Beca stood at the top of the altar, staring at the beautiful redhead in front of her. With tears in her eyes, she recounted all the memories they've had over the past twelve years.
Beca grabs a towel and her toiletries basket and heads to the bathroom. In one stall, there are two pairs of feet, whispering to each other.
"You said we'd try it." The man whispered harshly.
"I'll get electrocuted!"
"How?"
Beca walks in, holding a shower caddy and singing Sia's "Titanium." She looks upbeat in a way she hasn't been seen before. The feet freeze.
"I'm bulletproof. Nothing to lose. Fire away, fire away…"
Beca doesn't notice them, and instead gets into another stall. As she turns on the water and waits for it to warm, her shower curtain is slowly opened by a very curious redhead.
"You can sing!" Chloe beams at the beautiful voice that had just came out of the 'small, alt-girl.'
Beca sniffles slightly as she looks at the way her beautiful red curls are pinned up and surrounded by a thin veil. She always knew Chloe would make a beautiful bride.
"Chloe, are you okay to take the lead?" Beca looked at her newly-found best friend intently, knowing how damaging her nodes could be, but trusting her to pull the team together.
Chloe looked back at Beca and gave a small nod.
Beca blows the pitch pipe. She conducts the group, allowing each girl to get used to the rhythm and key they are each individually singing in. After a few verses of Chloe singing Just The Way You Are, Beca jumps in to mix Just a Dream.
The two songs mashup perfectly and the group sounds better than they have all year. In the moment, the group improvises with different downbeats, counterbeats, and foot-stomping. The song ends with Chloe's vocals vibrating throughout the pool.
"When I see your face…"
The crowd sits down and all attention is focused on Chloe. Her dress is long and flows back with a tail. Not wanting to be traditional, the color has a light undertone of blue to bring out the blue in her own eyes.
Beca can't help but stare and get lost in the beauty that is her best friend. She smiles and can feel a teardrop down her face. She has never seen Chloe so happy before.
Beca looks over at the Bellas, dancing and having a blast. Jesse nudges her arm, "C'mon. Let's get stupid together while we still can."
Beca and Jesse cross over to the Bellas. Excited to finally see her, they all cheer like belligerent drunks.
"Beca! Get over here, you dirty slut!" Chloe screams over the music to draw Beca in.
Beca approaches apprehensively, "I know you're just trying to reclaim that word, but it's still not cool to say-"
The Bellas each grab one of Beca's limbs and pulls her into the small Bella dance circle. Beca continues to drink and is finally tipsy enough to let loose. She dances in the middle, her hand up to her cheek and shifting side to side as Chloe slaps her ass in encouragement.
The Bellas jump up and down, laughing and singing to the music. Chloe, caught up in the moment, rips off her shirt. "We're going to the worlds!"
She jumps into the pool, trying to convince anyone else to jump in with her. Beca tries to convince Chloe to get out of the pool before she makes an even bigger fool of herself. "C'mon, sweetie, let's come out."
"Should anyone here present know of any reason that this couple should not be joined in holy matrimony, speak now or forever hold your peace." The priest began the ceremony, drawing Beca back into the moment.
The church fell silent as Beca held her breath, waiting for someone to jump in and ruin the whole wedding.
But no one did.
Jesse's car sits in the Treble driveway, filled for his cross country trip. Christmas decorations adorn the house. Jesse throws in one last box and turns to a forlorn Beca.
"I guess this is it. The big goodbye-"
"Bec, don't be sad face. We knew this day was coming. I was always going to graduate early and go to film school."
Beca shuffled her feet around, continuing to make better eye contact with the snow than with her boyfriend. "Still stings though. I got you a going away present."
Beca pulls a gift from her bag and hands it to Jesse who opens it.
"You'll like it. It's about a strange, awkward outsider who leaves home and tries to fit in-"
Chuckling, Jesse cuts Beca off. "Beca, I've seen E.T."
"You have? It came out like a hundred years before we were born. How do you know this stuff?"
"Thank you. I love it. We'll watch it together."
Beca immediately cringed. "Really? Both hours?"
Jesse shook his head and gave Beca a sad smile. "Still not a movie person."
There's a beat of silence between them. Neither daring to speak, neither daring to end this last moment together.
"Well, take care of yourself." Beca finally spoke, hearing her voice crack slightly with the emotion beginning to break through her throat.
"Take care of myself? What are you, my Aunt Dolores?" Jesse clearly couldn't see the seriousness of the situation like Beca did. She wanted to make their goodbye lighthearted, but she didn't want it to be easy.
"I just mean like don't get hit by a falling meteor or fall asleep holding a lit cigarette-" Beca was rambling again.
"No, what you mean is that you think we're not going to make it."
"C'mon, Jess. Let's be real. This is exactly how relationships die." Jesse didn't say anything. He just continued to look cooly through Beca, as if he was unfazed by the situation. "Look, I'm not upset that you're pursuing your dream. I think that's great. But it means you're moving to the other side of the country. While I stay here to do my thing. And… We're young. We're growing apart. It's happening."
This was the most in-touch Beca has ever been with her feelings. And for her to voice them out loud was a completely new level of her emotions.
"It's not going to happen. A couple of time zones could never come between us. So nice try. We'll be together again. I promise." Jesse picks up his bags to go.
"When? When will we be together again?" Beca's voice cracked. Jesse opens his mouth to try and answer but nothing comes to mind.
"We'll figure it out. I gotta go." Jesse pulls Beca in for one last kiss and gets in his car. Beca watches Jesse pull away.
With tears in her eyes, she picks up her phone. She's hurting so much that she's barely able to croak out a very broken, "Chlo?"
The whole room watches silently as the wedding continues. Beca wants so badly to reach out and grab Chloe's face and kiss her. She wants to show everyone in this room just how amazing Chloe Anne Beale really is.
But the situation seems a bit inappropriate for that right now.
Chloe turns to Beca. Their faces are separated only by a couple inches. They whisper back and forth.
"What are we doing here?"
"We're bonding! You seem so tense. Do you need a back rub?" Chloe reaches to tuck a stray hair behind Beca's ear, but the brunette dodges it.
"Several body parts are rubbing my back right now, thank you."
"Beca, I know we're already close but this retreat will let us discover everything about each other."
"Is that right?"
Chloe moes in so close that they practically kiss. Beca tries to back her head away from her, but it's impossible. "You know, one of my biggest regrets in college is that I didn't do enough experimenting."
"You're so weird." Beca tried to ignore the smell of Chloe's cherry chapstick so close to her own lips.
"I know." Chloe smiles as she took Beca's remark as a compliment.
"I want to go home." Beca turns away and her face lands smack dab in front of Lilly's. Lilly darts her tongue out and licks Beca's nose.
Little did Beca know, anywhere with Chloe was home.
Chloe looks out to the audience before them. It was a small wedding, only consisting of about 200 people. Chloe catches her mom's eye and smiles at her. Her dad had tears in his eyes and he was doing his best to try and keep them at bay.
That was what Beca and Chloe's dad had best in common. They both kept their feelings and emotions as far away from other people as possible, hoping to never let anyone know what they're thinking or to show weakness.
Mr. Beale loved Beca Mitchell.
Beca walked off the stage last. She spent a few extra seconds to allow DJ Khaled to beg the audience for one more round of applause for his newest talent.
Beca ran. She looked past every corner to try and find Chloe. She knew that, after tonight, they wouldn't be together anymore. Beca would have to move to California to jump start her music career with DJ Khaled while Chloe would stay in New York to start and finish vet school.
The thought of missing Chloe hurt Beca. She never wanted to be apart from the redhead but knew that both their current situations would not allow them to be each other's best friends anymore.
She turned one more corner, barely a second too late, to find Chloe gripping Chicago's tie and pulling him down hard for a kiss. Beca's heart stopped.
She watched as their kiss grew deeper, hungrier, more than a spur-of-the-moment kind of kiss.
She watched as Chloe lifted her leg to wrap around Chicago's waist.
She watched as Theo tried to kiss her as well, but she dodged his advances.
She watched as Theo watched Chloe and Chicago, knowing he wanted the same for him and Beca.
She watched as Chloe kissed him and started something new.
She watched as the woman she loved began to love someone else.
"And do you, Chloe, take this man, Chicago, to be your lawfully wedded husband?"
Beca watched as Chloe's eyes grew wider while the priest finished the rest of his speech, letting Chloe know everything she was getting into by committing herself to the veteran.
Chloe quickly turned around, faced her maid of honor and gave her a questioning look, as if asking her what to say.
Beca threw on her best fake smile and nodded.
"I do."