Studio 22

Chapter 19:

Chloe:

A few hours after we had brought the last box into our home, Aubrey and Jesse left. Beca was busy building and organizing her music equipment in the basement. It was early evening, and the sun was shining. I sat down on our new sofa and gazed out the big window into our backyard for a while. I had to let it all sink in.

With a sigh of content, I got up, tackling the next box. We had to unpack so much stuff. We had to unpack two separate lives and let them become one.

Once I was done, I decided we had unpacked enough boxes for today. They would still be there tomorrow. Unfortunately.

"Becs?" I called her, knowing she was still working on her equipment.

"Yes, baby?", she answered, entering the living room, wrapping her arms around me from behind and placing a kiss in the crook of my neck.

"I'm tired of unpacking and I'm hungry... Let's do the rest tomorrow."

"As you wish,", she said turning me around in her arms. "Do you want to order something?"

"Yeah, let's try this Indian place we saw on our way here."

While we waited for the food to be delivered, we sat down on our sofa. I cuddled into Beca's side.

"You're so tense... What's wrong?", she wanted to know, a concerned look on her face.

"I'm just stressed by this whole moving and unpacking thing, I guess."

Beca released me from her side and positioned herself behind me. She brushed my hair out of the way, placed a tender kiss on my neck and started massaging me.

"Mmmh." I breathed out, enjoying her hands kneading my neck and shoulders.

After an improvised dinner on the floor because the house was still a complete mess with all the boxes scattered throughout the room, we ended up chilling on the sofa. My head was placed in Beca's lap and she was gently raking her hand through my hair. After a while I drifted to sleep. I was overwhelmed by the tiredness pulling my eyes shut. I woke up when I felt Beca gently getting up from the sofa. Groggily I half-opened my eyes. Next thing I know, she picked me up and carried me to the bed. Lying in bed, I fell asleep within minutes again.

The next morning, I was woken up by a loud sound coming from downstairs. I turned around in bed and opened my eyes; Beca nowhere to be found. I stretched and went downstairs to see where the noise had been coming from.

I entered the living room and looked around in disbelief. Beca was in the kitchen, putting glasses into the cabinets.

"Becs?"

She abruptly turned around, startled by my voice.

"Chloe.. Oh shit. Did I wake you? I'm sorry.", she apologized while coming over. She wrapped her arms around me and kissed my lips.

"Yeah, you did, but it's fine. Where did all the boxes go?" I curiously wanted to know.

"I unpacked them."

"All of them?"

"Yes. You said you were stressed by this whole unpacking thing, so I figured I could take this stress from you."

"I love you!" I exclaimed while throwing my arms around her neck, trapping her in a tight hug.

~

Two weeks later we had made ourselves comfortable in our new home and wanted to celebrate with friends and family. We were all gathered in our kitchen and living room, music playing in the background. Aubrey was talking to some of Beca's friends, getting along great by the looks of it. An old friend of mine was talking to Jesse, clearly completely hypnotized by him. Beca had talked to Jesse the day after moving. Since then, it had been less touchy between them. Beca was leaning against the kitchen counter with her back, talking to my parents. She looked at me for a second and smiled before turning her attention to my parents again. Beca had been wanting to invite her parents too, but since her dad was practically glued to his new girlfriend and rarely came alone, the idea was discarded pretty quickly. It would only cause unnecessary drama since her mom and dad couldn't even be in the same room without eating each other alive.

I wanted to join the conversation between my parents and Beca, but as soon as I appeared next to them, they stopped talking. My father was awkwardly looking back and forth between my mother and Beca.

"This house is really beautiful. I'm proud of you, honey." My mother changed the subject, smiling at me.

"Thanks, Mom." I answered while Beca wrapped her arm around my waist, kissing my cheek.

"We'll head out, leave you young people to it, so you can celebrate." My dad was convinced he was super old already, even if he was just in his late 40's.

"Okay. Bye, Mom. Bye, Dad." I quickly hugged both before they left.

Beca and I spent the evening talking to our friends and celebrating our new home. At some point I was sitting on our sofa, talking to Aubrey. From the corner of my eye, I saw Jesse approaching Beca. I concentrated on my conversation with Aubrey again. When I looked over to them after a while, they seemed to be having fun. They were talking and laughing occasionally. Beca's face got serious when she pulled something out of her pocket. I couldn't see what it was exactly because the kitchen counter blocked my view. I just saw Jesse's eyes widen. He froze for a few seconds before pulling Beca in for a hug, smiling.

"Chloe? Chlooee!" Aubrey pulled me back into the conversation.

"I'm sorry what?"

"When are you going to do it?"

"I was thinking New Year's Eve."

Aubrey looked at me with an expression I couldn't decipher. Did she look shocked, worried?

"Are you sure you want to do this on New Year's Eve with everyone there? What if..?"

I cut her off. "No, Aubrey. I don't want to hear it. I'm going to do it."

"I don't doubt if you should do it or not, but maybe you should do it a little more private.", she insecurely suggested.

"I'm a hundred percent sure about this. I'm doing it on New Year's Eve. Discussion closed."

"You're really sure about this." Aubrey stated and added, "Go for it, Chloe. I'm here if you need help. Anything really."

"Thanks, Bree."

Later that night, we had just said our goodbyes to the last guests, we were cleaning up the kitchen. Beca was putting away a few plates, standing on her tip-toes. I walked past her and slightly slapped her butt.

"Hey!", she protested, turning around. I had a huge grin on my face. "What do you have to say in your defense?"

"I couldn't help it..." I shrugged and smiled.

"Is that so?" Beca questioned while coming closer, a devilish grin on her lips, her gaze locked into my eyes. Suddenly she launched forward and started tickling me.

"Ahhh!" I shrieked and tried to wriggle out of Beca's arms. I was laughing hysterically.

"Beca! Stop!" I laughed, but she didn't. I managed to get away from her and ran into the living room, trying to catch my breath from laughing so hard. Beca followed me and managed to trap me in her tickling grip once more. Moments later we fell onto the sofa. I was lying on top of Beca and she finally stopped punishing me with her tickles. Instead, she stared into my eyes and brought her hand to my cheek. She tucked away my hair behind my ear and then pulled me in for a loving kiss. If this was what life was going to be like, I never wanted it to end.