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11- It's That Easy

Becas POV
     "Aright." I say clapping my hands together. "Are you two ready to record?"
     "I've been ready since yesterday." Rise said jumping excitedly. "This is so cool!"
     "If you keep jumping you're going to break something." Lily deadpanned. "But this is pretty cool."
     "So I'm just going to start the track and you two just go with the flow." I say pressing a few buttons. "3... 2... 1."
     They were both naturals. That made my job easy. We did have to do a few takes but we finished it up fairly quickly. Theo brought us lunch and it seemed like her took an interest in Lily. Once the girls left I had Theo help me record the other two songs that I prepared. By the end of the day the event was mostly planned all that was left is a date. I was so busy thinking about the plan I went on auto pilot and arrived to our- I mean Chloe's house. I quickly turned around and drove to the hotel I was staying at. I say at the edge of the bed in silence. It's weird not having anyone around. I walked over to my suitcase and grabbed one of Chloe's hoodies that I may or may not have stolen and slipped it on.
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Chloe's POV
It's been a couple weeks since the little bar incident. I still haven't told Aubrey but there really isn't much to tell.
"What happened at the bar?" Aubrey asked for the millionth time that week.
"It's not important, okay?" I say trying to sound convincing. "I just need to answer some emails then we can talk."
"Once you're done with emails we're going out." Aubrey said standing up from her seat.
"Why?" I questioned briefly looking up from my laptop.
"Because its a Friday night." Aubrey shrugged. "And you need someone new."
"Fine." I say sending my last email. "Just let me go get ready."
I quickly changed then walked out to Aubrey's car. Why aren't we calling an Uber?
"Uh Bree are you sure we should take your car?" I asked hesitantly. "You won't be able to drive it back."
"It's fine. I'm planning on staying sober tonight." She said with a nervous smile. She's hiding something. "Just take a nap while I drive."
"Alright." I say before letting my eyes drift shut.
Before I knew it I was being woken up. I looked around and could tell that we definitely aren't at a bar. There are several people who are liking very excited.
"Where are we?" I asked rubbing the sleep from my eyes.
"You'll see." Aubrey smirked before leading me to the front of the crowd. "Aubrey Posen and Chloe Beale."
"Right this way." A security hard led us the the VIP section.
I know this place. It's where Beca has her first show and proposed. Why can't we be 18 again?
"Hello everyone!" Beca said through the microphone instantly making me want to leave.
"We need to go." I say trying to get Aubrey to move.
"I'm sorry but I can't let you do that." Aubrey said keeping me from leaving.
"We have a very special show tonight. All of these songs are for someone very special to me." Beca said grabbing her guitar. She hasn't played live for awhile. "Hopefully they know who they are.
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Becas POV
I could tell Chloe wanted to leave almost immediately once she saw it was me. Luckily Aubrey kept her there. I began to play the opening cords to arms. I closed my eyes while I played the song and when I opened them Chloe was definitely in tears. Hopefully she'll be more open now.
"Alright these next few are some new songs." I say smiling at the cheers. "Let me know what you think."
I decided to start with the song I wrote for the kids. Then the song I wrote back in high school. Then the most recent. I think it's a pretty good plan.
"I will need a little help with this first song though." I say gesturing for Rose and Lily to come on stage. "Please welcome Rose and Lily. They will be singing this next song."
I stepped back with the bad and handed off my microphone to Lily. I nodded my head then the bad started playing the opening.
Rose
I'm up with the sunshine (let's go!)
I lace up my high-tops (oh, no!)
Slam dunk, ready or not
Yeah, show me what you got
I'm under the spotlight (alright)
I dare you come on and follow
You dance to your own beat
I'll sing the melody
When you say, "Yeah" I say, "No"
When you say, "Stop" all I wanna do is go, go, go!
You the other half of me
The half I'll never be
The half that drives me crazy
You the better half of me
The half I'll always need (need)
We both know
We're better in stereo
B-b-better in stereo
Oh, oh, oh
B-b-better in stereo
Oh, oh, oh
Lily
And when we're together (oh, yeah)
In sweet harmony, oh, so rare
If we could just agree
We would go major league
When you say, "Yeah," I say, "No"
When you say, "Stop," all I wanna do is go, go, go!
You the other half of me
The half I'll never be
The half that drives me crazy
You the better half of me (me)
The half I'll always need (need)
We both know
We're better in stereo
Both
You say, "It's wrong" I say, "It's right"
You say, "It's black" I say, "It's white"
You take left and I take right
But at the end of the day we both know
We're better
You the other half of me
The half I'll never be
The half that drives me crazy
You the better half of me
The half I'll always need, yeah
We both know
We're better in stereo
We are
Better in stereo
B-b-better in stereo
Better in stereo
Oh, oh
Better in stereo
Oh, oh
Better in stereo (b-b-better in stereo)
Oh, oh
Better in stereo
I quickly looked out in the crowd and saw Chloe still seated and her features have softened. That's a good sign right?
"Alright thank you guys. I hope your teacher will give you extra credit for this." I say winking at Chloe. "So I wrote this way back in the day but I never released it."
I was riding shotgun with my hair undone in the front seat of her car,
She's got a one-hand on the steering wheel,
The other on my heart,
I look around, turn the radio down, she says, "baby is something wrong?"
I say "nothing, I was just thinking how we don't have a song, "
And she says,
Our song is a slamming screen door,
Sneaking out late tapping on your window,
When we're on the phone and you talk real slow,
'Cause it's late and your mama don't know,
Our song is the way you laugh,
The first date man I didn't kiss her when I should have,
And when I got home, before I said amen,
Asking God if He could play it again.
I was walking up the front porch steps after everything that day,
Had gone all wrong, had been trampled on and lost and thrown away,
Got to the hallway well on my way to my lovin' bed,
I almost didn't notice all the roses,
And the note that said,
Our song is a slamming screen door,
Sneaking out late tapping on your window,
When we're on the phone and you talk real slow,
'Cause it's late and your mama don't know,
Our song is the way you laugh,
The first date man I didn't kiss her when I should have,
And when I got home, before I said amen,
Asking God if He could play it again.
I've heard every album, listened to the radio,
Waiting for something to come along,
That was as good as our song,
'Cause our song is a slamming screen door,
Sneaking out late tapping on your window,
When we're on the phone, and she talks real slow,
'Cause it's late and her mama don't know,
Our song is the way she laughs,
The first date man I didn't kiss her when I should have,
And when I got home, before I said amen,
Asking God if He could play it again.
I was riding shotgun with my hair undone in the front seat of his car,
I grabbed a pen and an old napkin
And I wrote down our song.
I looked down at Chloe once again and saw her roll her eyes. She definitely thinks I'm being really stupid right now.
"Cool so I have one last song for you all." I say smiling. "This is the most important one. Can I have Chloe Beale come to the stage?"
Chloe just shook her head and mouthed no. I just nodded and mouthed yes. Two guards walked over to her and helped her on stage. She was not happy with me.
"Please don't hate me more than you already do." I say before the music started playing.
Loving can hurt, loving can hurt sometimes
But it's the only thing that I know
When it gets hard, you know it can get hard sometimes
It is the only thing that makes us feel alive
We keep this love in a photograph
We made these memories for ourselves
Where our eyes are never closing
Hearts are never broken
And time's forever frozen still
So you can keep me inside the pocket of your ripped jeans
Holding me closer 'til our eyes meet
You won't ever be alone, wait for me to come home
You could tell Chloe was trying to keep it together. I definitely didn't expect her to cry. Now I fell bad. She's definitely already cried over me enough
And if you hurt me
That's okay baby, only words bleed
Inside these pages you just hold me
And I won't ever let you go
Wait for me to come home
Loving can heal, loving can mend your soul
And it's the only thing that I know, know
I swear it will get easier,
Remember that with every piece of you
Hm, and it's the only thing we take with us when we die
You can fit me inside the necklace you got when you were sixteen
Next to your heartbeat where I should be
Keep it deep within your soul
When I'm away, I will remember how you kissed me
Under the lamppost back on Sixth street
Hearing you whisper through the phone,
"Wait for me to come home"
"You think just because you sang a bunch of songs for me I'm just going to fall apart and forgive you?" Chloe said after a moment of silence. She's sounds like she's gonna cry. "It's not that easy."
"I know that but you didn't let me finish." I say taking a log breath. "I fucked up. And was like a major dick. I shouldn't have done what I did. I should've let you explain... if I did none of this would've happened. I was being petty and wanted to get back at you for something you never did. I still want you in my life... even just as friends. I really am sorry Chlo."
"Okay it is that easy. Come here." Chloe said through a steady stream of tears as she opened her arms."
I quickly made my way to her embrace. So let's see this just made break up number three. I took in her familiar sent. God how can you miss someone so much! I nuzzled into her neck and she brought me impossibly closer.
     "So uh what are we exactly?" I asked once we ended our hug.
     "Friends." Chloe said sadly. "But as soon as you regain my trust we can go on a date."
     "I can live with that." I say with a small smile. "I'm going to hug you again."
     "Okay." Chloe said giggling as we embraced once more.