You Remember Me, Right?

Chapter 22

“Beca, how could you do this?” Chloe asked, looking at the girl sitting in front of her, “How could you leave again?”

 

Beca folded her arms over her chest, “I’m so sorry, Chlo, but I promise we’ll stay in touch. It’s only for a summer. I wouldn’t be going if it wasn’t for this amazing internship I have.” She squirmed in her chair, awaiting Chloe’s reaction. Beca, almost in a whisper, muttered, “I just can’t let this opportunity go.”

 

Chloe eyes softened as she pulled Beca into an embrace, “Well you have to call, of course, and maybe we could video chat or something. We’re just gonna miss u, Bec, but don’t think for a second I’m not proud of you.”

 

Beca picked her head up, meeting Chloe’s eyes with her own, “I’m just so bad at goodbyes. Saying it makes it feel real. I need you to do a favor, tell everyone. I tried so hard to slip it into conversations but whenever I wanted to, I just couldn’t.”

 

Chloe nodded along, still not letting Beca out of her grasp, “And Jesse?”

 

Beca responded, letting out a huffed breath, “I can’t even think about telling him without wanting to cancel my flight and stay with you guys this whole summer. I can’t tell him or else I won’t have the willpower to stay.”

 

…..

Chloe was going to get her two best friends together if it was the last thing she did and looking at how blind they both were to the other one’s feelings, it might actually be the last thing she would ever do. Summer was quickly approaching and so was Chloe’s free time to meddle around in her friends’ lives. Actually she wouldn’t per se call it meddling, more like giving them a helping hand.

 

She had been the one who saw firsthand how close the two of them had been when they were younger. Chloe had been through all the times Jesse had come crying to her after Beca left and she had also been the one to make sure that Beca didn’t drift off the grid. Sending her holiday cards and even mailing her albums that she thought she might like, Chloe did her best to keep the friendship going for as long as she could after Beca flew away all those years ago.

 

She had been the string entwined in Beca and Jesse’s lives, throughout everything. She was the one who got Beca to admit her feelings for Jesse and she was the one who finally found the perfect dress that would and did make Jesse’s jaw drop to the floor when he saw Beca in it. So far, everything had been going according to plan, but now everything was all messed up. Beca was leaving for an entire summer without telling Jesse. Sure, Chloe understood where Beca was coming from, but Jesse had to find out, otherwise the next time he would see Beca would be through a computer screen.

 

She wouldn’t have been trying so hard to push the two of them together if it wasn’t for their undeniable chemistry. Jesse’s eyes would light up everytime he saw Beca, floating over to her as if in a daze. The two of them were just so comfortable together. Sometimes they would greet each other, but hug longer than ‘just friends’ would. Other times they would go to the movies, Beca always protesting, and Chloe would catch Jesse’s arm nonchalantly find itself over Beca’s shoulders. Beca would then smile and nuzzle her head into the crook of his neck.