Long way round

chapter 22

Beca grunted in surprise as she felt Chloe's finger jab into her side and shot the redhead a menacing glare. Of course, it did nothing to remove the look of smug delight on the redhead's features, which if Beca were to be honest, was probably deserved as she had been in the process of rolling her eyes at her girlfriend's antics. Chloe was almost literally bouncing in her seat as their minivan cab made its way through New York to their hotel.

"Quit lying, Beca. You know she's adorable when she does that, just admit that she has you whipped and stop trying to be all badass." Aubrey's voice cracked the glare that the brunette had been struggling to hold as a grin broke out on her face. Turning to face the blond, Beca just stuck her tongue out and then turned back as Chloe tugged at her arm and pointed out the window.

The cab was about to make its way into the Queens Midtown Tunnel, but for a moment the Manhattan skyline was visible before the road dipped downwards towards the toll booths and the view was gone. Barely managing to hide her delighted grin at the look of childlike glee on Chloe's face, Beca ran her hand over the redhead's thigh a couple times before giving it a squeeze. The ten gigawatt smile she got from the older girl was more than enough to break through her cool, collected reserve and earn a reciprocating grin, which earned another comment from the peanut gallery in the backseat.

"Told ya so..." Aubrey said. But when Beca glanced at the blond she couldn't help but notice that Aubrey was grinning nearly as broadly as Chloe was.

"Huh... If I didn't know better, Bree, I'd almost think that the ginger had somehow managed to steal your soul. I don't think I've seen you smile like that since we won Finals last year." Amy said, looking back from her seat in the passenger seat of the minivan.

All told when they exited the baggage claim area the Bellas had comprised fourteen people counting the current Bellas, Aubrey, Chloe, and Beca's dad. Seeing as the prices for a taxi from the airport to their hotel was no doubt going to be rather expensive as is, a limo or some conveyance that could have carried everyone was out of the question. In the end they had split into three groups and jumped into the minivan cabs that were parked outside the airport.

Ashley, the fifth member of their little caravan, in a Dodge Caravan appropriately enough, just rolled her eyes at everyone involved and went back to texting on her phone. Aubrey paid the brunette no mind, however, as she turned towards Amy and said, "What can I say? I love New York. Always have, ever since I was a kid..."

"Bree grew up around here. Well, sorta... Up in Orange County, really, but close enough." Chloe chimed in helpfully. When the blond shot her a reproachful look, the redhead just shrugged and said, "What? Don't look at me like that, you told me enough stories of your childhood that I didn't think you'd care."

"Yeah, well. I may have been raised in Orange County, but I spent a lot of my time in the city. My parents still live up in Highland Falls, about an hour north of the city, but my father used to have a place in the city for when we he was here on business, so we were back and forth a lot." Aubrey said, to the amazement of the girls in the car who had never really heard Aubrey talk about her dad or her childhood very much.

"That's cool, Bree. I wonder if we'll have time for sightseeing this trip, maybe you could show us around? Last year we were kind of in and out..." Beca said considering the possibilities. "Last year was my first time in New York, and, well, we were rather busy."

"Well, you guys are up for your sound check in about an hour, but you don't have to be back for six hours or so, right? I'm sure we can find some way to kill that time." Chloe suggested, being as familiar with the Bellas itinerary for this trip as Beca was.

"That's an idea. We can run it past Stacie and the others when we get to the hotel." Beca said, nodding and smiling her thanks to the redhead. Looking out the front windshield she added, "And, speaking of the hotel, it looks like we're nearly there."