Chapter Text
Chloe sits in Aubrey’s office at the Lodge of Fallen Leaves, staring out the window as she anxiously shakes her foot. She feels herself bite her bottom lip, a nervous habit she's had since high school. The room is silent, aside from the sound of a pen that she must have unconsciously stolen from the blonde’s desk tapping against her leg.
Five years. It has been five years since graduation and five years since the Bellas won Worlds. Five years since they entered the real world and went their separate ways.
It has been five years since Chloe moved back to Florida. Five years since she decided what she wanted to do with her life. Five years since she enrolled in a program to become a certified teacher.
It has been three years since she became an official kindergarten teacher at an adorable little elementary school in Tampa. Three years since she met Matt, a first-grade teacher at said elementary school who wound up becoming her boyfriend about a year ago.
It has been three years since she’s seen Beca in person. The summer after graduation, Chloe visited LA for a few days, and the summer after that, Beca flew to Florida. They had also tried to coordinate their obligatory visits to Georgia – Beca to see her dad and Chloe to see Aubrey – so they could meet up. For the most part, it worked out pretty well. Plus, they Skyped all the time, so they never went too long without seeing each other.
But the summer Beca came to Tampa was the last time they saw each other in person. Beca’s music career began to take off and Chloe began teaching. They had tried to meet up, but booking flights across the country became way too difficult. So, they had to resort to Skype dates. But with Chloe’s school schedule and Beca entering her busy season, even those became harder to plan. Eventually, they became nonexistent.
Texting was successful for awhile, but even that couldn’t last. As time passed, conversations became shorter and less personal. It eventually got to the point where other than sending each other the occasional a capella-related joke, they didn’t really talk. That doesn’t mean Chloe didn’t wonder how Beca was doing in LA all the time, though.
It has been almost two years since they have had a real conversation. Well, at least up until about a month ago when the Bella group chat was reactivated to plan their five year reunion weekend. Chloe and Beca had begun texting again, but conversations were still short and mainly about planning the weekend.
"Chloe."
Chloe is pulled out of her daze to see Aubrey staring at her. "Hm?" She follows the blonde's gaze to the tapping pen. She stills her hand with an embarrassed smile. "Oh. Sorry."
"Are you planning on becoming a drummer in the near future or are you just nervous?"
"I'm fine."
"Really? Because your anxiety is so thick right now that I'm beginning to take it on. Look at my handwriting. My A's are all wonky."
Aubrey turns the paper so Chloe can see. Chloe thinks her A's look fine. "Sorry," she apologizes again. Aubrey stares her down, making Chloe feel slightly self-conscious. "What?"
"This is weird. You never get nervous.” She puts down her own pen and pushes her paperwork to the side, giving the redhead her full attention. “What’s going on?”
“I’m kind of freaking out a little bit,” Chloe admits.
“Why? It’s the Bellas. Your sisters. They love you.”
“It’s not them I worry about seeing. It’s her.” She steals another glance out the window as if talking about the other woman made her magically show up.
“Ah, the pouty little gremlin,” Aubrey reminisces.
“Bree!”
Aubrey puts her hands up in surrender. “I’m sorry. It’s a habit.” Chloe unconsciously begins tapping the pen again and Aubrey reaches for her hand to stop it, getting a sheepish smile in return. "Why are you nervous to see Beca?" her best friend continues. "I’d think you’d be excited to see her of all people.”
Chloe has a talent of making even the most awkward situations comfortable, and she prides herself on that. Yet she can’t seem to get rid of the nervous butterflies in her stomach. She hasn’t spoken to Beca – like really spoken to her – in so long. She doesn’t even know what she’s like anymore. What if her favorite tiny brunette has changed? What if she’s a completely different person? What if they have nothing to say to each other anymore? What if it is awkward?
Chloe places the pen back in the cup on the desk. “I am. It’s just we kind of fell out of touch over the past few years.”
“How the hell did that happen? You stick to the people you love like crazy glue.”
“Well, she got busy with her music and then I got busy with my teaching...life just got in the way I guess.”
“No. Most people make that lame excuse, but you’re not most people. You’re Chloe. You wouldn’t just give up like that. Especially on one of your best friends.”
Chloe’s eyes find the floor. How does Aubrey always manage to see right through her?
“What happened, Chlo?”
Chloe brings her eyes back up to meet the blonde’s. “You’re right. Life didn’t get in the way. At least not enough to break up our friendship.” She takes a breath. She has never admitted this before. “I stopped trying.”
“Why?”
Chloe rolls her eyes, embarrassed. “You know why.”
Aubrey gives her a knowing smile. “Feelings.”
Oh yeah. That. Chloe may have had a small crush on Beca in college. Well, maybe a little more than a small crush. More like massive feelings – ones that made her fall in love with her best friend. But she knew those feelings would never be returned, and she had forced herself to push them aside. It became increasingly difficult, especially once Beca told her she and Jesse broke up about a month after she moved to LA.
“She was far away, we were talking less and less and I just...It hurt too much. So I decided to let her go. It was time I moved on.”
Aubrey raises her eyebrows. “And have you moved on?”
Chloe gives an embarrassed smile. “I’ll always love Beca Mitchell.” She steals a glance out the window again. “But yes, I’m over her. I have Matt now and I love him.” And she means it. But she can’t ignore the tugging feeling in her gut that reminds her of the real reason why she is afraid to see Beca again. What if those feelings she has worked so hard to shake suddenly come back? What if she has to go though the heartbreak all over again?
Her thoughts are interrupted by a knock on the doorframe. She and Aubrey both look to see Shannon, the lodge’s secretary, in the doorway. “Aubrey, the Bellas are starting to arrive.”
“Thank you, Shannon,” Aubrey tells her, and the woman disappears as quickly as she came. The blonde looks to Chloe. “We’ll see if you’re right about that.”
Chloe puts her head in her hands. “Oh no. I don’t think I’m ready for this. It been so long since I’ve seen any of them.”
Aubrey rises from her desk and grabs Chloe’s hand. “Hey. Take a deep breath.” Chloe does as she’s told. “You can do this.”
The redhead smiles, already feeling better. “How have I survived living so far away from you?”
“No idea,” Aubrey answers and tugs at Chloe’s arm. “Come on. Let’s go kick off this Bella reunion.” After taking another breath, Chloe rises and follows the blonde.
As soon as Chloe emerges from the cabin, her ears are met with three loud squeals that all seem to harmonize. When she sees their source, she returns the squeal. Stacie, Jessica, and Ashley run her way and attack her with a group hug. Instantly, Chloe’s body is flooded with a feeling of relief. She’s with her Bellas again, and they can cure anything. “Oh-em-aca-gee you guys look great!” she exclaims.
“So do you!” Jessica smiles.
“Yeah, especially since you’ve left those boring teacher clothes at home,” Stacie teases and pokes Chloe in the side. "Look at those legs!"
“Hey, I have to wear long skirts and pants. The kids see me from a different angle,” she replies.
“Did I hear somebody say we’re leaving clothes at home? Do I finally get to wear my birthday suit?” a voice with an Australian accent asks.
The Bellas turn to see Fat Amy approaching with a random lodge staff member carrying her bags. The women squeal in harmony again and share another group hug.
The same act is repeated every time a new Bella arrives, and Chloe’s heart flutters more each time out of pure joy. She hadn’t seen most of them in years, and she didn't realize just how much she had missed them. Just as she had predicted her last year at Barden, all of the Bellas went their separate ways.
Beca went to LA and got a producer job at an up-and-coming record label called Infinity.
Stacie proved to be the very definition of girl power after she managed to graduate college and become an engineer after an incident with a broken condom blessed her with her daughter, Mia, who is now two. Stacie could not have loved her any more, and she even made Cynthia Rose the godmother.
Speaking of Cynthia Rose, she moved back to Georgia with her wife a few years ago to get involved with the growing music scene. Turns out, she has a talent for writing songs.
Legacy has been pursuing her dream of writing music as well, and she is currently doing a co-op at Residual Heat, following in Beca’s footsteps.
Flo decided to use her gymnastic abilities to become a choreographer for a dance company in New York. And apparently, being a hothead gets great results out of the dancers, so Chloe is told.
Jessica and Ashley stayed in Georgia and currently live in neighboring apartments. Jessica became a therapist and Ashley got involved in social work. About a year ago, they began dating identical twins. Nobody was surprised by that.
Amy has done it all. She even became a professional jelly wrestler for a short period of time, just like she said she would. Since then, she and Bumper have been traveling the world and reeking havoc just about everywhere. She is very consistent with updating her Instagram account with their shenanigans, and it never fails to make Chloe laugh out loud.
And Lilly? Well, have they ever known what she's up to?
The women all sit on the patio and make small talk as they wait for Beca, the final Bella, to arrive. From what Chloe can gather, they are talking about Kommissar. She recently got in a Twitter feud with John Smith, that annoying announcer guy from the ICCAs, which has gotten her some bad press. Normally, Chloe would be in the middle of the conversation, happy that their nemesis got what was coming to her, but today she’s a little distracted. She can’t peel her eyes away from the parking lot, just waiting to see a car pull up and a certain tiny brunette emerge from it. Her heartbeat quickens just thinking about it.
“I mean, I understand wanting to start something for attention. But with him?” Stacie critiques.
“Dude doesn’t know how to fight. I don’t even think he was the one who responded,” Cynthia Rose comments.
“Yeah, he didn’t make any sexist comments. It definitely wasn’t him,” Aubrey agrees.
“I bet it was his partner. What’s her name? Gail?” Jessica suggests.
They are interrupted when Chloe’s phone chimes. She pulls it out of her pocket and glances at the screen. “It’s Beca.” All of the Bellas lean in closer, expectantly.
“What’d she say?” Amy asks.
“Yeah, where is she?” Flo questions.
Chloe unlocks her phone and reads the message aloud. “‘Hey. I’m running a little late. Work crisis. Just start without me and I’ll be there as soon as I can. Please don’t hate me.’ Nervous smile emoji.”
“Ugh, of course,” Stacie groans.
“Look, I love her and everything, but do we think she’s going to show up at all?” Cynthia Rose asks.
“Well, she’s already in Georgia. In the group chat she said she was staying at her dad’s house,” Emily points out.
“That doesn’t mean she can’t hop on a plane back to LA,” Flo comments.
“Guys, of course she’s coming,” Chloe answers, sure of herself. “It’s Beca. She’ll pull through. She always does.” She looks to Aubrey, who has been watching her reaction the whole time. “Shall we start on the tents?”
The lodge has made a few changes over the past five years, one of which is its tent policy. Apparently, after some incidents occurred, Aubrey decided that it was no longer beneficial for teams to share a tent. So now, each Bella gets her own small individual tent to build.
Chloe finishes hers early – she has had some practice over the past year since Matt’s family likes to go on camping trips – and she decides to begin setting up Beca’s tent next to hers. Legacy quickly joins her.
“Be honest. Do you really think she’s still coming?” the younger woman asks. She looks a bit disappointed.
“I hope so,” Chloe replies, winding the twine.
Emily pounds a stake into the ground and thinks for a moment. "Do you think she'll be different? Like, do you think LA changed her?"
Chloe sees Emily staring up at her with her large puppy dog eyes. The poor girl has grown up so much, yet she is still so innocent. She just wants to wrap her into a hug, but forces herself to put on a reassuring smile instead. "She's probably changed a little bit. People change and grow, it's inevitable. But I think she's still going to be the Beca we know and love, ya know?"
“I hope you're right. I really miss her.”
Yeah. Chloe hopes she's right, too.
The Bellas all manage to stay in one piece while building their tents, and after they check a third time to make sure no trees are going to fall, they migrate back to the patio to wait for their captain. This time around, they are actually allowed access to the outdoor minibar, and Chloe cannot be more thankful. It's about time she had something to calm her nerves.
The Bellas continue to make small talk and sip their drinks, but Chloe can’t bring herself to pay attention. With each minute that passes, her stomach twists into tighter knots. She feels her teeth sink into her lower lip, initiating the nervous habit. Beca is her best friend, nothing more, nothing less. So why is she so anxious?
Fat Amy suddenly sits up straighter. Her eyes find the sky and she gives the air a quick sniff. “I think Shawshank is here.”
“What?” Stacie asks.
“How could you possibly–” Ashley is cut off by the sight of a familiar tiny brunette emerging from around the side of the lodge.
Chloe’s heart pounds and she can feel her breath hitch as she lays eyes on Beca. The shock of being in the same place as her best friend again hits her hard, and she can’t bring herself to stop staring.
Beca looks pretty much the same as she did when they graduated. Same hair, same style, same resting bitch face. Same smile that is reserved only for the Bellas. That smile finds its way onto her face as the rest of the Bellas squeal and flock towards her, attacking her with a group hug. Chloe somehow manages to move with them, joining in on the hug.
“The Bellas are back, bitches!” Amy whoops and the rest of the women cheer, ready to kick off the weekend.