The Right Time

Chapter Six

'Pack your bags everyone, we're going on a retreat'

It was six in the morning and Chloe was stood, fully dressed and ready to go in the hallway of the house. All of the Bellas collectively moaned, as they had all been sleeping before they were interrupted.

Slowly, but surely, they started filing out of their rooms. Beca, however, was yet to be seen.

Chloe made her way over to Beca's room, which was situated next to her own. Gently opening the door, Chloe then went and sat on Beca's bed.

'Wake up, sleepyhead', she said as she placed her hand on Beca's shoulder.

The DJ yawned and then looked over at her alarm.

'Six in the morning? Are you trying to kill me?'

'I'm trying to take us on a retreat', the redhead smiled.

'I hope there's coffee when we get there'

'Come on, I've packed your stuff for you. You just need to get dressed'

It took some convincing, but Beca eventually got up and got dressed.

Soon, all the Bellas were ready to leave.

Chloe couldn't wait for everyone to see the surprise she'd planned.
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They arrived at Aubrey's camp, feeling tired, but happy when they saw their ex-captain.

Later that evening, they were packed into a tent for an early night to prepare for the next day. Chloe turned her head to face her best friend. She saw that she looked tense.

'You look tense. Do you need a backrub?', Chloe asked, fingers beginning to run through Beca's hair.

'Several body parts are rubbing against my back right now, thanks'

'You know, we're already close Beca, but I think that we're going to get even closer after this trip'

'Is that so?', Beca said, with an air of sarcasm.

Chloe nodded.

'One of my biggest regrets is that I didn't experiment enough in college', the redhead was feeling bold, and hopeful for some reason.

'You're so weird', Beca said, turning her back to her friend. She couldn't help but smile to herself, even if she was trying to act cool. However, she couldn't figure out why she would do either of those things.

Chloe confused her, and she wasn't sure yet if that was a good thing or a bad thing.

An hour later, all of the Bellas were fast asleep.
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The girls didn't know what was about to hit them.

Aubrey barked out the orders of the day like a drill sergeant.

Firstly, they were to complete an assault course, which featured a muddy pit to wade through and numerous ropes and poles. The girls helped each other over and under obstacles, and pulled one another through the thick mud.

'Chloe, there had better be a good reason for this', Beca said, as she tried to free a leg from the sludge.

Chloe ignored her, and instead held out a hand to help the brunette along. She thought that Beca looked weirdly hot covered in mud.

Secondly, they were to sing to full arrangements created by Aubrey. Beca was feeling exhausted and irritable after a long day of physical exertion, so was less than enthusiastic about this.

'How is this supposed to help us?', Beca said, moodily.

'It's going to help us reconnect'

'Really? Because all we're doing right now is singing songs that would never be in our set', Beca and Chloe were now facing each other.

'Okay, what is wrong with you?', Chloe had reached the end of her tether after a day of trying to enthuse Beca.

Beca turned her back to her friend. She had a feeling that Chloe had noticed her absences to go to her secret internship, and their frustrations were starting to show. It had been a long day.

'We've all noticed you've been checked out lately'

She had noticed.

Fat Amy tried to encourage Beca to tell everyone about the internship, (she had found out herself a while ago), because she didn't want 'Bloe' to fight. So, eventually, Beca revealed her secret.

'Why couldn't you just tell us that?'

Suddenly, before she could say any more about it, Beca had told Chloe that everyone was too obsessed with the competition coming up and that they should, 'Sack up'. She then stormed off.

She stormed off straight into a trap.

The net whipped the short girl right off the ground and a few feet into the air.

'Look who needs our help', Chloe smirked.

The rest of the Bellas ran over to Beca, who was clearly terrified.

'I'm so sorry, I love you guys! Especially you Chloe. Please help m-'

The net jolted down. The Bellas screamed, even Chloe.

Realising the severity of the situation, the ginger brought the girls together to make a safe(ish) nest of arms for Beca to fall into.

And...she fell on top of Fat Amy's head instead.

'I'm okay! I'm okay! I have a head of lead', Fat Amy shouted.

Beca meanwhile, was lying on the floor, wincing.

Carefully, Chloe picked her off the floor and carried her in her arms over to a camping chair. The rest of the Bellas went to get water and plasters etc. with Aubrey while Chloe looked after her friend.

Chloe knelt in front of Beca and placed a comforting hand on her knee.

'I am actually sorry. I wasn't just saying it'

'I know you weren't. I'm sorry too'

Beca opened her arms and Chloe stood up to hug her. For some reason, arguing with Chloe felt good, because she was finally able to be honest with her; it felt like they could be even closer now.

'And I do love you the most', Beca said, face covered in red hair. She loved the way it smelled.

'The most out of what?'

'Everyone', Beca confessed, 'But I think you know that'

Chloe pulled away from Beca and the two shared a smile. It was a different kind of smile to what they were used to having. Strangely, it was like they had started to sense what the other one really felt deep down.

The Bellas returned with numerous first aid kits and bottles of water.

Cynthia Rose and Legacy dabbed at the small cuts on Beca's legs as Stacie brought a cold compress to Fat Amy's head.

'Give it to short stack- this Aussie is cool enough already', Fat Amy told Stacie.

When she received the ice pack, she looked at Chloe, who was now sat next to the chair with her back to Beca. She saw exposed skin on her neck.

Almost instinctively, Beca pressed the ice pack onto Chloe's neck.

After gasps and lots of laughter, the Bellas decided to call it a day and relax on the grass until the sun started to set.