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“They can’t actually be serious about this right?” Beca frowned, her hands wringing in her lap.
Chloe was curled in a tight ball in her bed, sniffling as she shrugged a little. This was often how Beca found Chloe after she’d been on the phone with her parents, and she hated it. They were the only people she’d ever seen make Chloe cry, and it enraged her in a way that she’d never felt before. No-one got to hurt Chloe, not on her watch, and certainly not her bigoted parents who turned her nose up at Beca every time they saw her, called her two year relationship with Chloe a ‘college phase’, and made sure that she felt as small as possible any time Chloe brought her to one of their ridiculously opulent and absurdly rich parties, to the point that Beca had stopped going to them all together.
“They’re serious Becs.” Chloe bit her lip, “They’ve always talked about it, ever since I was a teenager, like this is 1920 and I’m just going to obediently marry the first guy they see on the street just because they said so.”
Beca scoffed, scooting Chloe’s desk chair closer to her bed and gently taking her hand, pressing a kiss to the back of it, “I’m not going to let them do this to you Chlo. I love you, I’m not going to let them cart you away in a pony cart to be wed off.”
That made Chloe giggle a little, squeezing Beca’s hand tightly, her lips pursed against more tears, “I’m sorry that you have to deal with this Beca.”
“You have nothing to apologise for.” Beca shook her head, pressing her face hard into their clasped hands, “I’m in this for the long run, crazy parents be damned. They’re not going to scare me off, and they’re sure as shit not marrying you off to some fifty-year-old greasy loser just because they want to.”
“How do you even know he’s greasy?” Chloe giggled again, grateful for Beca’s innate ability to always make her laugh, even when she didn’t feel like it, “They could wheel out Brad Pitt for all we know.”
“Okay, one, Brad Pitt has a greasy vibe, you can’t convince me otherwise.” Beca raised her eyebrow, “Two, if they want you to marry a multimillionaire like that, I say do it. Hire me as your personal aide or something, and then I can be your hot little concubine, and you can just fake a headache every time he wants to have sex with you. We’ll be rich and happy.”
Chloe laughed hard at this, a real belly laugh that made her fold in on herself, lifting the heavy mood that had settled since Beca had found her in her bed. Beca was laughing too, gently brushing the hair from Chloe’s eyes and shaking her head fondly.
“They’ll have to go through me Chloe.” Beca’s voice was low and gentle as Chloe’s laugh quietened, but came with tears that she had been trying to hold in, sick of crying, “Me and all the Bellas, literally if need be. I won’t let them do this.”
“I love you.” Chloe whispered, her voice thick with tears, “I really love you Beca.”
Beca was furious.
So furious she hadn’t stopped shaking since she’d gotten home. The text that she’d gotten from Chloe had sent her flying out of her Music Theory lecture like a bat out of hell, barely remembering to grab her bag on the way.
CHLOE: They’re here. Taking my phone. I won’t stop loving you x
She’d thundered through the front door to the Bellas House and straight up the stairs to Chloe’s room, her stomach dropping when she flung the door open. Gone. All her things were gone. Everything but the framed photo of the two of them from that Christmas, when they’d gone to stay with Beca’s mom for the holidays. The bastards hadn’t even let her take that photo with her.
Beca had screamed, she’d cried, she’d punched the wall so hard she’d actually put a hole in it, which was both weirdly satisfying and kind of mortifying at the same time. That wasn’t who Beca was, she wasn’t a violent person at all, but all this rage she was feeling had to go somewhere.
She couldn’t believe they’d actually done it. She couldn’t believe that Chloe’s parents thought they had the right to just show up here and pull Chloe out of her home, out of her degree, out of her life like she was just some object that belonged to them and they could barter with. Well, she wasn’t going to stand for it. No way in hell.
“Damn Shawshank, Beale’s going to be pissed when she sees that hole.” Amy strolled into Chloe’s room, a tub of ice-cream in hand, “Unless it’s like a weird glory hole lesbian sex thing. Then I guess she’ll love it.”
“They pulled her out of college.” Beca mumbled darkly, “They threw money at the Dean, at her professors, at the Admission Team, and pulled her out of her fucking life to marry some fucking grandad all because they’re rich and think they can just have whatever they want.”
“Oh shit.” Amy balked, “Really? Isn’t that like illegal or something?”
“Like anyone will care.”
Beca started to pace, running her hands through her hair, chewing her bottom lip to shred.
“The Beale’s are loaded. Like Fortune 500, friends with the Pope, own half of Georgia loaded. No-one’s going to touch them over this.”
“So what do we do then?” Amy plopped down on the edge of Chloe’s bed, eating the ice-cream in her hand and continuing to talk through the mouthful she had just taken, “Uno Reverse kidnapping? Because we’re not rich. The pigs would definitely throw us in jail, and I am too sexy to go to prison, I’ll be fighting them off with a shank.”
Beca snorted, swallowing thickly, trying to get her racing mind to settle, “Fair point. I’m not leaving her there though. Not that I know where there is, they have like three houses. Can’t break into all of them.”
“That’s where we start then.” Amy shrugged, taking another mouthful of ice-cream, “Figure out where they’re holding our proverbial princess, then figure out how to storm the gates. I’ll get Stace, she’s a whizz with all that computer stuff, and I bet these richy-rich parents of hers are all about bragging about whatever they have planned.”
“Yeah.” Beca nodded slowly, “Yeah that… that works. Thanks Ames.”
“I got you Shawshank.” Amy shrugged, getting up and punching Beca’s shoulder, “You and Red. But if we don’t get her back, I’m calling dibs on this room.”
Beca just laughed, giving Amy a playful shove back, “Just go find Stacie you dick. I need… I need a minute. Alone.”
“You got it.” Amy saluted, “You do whatever you need. I’ll have this room sterilised before I move in anyway.”
Beca rolled her eyes as Amy let her be, groaning as she flopped face down onto Chloe’s bed, burying her face into her pillow. It still smelled like her shampoo and a little like her perfume too, and it made fresh tears fall from Beca’s eyes. She couldn’t believe that Chloe was gone, that she didn’t even have a way of staying in touch because her freaky controlling parents had taken her damn phone.
She started crying harder, pulling Chloe’s pillow tighter to her chest, trying to quell the ache in her own. What the hell was she supposed to do, really? So what if she found out where Chloe was, how to get there, showed up on their doorstep kicking and screaming? They had resources far beyond what she could imagine, probably police and DAs and politicians in their back pocket, ready to make her life a living hell. How the hell was she supposed to compete with that? There was a reason Chloe hadn’t kicked and screamed and raised hell when they arrived, it was because she knew how futile it was as well.
Beca had no idea what she was supposed to do now.
It had been two days. Two whole days Chloe had been gone, and Beca had barely slept in all that time. Instead, she’d scoured social media until her eyes burned, chugged more energy drinks than she ever had in her life, and chewed her nails down to bloody stumps. They hadn’t posted anything about this whole farce, and any attempts to make contact with anyone in Chloe’s family led to her being swiftly blocked, which then led to Beca spiralling further.
The Bellas had rallied around her, pouring all their time between classes helping her try and find Chloe, also reaching out to relatives, but hitting dead end after dead end. The kitchen island had become a mess of papers and printouts scattered around laptops, old takeout containers, and half empty mugs of coffee.
“How have we still found nothing?”
Beca’s head was in her hands, fingers tangled deep in her hair. Stacie wrapped an arm around her shoulders, squeezing them gently in an attempt to comfort her.
“We’ll find something Becs. They can’t hide her away forever.”
“Before they marry her off though? That they could do.” Beca grunted, lifting her head and wiping at her eyes with the cuff of her sleeve, “It’s going to be a lot fucking harder to get her back once she’s married to the sleazebag.”
“If we have to gatecrash a wedding, we’ll do that.” Ashley shrugged, “I’m not above punching a bridesmaid if I have to.”
“Screw that, I’ll punch a flower girl if I have to.” Amy countered, “No cute toddler in a tiara gets a pass when it comes to rescuing Red.”
Beca snorted, rubbing at her face with her hands, trying to wake herself up. Stacie looked at her with concern, gently trying to take the laptop from Beca’s hands.
“When’s the last time you slept?” She asked, Beca shrugging her off.
“Dunno. I think I got a couple of hours at some point yesterday. I’ll sleep when Chloe’s home.”
“Becs–”
“Hey, I might have something.”
All attention turned to Aubrey who had just breezed in through the back door, holding something tightly in her hands. She was a little breathless, hair less than perfectly styled, which for her was completely out of the ordinary, but the look in her eyes was determined.
“What?”
Beca was up out of her seat in a flash, the stool falling over with a clatter as she rushed to Aubrey’s side.
“What have you got?”
“Chloe’s grandmama, she’s always been iffy on the way her parent’s treat her.” Aubrey passed the paper to Beca, “She doesn’t have any social media, you guys wouldn’t have any idea she existed even. She reached out to me, faxed me a copy of this. It’s the invite to Chloe and Fredrick’s engagement party, tonight, at their villa in the country.”
“I could kiss you.” Beca mumbled, clutching the paper tightly in her hands, gripping it like a lifeline. It was a lifeline. A lifeline connecting her to Chloe.
“I’d rather you didn’t.” Aubrey arched her eyebrow, a fond smile gracing her lips, “We’ll need to be leaving here no later than 5pm to make it there at the right time to get in but not attract too much attention. Which gives us all three hours to get ready, I need every one of you in your fanciest outfits, this is a ball we’re crashing after all.”
“Okay, who’s going to tell her she’s not the captain anymore?” Amy stage whispered to Flo, who giggled and shook her head.
“Hop to it!” Aubrey shot Amy a glare, clapping her hands together. The Bellas scattered, all heading to their separate rooms and discussing a shower schedule as they went. Beca was going to follow them, but Aubrey gently caught her arm before she could.
“You look like hell Beca.”
“Gee thanks,” Beca huffed, “Good to see you too Bree.”
“We can do this, we can get Chloe and bring her home, maybe you should rest up.”
“No.” Beca clenched her jaw, face dark as thunder, “No way in hell. I can nap on the way there if need be, but I’m sure as shit not sitting this out. I’m not giving them the satisfaction of not being there, they’re going to see my fucking face when I tell them to go to hell.”
“Alright.” Aubrey nodded, “But you’re not driving like this, got it?”
“Yes mom.” Beca smirked, but there were tears welling in her eyes, “Thanks Aubrey. Seriously, we’d be fucked without this, I… I don’t know how to thank you.”
“You don’t have to.” Aubrey frowned, “Chloe’s family. I’d have done this even if she wasn’t dating you. Now go on, go get ready, tame that rats nest that you’re passing for hair these days.”
“Asshole.” Beca chuckled, “Guess if we’re going to swoop in like white knights, we gotta do it in style.”
Despite her early comments, Beca didn’t sleep on the two-hour drive to the Beale Villa. She was too anxious, a little sick, and her leg wouldn’t stop bouncing long enough for her to think about resting nevermind actually do it. The Bellas tour van clashed horrendously with the well-dressed and made-up women inside it, but it was the only vehicle big enough for all of them to get into that didn’t involve hiring a limo at the last minute which was going to cost them upwards of two thousand dollars.
Aubrey had final say on everyone’s outfits, vetting them to make sure they’d pass for high society party guests and not college students on a heist of sorts. Jessica, Ashley and Amy had all pulled dresses from the winter formal last year, with Amy donning a tiara that she just happened to have lying around (because of course she did); Flo found her quinceanera dress which still fit her, Lilly’s dress was of unknown origins but that was hardly anything new. Cynthia-Rose had dug out her best suit, a deep green number, Aubrey had come prepared with a sparkly floor length gown, and Stacie had found a dress in her wardrobe that managed to cover her breasts and butt at the same time, but still no doubt set to be the most eye-catching woman in the room.
And Beca? Beca had pulled out the suit she knew Chloe loved, spent nearly and hour on her hair and makeup alone, grabbed the perfume that Chloe had gotten her for Christmas, and even donned a pair of heels that gave her an extra three inches of height, just in case she needed it. She looked drop dead gorgeous and she knew it, it was intentional. Chloe’s parents weren’t going to forget the way she looked when she rescued Chloe, wouldn’t forget how attractive she was when she flipped them off on their way out of the door, wouldn’t forget that compared to the troll they’d try to force her to wed, Beca was a damn goddess.
But it was also for Chloe. So she’d know that, no matter what had happened over the last two days, Beca’s love for her hadn’t changed. Her whole world revolved around her, and nobody could ever change that. God, she hoped Chloe was okay.
“We’re pulling in now.”
Beca looked up from her feet, eyes widening t the sheer size of the building in front of her. She hadn’t been to the Villa before, just the manor house in the city and that was big enough. She couldn’t fathom how anyone could need a house this big, especially considering it wasn’t their only house. Maybe it was to host the sheer volume of people that were probably inside, based on the sea of cars she could see parked in front of them, because honestly there was probably the population of a small country in there. At least it would make getting inside a lot easier, people were less likely to notice her when there was a swarm of other guests. Not until it was too damn late to throw her out anyway. The bad news was that finding Chloe among all these people was probably going to be no easy task.
Aubrey parked the bus on the outskirts of the plaza, making sure there was plenty of room for them to get out easily so they could make a speedy getaway if need be. Beca had never been more grateful for Aubrey’s ability to think of absolutely every possible scenario and escape plan. She needed someone to be rational right now, because she definitely wasn’t. All Beca wanted to do was go charging in there, punch and kick her way through the crowd until she found Chloe and then punch and kick her way back out with Chloe in tow.
Not exactly the best plan.
“Alright, let’s go crash this party!” Amy cheered, fists raised in triumph. The Bellas laughed, and Aubrey held up her hand to stop them all before they went charging off the bus.
“If we go charging in, we might make things worse, so here’s the plan. We walk up, calmly, like we’re invited, and once we’re inside, we split into three groups of three and scope the place out, find Chloe, and then get her out of there, with as minimal attention and fuss as possible.”
“Seems like you’re taking all the fun out of this Cap…” Amy grumbled, even as a smile tugged at her lips, “What do you say Shawshank?”
“We’re going with Bree’s plan.” Beca wrung her hands together, “For Chloe’s sake. She’s been through enough, let’s not start a fight with her parents on top of all of it.”
“Fine.” Amy sighed dramatically, “I guess we can do it that way. But if things turn ugly, I’ve got my nun chunks in my purse.”
The Bellas laughed again before disembarking the bus, arm-in-arm, Beca bringing up the rear just in case her name and face had plastered on wanted-style posters around the Villa (she wouldn’t be surprised). She couldn’t stop her hands shaking, trying to wipe her clammy palms on her pants as they walked, not wanting to look like a sweaty mess when she finally saw Chloe again.
“It’s going to be okay.” Aubrey whispered in her ear, “I’ve got you.”
Beca just nodded, her throat dry as sandpaper right now, not sure if she’d able to reply verbally even if she wanted to. Aubrey gently bumped her shoulder against hers, a small measure of reassurance that Beca so desperately needed right now. She was out of her comfort zone, dressed to the nines, wearing more makeup than she usually did, in heels that she hated, about to be surrounded by people whose net worth would solve world hunger, but at least she would be there with her girls, and eventually, she’d be there with Chloe.
As they made their way up the stairs, a bulky man looking like an action movie wannabe, stepped in front of them, blocking the way. Beca wasn’t sure which was more cliché: the Ray-Ban sunglasses, the black t-shirt so tight it showed off every steroid-won ab, or the earpiece in his ear that was probably just playing some of his gym bro hits as apposed to connected to anybody.
“I need to see proof of invitation.”
“I got this.” Stacie whispered to Beca, and then quickly pushed her way to the front of the group, putting on that award winning smile that immediately attracted everyone in the immediate vicinity.
“Silly me.” She practically purred, running her hand down his arm and batting her eyelashes, “I was in charge of bringing them with us, but I went and forgot them on the kitchen table.”
Beca had to fight back a snort as she dipped her head, convinced she’d seen Stacie push her chest out further. God bless Stacie Conrad honestly.
“Honestly, I’d forget my panties if someone didn’t remind me,” The security guard blushed as Stacie giggled, biting her lip a little, “Can’t you just do me a favour, let us in without it? We’re friends of the bride y’see, she’ll be heartbroken if we’re not there, and we already had to drive two hours here.”
“Um… I-I–” The security guy stammered, his face beet red as Stacie rested a hand on his chest.
“Hm, you’re so strong, I can tell.” She hummed, “I’m sure a big strong guy like you can make my night even more special. Once the party’s in full swing I can just, slip out to find you.”
“I uh…” The man straightened his back, a wry smile pulling at his lips, “I suppose I can look the other way just this once. But if anyone asks, I saw your invites.”
“You got it handsome.” Stacie winked, squeezing his bicep as she and the rest of the Bellas slipped past him, into the Beale’s Villa.
“Dude.” Beca couldn’t hold back her laughter anymore, shaking her head as she pushed her way to the head of the group, “That was… that was something else.”
“What?” Stacie shrugged, “This is a heist, right? There’s a seductress that charms the guard, and I am very good at talking my way into and out of things. How’d you think I never end up with a parking ticket on campus?”
“Still…” Beca huffed out one last shaky laugh, “That was pretty amazing.”
“It’s nice using my powers for good for a change.” Stacie grinned, “Now c’mon Shortstack, let’s find your girl.”
They split up. Jessica, Ashley and Lilly headed left towards the billiard room; Cynthia-Rose, Flo and Aubrey went right for the bar; Beca took Amy and Stacie and went straight ahead into the ballroom. She wanted to be the one to find Chloe, the one that pulled her from her pig of a forced fiancé and back into the life that she had worked so hard to build for herself, but at her core, Beca just wanted her safe.
Her eyes immediately searched the thick throngs of guests for that familiar face, that achingly familiar shock of red hair, determined to find her as quickly as possible. A waiter approached her with a tray of champagne flutes, offering her one which Beca immediately downed in one gulp and then reached for another, shrugging as Stacie raised her eyebrow at her.
“What? I’m blending in.”
She stepped slowly through the crowd of guests, her eyes not resting for a moment as she searched for Chloe. She had to be here, somewhere, Chloe’s parents would be parading her around like a trophy, so she had–
Beca stopped dead in her tracks, her mouth slightly agape. There, in front of her, maybe about ten feet away, was Chloe. The woman she didn’t think it was possible to miss this much in two days was right there, and she looked so incredibly attractive, ethereal, like something out of a Greek myth, down to the flowers woven into her hair and the shimmering jewels adorning the edges of her dress. She’d never seen her look so beautiful, and yet so miserable. Sure, there was a smile on her face, but Beca knew her all to well. It didn’t reach her eyes, there was a pinch in the bridge of her nose, and her hands were clasped tightly in front of her.
Her brain was screaming at her run forward, to pull Chloe into her arms, but she couldn’t move. It was like she was under some kind of spell that bound her in place. All she could do in that moment was watch as Chloe made polite conversation with someone, nodding politely as they complimented her, or her parents, or the villa, whatever.
Beca was snapped out of her trance however, when a large man of about fifty, with thinning grey hair and a pot belly and an ill-fitting suit, came up next to her and grabbed Chloe’s ass in his hand, squeezing it. She saw red and flew forward, a snarl curling her lip as she shoved the man hard in the chest, practically growling as the man staggered away from Chloe in shock, just about catching himself before he could fall into the ornate fountain at the centre.
“Beca?!”
The adrenaline was pumping through Beca, her hands balled into fists, but she still heard Chloe’s voice calling her name, still felt her hands on her face as she put herself between Beca and Fredrick, the man fumbling to his feet by now, red in the face with a mixture of anger and humiliation.
“Beca, what are you doing here?”
The smile on Chloe’s face was genuine this time, her eyes brimming with tears. Beca’s hands were shaking as she unclenched them, but she raised them anyway, letting them rest on Chloe’s hips, taking a deep, trembling breath and grinning back.
“Didn’t think I’d just leave you here did you Beale?”
“You’re insane.” Chloe giggled, “I can’t believe you’re here, I… oh god I missed you so much. How did you get here? How did you know I was here?”
“I had some help.” Beca shrugged, nodding over her shoulder to where Stacie and Amy stood, “They’re all here, somewhere. Probably hoovering up the free hors d’oeuvres.”
“Chloe what is she doing here?”
They were snapped from their reunion by a shrill and angry voice, only realising now that the room had gone deadly silent, all eyes on them. So much for not making a scene.
“Nice to see you too Kathleen.” Beca rolled her eyes, sliding an arm around Chloe’s waist tightly, jutting out her chin, “We’re taking Chloe home.”
“She is home.” Kathleen sneered, her arms crossed over her chest, “She’s had her moment of college rebellion, it’s time she grew up and settled down.”
“What, with that guy?” Beca snorted, cocking her head at Fredick who had flop sweat dripping down his face and his shirt half untucked from the effort of getting up after the stumble, “Please. Where’d you find him? High Society Rejects Anonymous?”
“You little bitch.” He spat, Chloe bristling next to Beca.
“You couldn’t possibly understand how this works Rebecca.” Kathleen waved her hand dismissively in Beca’s direction, “I wouldn’t expect you to–”
“Stop it!”
Chloe’s outburst shocked everyone, including Beca, all eyes turning to her.
“Stop talking to her like that! Her name is Beca, and she understands everything, including the fact that you dragged me here against my will to be engaged to that pig!”
She was shaking as she stepped forward towards Fredrick and her mother, pulling at the ring on her finger until it came loose, throwing it to the ground.
“I’m done. I’m not your show pony, I’m not an object to be bartered with, and I’m not his wife to be. You want to disown me? Go ahead. I don’t need you. I’ve got my own family now, and they’ve shown me more love and support than you ever have.”
Kathleen’s eyes narrowed dangerously as Chloe stood tall, defying her parent’s at last as she was emboldened by Beca and the Bellas behind her as the rest of them joined Amy and Stacie.
“Chloe Beale–”
“No.” Chloe shook her head, “You’re not going to guilt me into this. I’m not marrying him. I love her. I love Beca, and I don’t care what you think anymore. I’m going home, to Barden, to the people who actually love me. To the woman who looks at me like I’m the centre of the universe.”
Chloe turned and pulled Beca into a deep kiss, punctuating her point. There were cheers and whistles from the Bellas (mainly Amy), Chloe giggling a little as she pulled back, cupping Beca’s face in her hands again.
“I love you Beca. Take me home.”
“You got it Chlo.” Beca grinned, “And for the record? That was really hot.”
“Idiot.” Chloe giggled, taking Beca’s hand in hers and squeezing it tightly, “C’mon. This party blows.”
“Yeah, there isn’t even any pigs in blankets!” Amy complained loudly, performing some level of crowd control as she used her presence to muscle a path for the rest of them to leave, the Bellas in tow as they laughed, revelling in their victory.
“You’re a bitch!” Fredick yelled after them, aiming his insults at Chloe.
Chloe felt Beca bristle but squeezed her hand again, “He’s not worth it baby. Just ignore him.”
“Cow!”
They made their way for the exit with Fredick on their heels, shouting insult after insult after them, clearly trying to make himself feel better at having been rejected by his arranged trophy wife.
“Whore!”
“Cunt!”
“Fucking dyke faggot bitch!”
Beca had been ignoring him, or trying to at least, but that last one was the final straw. She whipped around, faster than anyone around her had time to catch including Chloe, and punched Fredrick square in the nose, felling him like a tree. He went down hard, hands clasping his now bleeding nose, and with actual tears running down his cheeks. Beca shook out her throbbing her hand, smirking a little at the pathetic mess in front of her.
“She said she was done. Get over it Freddie.”
Chloe took Beca’s uninjured hand in hers and gently tugged her after her and out of the villa. With the crowd of people gone, Chloe broke out into a run, pulling Beca after her, giggling as she threw her arms wide as the rain started to pour. She didn’t care, she threw her head back, laughing harder as she spun on the spot, tears starting to run down her face as her laughs turned into sobs.
Beca quickly wrapped her arms around her tightly, shushing her gently as she sobbed into her chest.
“I’m here. I’ve got you. you were so brave Chlo.”
“I… thank you.” Chloe gripped the front of Beca’s shirt tightly in her hands, “Thank you for coming to get me.”
“Any time.” Beca shook her head, “Every time. No matter when or where. I’ll always come for you Chloe. Always.”
“C’mon.” Aubrey gently put her hand on Chloe’s shoulder, “Let’s get you all home, out of this rain.”
Chloe nodded, sniffing hard as she let Beca guide her up the steps onto the bus, grinning tearfully at Aubrey as they moved past her. Once settled, Beca settled her head on top of Chloe’s as it rested on her shoulder, breathing in the smell of her shampoo, revelling in the feeling of her hand in hers again.
“I love you Chlo.” She mumbled into her hair, pressing a kiss to the crown of her head, “I love you so much.”
An hour into the drive home, Aubrey glanced into the rearview mirror, catching a glimpse of Beca and Chloe, asleep in each other’s arms. A smile pulled at her lips. It was good to see them both at home again.