thank you for inviting me.”
“Anytime, Chlo’.”
As they sat in silence watching the sunset, Beca felt a warmth spreading through her chest. For the first time since moving to L.A., she felt like she was home. And then she realised something.
Something she’d known all along, really.
She glanced across at Chloe, who was smiling with her eyes closed, letting the sun soak into her.
Chloe.
Chloe was her home.
She placed her hand on top of Chloe’s and squeezed, softly.
Chloe opened her eyes and looked over at Beca, still smiling. She adjusted her hand so her fingers were threaded with Beca’s.
Beca looked away, blinking against the sun and feeling tears stinging her eyes.
If Chloe noticed, she didn’t mention it. She just carried on smiling, and turned back to face the sunset, their hands still linked.
“It’s beautiful out here,” she said.
“Yeah,” Beca said. “I feel like I never actually get to relax out here. I spend so much time just sleeping at my office these days.”
“I knew you weren’t taking care of yourself,” Chloe said.
“There’s just been a lot of pressure at work. This is my first solo album, and if it fails… If it doesn’t do well everyone will know that my last one was only a success because of Khaled,” Beca said. “I can’t fail at this.”
“You won’t fail,” Chloe said, softly. “You’re so talented, Beca. You’ve got this, I know you do.”
Beca smiled. “I wish I didn’t have to do it without you.”
“You don’t,” Chloe said. “I’m only on the other end of the phone. You can call me anytime.”
“It’s not the same,” Beca said. “Sorry, I just miss how things used to be.”
“I know. I miss it too,” Chloe said.
“If I’d known things wouldn’t stay that way forever, I might have done things differently,” Beca said.
“What do you mean?”
Beca shrugged, feeling like she should stop talking before she said something she’d regret. She didn’t want to cause an awkward situation that they both had to live with for the two weeks of their vacation.
“Don’t go quiet on me now,” Chloe said.
“I just wish I’d been more honest. Braver,” Beca said, avoiding looking at Chloe.
“It’s not too late,” Chloe said.
But Beca shook her head. “Sorry. I’m… I’m rambling. I’ve probably drank too much.”
“I guess it’s getting late,” Chloe said, letting Beca’s hand drop. “We’ve got a long day of relaxing ahead of us, right?”
“Yeah,” Beca said. She stood and stretched and helped Chloe to her feet. “If you get hungry or anything during the night just help yourself.”
“Thanks,” Chloe said, kissing Beca on the cheek. “We’ll finish this conversation tomorrow, okay?”
Beca laughed, and felt her cheeks burn. “I dunno what you’re talking about.”
“Night Becs,” Chloe said.
“Night.”
Chloe woke a few hours later, her head hurting from too much wine and sun and not enough water.
She made her way to the kitchen and drank what felt like her body weight in water. As she was about to head back, she heard noises coming from Beca’s office.
The door was open and a dim light was creeping onto the landing.
Chloe peaked inside to see Beca sitting cross-legged on her chair, her hair tied up messily, the light from the computer screen the only light in the room.
She was talking to someone on the phone, her voice a little hoarse.
“No, I get that Theo,” she said, her hand resting on the back of her neck. “But when I spoke to you yesterday, the track was fine.” She watched as Beca tucked the phone in between her ear and shoulder and the began typing into her computer. “Uh huh. So like, more bass? Less bass?” She stopped typing. “I don’t know what you mean by the same bass but different.”
Chloe had heard enough and stepped into the room.
She placed a hand on Beca’s shoulder and tried not to laugh when she jumped. She held out her other hand for Beca’s phone.
Beca sighed and handed it over.
“Hi Theo,” Chloe said, smiling. “It’s Chloe. You remember me from the USSO tour, right? It’s 2 am, and Beca’s on vacation. I know. I’ll pass your apologies on. Goodnight Theo.”
She clicked end on the call and passed the phone back.
“Theo said sorry.”
Beca laughed and put the phone down. “Thank you.”
“Does this happen often?”
“Oh yeah,” Beca said. “Theo and I are both kinda nocturnal so sometimes he’ll call me with ideas.”
“No wonder you look so tired,” Chloe said.
“Gee thanks.”
“Come on, it’s bed time.” Chloe took her hand and pulled her up. “This room is off limits while you’re on vacation, okay?”
“Yes ma’am,” Beca said, smiling. “How are you finding the guest room?”
“It’s nice,” Chloe said, as they hovered outside Beca’s room. “Why?”
“No reason,” Beca said.
“Becs, you can just say it you know?”
Beca laughed, and looked down. “I can’t. I’m not good at this.”
“Okay,” Chloe said. She pushed Beca’s bedroom door open and gave her hand a tug. “Come on.”
“Chloe,” Beca said softly, closing her eyes when Chloe cupped her cheek with her hand. “Wait.”
“Hey,” Chloe replied, her voice just as gentle. “Look at me. Tell me what you need.”
Beca swallowed hard, tears burning her eyes. “I’ve… I’ve been waiting. That’s what I wanted to say before. Why I haven’t dated anyone since Jesse. I’ve been waiting for you. I… I waited to tell you and I waited too long.”
“It isn’t too late,” Chloe said, pulling Beca into a hug. “You can tell me now, it isn’t too late.” She felt Beca take a deep breath, and when she spoke her voice was muffled by Chloe’s shirt.
“I’m in love with you. I’ve always been in love with you. And I know you and Chicago just broke up. I don’t need to hear it back.”
Chloe ended their hug and cupped Beca’s face in her hands again, her thumbs brushing away the tears.
“I wanted Chicago to be different than he was. That’s why we didn’t work out. I wanted him to know what I needed without me having to ask. I wanted him to know when I needed a tea instead of a coffee. I wanted him to bring me an aspirin when I was two hours into a study session because he knew I’d have a headache by then. I wanted him to know when I wanted to talk, and when I just needed to sit and listen to music. I wanted him to know me. I wanted him to know me the way you know me. I wanted him to be you, Becs. And… And when I realised that… When I realised it was you that I wanted… You that I was in love with… That’s when we broke up.”
“You love me?”
“Yeah,” Chloe said, swallowing the lump in her throat. “Yeah I love you.”
Beca let out a teary laugh.
“Can I kiss you?”
Beca nodded, and Chloe’s mouth was on hers, and Beca knew she was home.
