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As a rule of thumb, Beca doesn’t like to be disturbed when she’s mixing music. And anyone who would think to pull Beca’s headphones off her head while she’s in the zone would be lucky to come out of it without losing a hand. Chloe however, is the one exception. Chloe of course knows this and gets a kick out of watching an upset Beca spin around, only to have her face shift from anger into a whiny “Duuude I was in the zone.”
But on this particular occasion she wasn’t just doing it because she was bored and missed her best friend. This time she had exciting news! Chloe dashed from her room across the hall into Beca’s and pulled up one earphone. “Beca OMG I have great news!”
“What’s up?”
“Well, you remember how my parents got tickets for a cruise for their anniversary this year?”
“Uhh, yeah that sounds vaguely familiar. The gulf coast right?”
“That’s the one! So basically, it’s in two weeks and my dad just fell off a ladder and broke his leg.”
“Chloe, what the fuck? That’s terrible news.”
“Ok yeah, that part is terrible. But the doctor says he’s going to be totally fine once it heals, and I’m going to catch a train home this weekend to see him. But the exciting part is that the tickets were non-refundable, so they gave them to me!”
“Oh that’s super cool. I’m sure you and Aubrey will have a blast.”
“Actually, the second ticket is for you. Aubrey does not do well on boats.” Chloe does a fake gag to sell the point. “Plus Aubrey moved halfway across the country, and I’d much rather bring my favorite co-captain. We’re going to have such a fun time!”
The idea that Chloe had thought to ask her to come along gave Beca an odd sensation in her stomach. It was a feeling she got frequently around Chloe. At first she had thought it was a crush, afterall she had seen Chloe naked pretty much right after they met. But as she and Chloe became inseparable as members of the Bellas she had come to realize that these feelings weren’t just physical. It confused Beca for months, like an image out of focus that she couldn’t quite make out. Each time she got this feeling she would try her best to hold onto it long enough to recognize it, but trying just made it fade. Eventually, she had a realization. Beca had never had a true best friend before. She wasn’t a total loner in High School, but none of her friendships were like this. She and Chloe would have TV shows that they only watched together, stay up late and share secrets, and just sit in each other's rooms sometimes for hours working on their own homework or music arrangements while enjoying eachothers company. And through all of this she kept getting that odd sensation when she spent time with Chloe. It was something like feeling lucky. So she recognized it as the unfamiliar sensation of having a best friend. And each time she considered it might be anything else, she remembered how lucky she felt to have Chloe in her life.
“Wow. Okay, yeah. I’ve never been on a cruise before.”
“I knew you’d say yes! I’ll let you get back to your mixing. I’ll text you a list of stuff you should pack later.”
Chloe flashes Beca one more of those big Beale smiles. Beca would have agreed to go on a cruise to the bermuda triangle for that smile. Beca goes back to mixing, now with a smile of her own on her face.
//
The two weeks fly by. Both girls pass all their midterms, even Chloe’s Russian Lit midterm isn’t an issue this time. They go shopping together for this trip. Beca gets a new two piece and a waterproof suitcase for her laptop, “just in case”. Chloe also gets a new suit, and a big floppy sun hat with a daisy on the front.
The first day on the boat is everything they had been excited for the last few weeks. They eat shrimp, they drink, they swim, they visit the casio, they drink some more, and finally they stumble back into their cabin laughing at well after 2am.
Beca wakes the next morning dazed and confused. The sun shining through the porthole is hitting her directly in the eyes, and the mattress underneath her feels unfamiliar and thin. It takes her a full minute to remember where she is. She glances around the room and doesn't see Chloe before pulling the blanket up over her face. She feels every kind of hungover and this cruise ship cot she’s sleeping on isn’t helping. She prays for sleep to come back and help her time travel to the end of her hangover, but before she can find relief Chloe walks back in.
“Hey beautiful, I brought you breakfast. Well, actually it’s noon, so I brought you lunch I guess.”
Beca just let out a groan from under the blanket.
“Come on, food and water will make you feel better.”
Beca crawls out to find Chloe looking unfairly put together. “How do you not feel like shit?”
Chloe just shrugs, “You know I don’t really get hungover like that.”
“That’s so unfair. Being on a rocking ship makes this so much worse.”
“Well luckily for you, I’ve just scheduled us for a day of being pampered in the ship's spa. We’ll get you back to 100% in no time.”
After a lot of coaxing, Chole is able to get Beca out of the room, and she has to admit that the fresh sea air might have been exactly what she needed.
“Hi, we have an appointment for a massage.”
“Name or cabin number?”
“Beale.”
“Ah, the 3:30 couples massage, right this way.”
Beca raised an eyebrow at Chloe who just shrugged, “It was what came with my parents’ package.”
The two spend the next few hours being pampered with a deep tissue massage and a collection of warm towels, oils and lotions. Chloe, of course, strips down fully naked as soon as she can, which never fails to make Beca blush.
//
By the time they finish Beca feels like a new woman. Not only does she not feel like throwing up anymore, she actually feels hungry. So the two decide to head to the main dining room for dinner.
They find a table for two and sit down. The hall has a very cozy feel to it. The lights are dimmed very low and each table has electric candles sitting in the center that give off a warm glow. They order food and fall into comfortable conversation.
“Attention all passengers, the newlywed game will be held on stage in the main dining hall in 15 minutes. We have room for one more couple if any lovebirds would like a chance to win the $1000 cash prize.”
“What’s a newlywed game?” Chloe asks.
“You know, that thing where they get a bunch of honeymooners to answer questions about their partners to see how well they know each other.”
“Oh, yeah I feel like I’ve seen that. Too bad we can’t enter. We’d get that $1000 easily.”
“I mean… We could enter. It’s not like they're going to check marriage certificates or anything.” Beca said while still eating. “But we’d be talking about going up against married people, you really think we’d stand a chance.”
“Oh totes. Becs we would so crush them. Quiz me, right now.”
“Quiz you? Uhhh, ok one sec.” Quickly Beca googles ‘Newlywed game questions’ and findsa list. “Ok, do I have siblings?”
“Only child, easily.”
“Favorite color?”
“You’ll say black but it’s actually dark purple.”
Beca rolls her eyes.
“My ideal day off?”
“You spend it mixing music and then the Bellas have a game night.“
“Well shit, okay. Maybe we’d actually crush this.”
“That’s what I’m saying. Beca please, let's sign up!”
“You know what, I don’t know anyone on this boat. Fuck it, let’s do it!”
Chloe lets out a squeal of excitement. “Beca Mitchell, will you fake marry me?”
Beca smiles and slips one of her many rings off her thumb. She takes one of Chloe’s hands on her own across the table and slips it on her ring finger before kissing the top of her hand. “I would be honored.”
The two manage to get signed up for the competition just in time and are quickly ushered on stage before they can discuss any sort of story for their fake romance. Quickly the two are separated and given a list of questions they have to answer about themselves. From behind a curtain they can hear the host introducing the show and telling a few jokes to get the audience of diners engaged.
“And our final couple. From Atlanta, Georgia it’s Chloe and Beca!” The crowd applauds, but it’s the kind of applause you get from a room of people mostly focused on their dinner. The stage looks like a carebear threw up on it. Everything from the chairs to the curtain to the suit the host, Barry Heartmelt, is wearing is covered in hearts. They’re reunited just long enough for Chloe to give Beca an encouraging smile and a squeeze on the hand before they’re led to a pair of chairs that are back to back and can no longer see each other.
“Welcome to all our contestants. The rules of our game are very simple. A moment ago you all wrote answers to questions about your partner and your relationship. Now, your partner will be asked those same questions. If your answers match, you will get a point. From this point on, to avoid cheating you may not say anything to your partner. Does that all make sense?”
The contestants all give varying acknowledgements, and the game begins. The first few questions, Beca assumes, are intentionally easy because all 3 of the couples are at 100% after the second round. She feels very confident about most of her answers, but there’s a few at the end she isn’t so sure about since they ask about a relationship that technically doesn’t exist.
“Chloe, it’s Beca’s night to pick a movie. What genre does she choose?”
“Hmmm. That’s a hard one Barry because Beca really doesn’t like movies. But she’s really gotten into some mystery TV shows lately, so I guess my answer is mystery.”
“Beca?”
“Beca turns her card towards the crowd to reveal the words ‘I don’t like movies, I would choose to do something else.’
“Woah!” The host yells. “How ‘bout that huh? What do you all think, should we count it?” He turns towards the crowd who start clapping and whooping. “Well alright, the crowd has spoken. A point for Beca and Chloe.”
One of the other couples misses a question about their first date which results in a man getting a dirty look from his now wife. Beca is relieved to have just got been the first one to get something wrong.
“Beca, what was the name of Chloe’s childhood pet?”
“Oh, that’s easy. She had a lab named Sam, and a whole string of goldfish named after different Taylor Swift songs.”
“Alright, Chloe?”
Chloe turns her paper to reveal ‘Sam the Dog’. She looks over at Beca, “I didn’t think you’d remember my goldfish, I mentioned that so long ago.”
Beca shrugs, “You used the phrase ‘goldswifts’ when you were telling me about it and it’s lived rent free in my head since.”
“Another point for Chloe and Beca!!!”
The game continues and both other couples get their questions wrong. The questions are definitely getting more difficult now.
“Chloe, when Beca cooks for you would you say you love it, like it, or hate it.”
“Well, Beca is a great cook, but she adds way too much garlic to everything, so I’m going to go with ‘like it’.”
“Beca…”
Beca holds up the card, ‘Like it (She thinks I add too much garlic, but there’s no such thing )’
At this the crowd goes wild laughing, and the host takes a lap around the stage.
“Incredible!!!! Still the only couple with a perfect score and it’s well deserved.”
The game has 15 rounds so of course they eventually miss a few questions, but they make it to the final round in an even tie with one other couple, Rick and Melissa.
“Rick, what was the moment you knew you had found true love with Melissa?”
Rick scratched his beard a few times before answering “For me, it was on our fourth date. We missed the first 20 mins of the movie because she saw a lost dog and insisted we help find its owner.”
Melissa holds up a card that says ‘Our vacation to the Porcupine Mountains’ with tears welling up her eyes. “Rick, you’d never told me that before.” She grabs Rick and kisses him “Your such a softy sometimes.”
“Awwww would you look at that. Wrong, but in the best way. Now, for all the marbles, Beca, same questions. When did you know you loved Chloe?”
Becas stomach dropped. These were the exact types of questions that they had been getting wrong the whole game. Questions about specific moments in their relationship that never happened. She noticed pretty early that Chloe’s strategy had been to try to adapt things about their friendship, but it was hard to guess what moments she would use.
“Well Beca,” The host prompts again “what was the moment you knew Chloe was your true love?”
“Umm, it’s hard to pick a specific moment.” Becas head replaying moments from her friendship with Chloe. Each time she felt that lucky feeling in her gut telling her to hold onto Chloe. Feeling herself run out of time she just chooses the one that feels right to her. “I guess it was this moment two years ago. Our whole acapella group went on a camping trip. We were sitting around a campfire and we sang the song that brought us together in the first place. And even though it was a whole group of us there, it felt like we were the only two people there, just singing for each other.”
“That’s incredibly sweet. But more importantly, is it correct? Chloe?”
Chloe responds by jumping out of her seat and hugging Beca, dropping her card on the floor in the process. The host picks it up and then triumphantly raises it in the air. It reads, “Around the campfire at the ‘lodge at fallen leaves’ retreat”.
“Ladies and Gentlemen, our winners. Chloe and Beca Beale!!!!”
The two are laughing and smiling so big they can’t even produce words. That moment had always been so meaningful to Beca. To her it was proof that even when things got tough for her and Chloe they were still going to be there for eachother. So to get confirmation that the moment meant just as much to Chloe made her feel like she was invincible.
As they pull away from their embrace, their hands find a way to interlock as they often did.
“We did it. You were right, we actually won,” Beca said with a grin.
“I told you,” Chloe responded, lost in Beca’s eyes.
“Kiss! Kiss! KISS! KISS!” The crowd began to chant.
Beca looks at Chloe and gives a little eyebrow raise to ask if it’s okay. Chloe responds with a small nod and pulls Beca in closer. Their lips lock and maybe it’s the adrenaline, maybe it’s the fact that Beca had just shared a very intimate moment about her friendship with Chloe, but what she expected to be a quick kiss for the audience suddenly feels like no kiss she’s ever had before. Like every other kiss in her life has been practice for this moment. Without thinking she pulls Chloe in a bit closer, not wanting to let go yet. In turn, she feels Chloe's hands land on her waist. Beca can feel that lucky feeling again in every part of her body. It swells and fills her body, and the blurry image finally comes into focus. Of course, this whole time. This feeling was love, it seems so obvious, why didn’t she see it.
Suddenly Beca feels a wave of guilt and pulls away. Well, her lips at least. Their bodies are still impossibly close like they could be slow dancing. Chloe is looking down at her with the most impossible to read expression and her perfect lips still just a little bit parted. Beca wants so badly to stretch her hand up into Chloe’s beautiful curls and pull her back in for another kiss, but she’s paralyzed. That kiss was just for the audience. Chloe is her best friend, nothing more. And Beca probably just made things really awkward. Chloe can so often tell exactly what’s going through Beca’s mind, and if this is another one of those moments the last 3 days of this cruise were going to be very awkward.
“Woooooh, is it hot in here or is it just me?” The host shouts. “Congratulations to our winners, I think I speak for everyone here when I say it’s clear you two are meant for eachother!”
The words rattle around in Beca’s head. Chloe finally gives Beca a bit of space, but doesn’t let go of her hand. It is a relief to Beca while simultaneously filling her with an immediately longing to have her friend close again.
“Your prize is of course, the $1000 cash prize, but as an added bonus we are going to upgrade y’all to the honeymoon suite!”
The next half hour is a rush of congratulations, prizes, and attempts to avoid thinking about her sudden realization. When they’re finally alone again it’s in the honeymoon suite complete with a heart shaped bed, rose petals, and champagne on the nightstand, making ignoring her feelings truly impossible.
Chloe finally breaks the silence. “Beca I’m so sorry I misread that, I thought you okay with me kissing you. I would never want to do anything that would make you uncomfortable. I’ve been told before that I can be a little too free someti--”
“What, no you didn’t make me uncomfortable at all.” Beca takes Chloe’s hand again out of desperation. She can see fear in her friend’s eyes.”You didn’t misread anything.”
“Then why haven’t you been able to look me in the eyes since then?”
“I--” Beca chokes on her words. She takes a deep breath before leading Chloe to the bright pink bed and sitting down on it. She crosses her legs and takes a deep breath. “What I said about that night at the campfire… umm. So, you know all about my parents and their divorce.”
Chloe gives a quick nod and rubs a finger over the back of Beca’s hand.
“Well I guess I’ve always been nervous about getting close to people because of a fear that they’ll leave when things get tough. And for weeks before that night around the campfire I remember being so scared I was going to lose you,” Beca takes a deep shaky breath, “But I didn’t!
Chloe gives an encouraging smile, “Never.”
“And that’s exactly why that night is so special to me. Because I know that’s true now. And because I wasn’t lying up on that stage. I think I’ve loved you since that night, if not a lot longer. And if you don’t feel the same that’s okay, I just don’t want to lo--”
Before Beca can finish, Chloe is throwing herself on top of Beca, pinning her to the rose petals on the bed, and pulling her into a deep kiss. As soon Beca can adjust to the surprise, the kiss becomes as powerful as the one on the stage. When it ends their faces stay close together, noses tapping together.
“I love you too, obvi.” They both laugh little chuckles of relief and pure joy.
//
They spend a lot of time in their suite over the last 3 days of their cruise, eager to catch up on the parts of each other their friendship had missed out on. But when they do go out they get recognized by other passengers as the winning couple on the newlywed game. It turns out it was broadcast to all the TVs onboard the ship, so they’re like local celebrities, and this time they have no worries about putting on a convincing performance.