More than a memory

Chapter 2

A/N: I have so much planned for this story; it's been hard not to get ahead of myself and focus on writing one chapter at a time. I do hope you'll like what I have in store, starting with this. It's got some more background on Beca and Chloe's lives and what they have been up to during their time apart. As always, your feedback is greatly appreciated, especially for a new story. Reviews, comments and messages always make me smile, and help me figure out what I'm doing as a writer.

It was a moment before either of the women digested the question and spoke up.

Chloe was the first one to speak, blurting out the first thing that came into her mind. "I married Tom."

"We should get married."

They were lying on her favourite blanket on the beach when he said it, completely out of the blue, shocking her thoroughly but not enough to render her speechless.

"Why?" She wasn't sure why she said it, but it seemed like the most appropriate thing to ask.

"You're smart, funny, kind, and beautiful, plus we have been together for four years, why not?"

"I didn't ask you why you like me, I asked why you want to marry me, those are different things."

It was true that they were different things, although a lot of the reasons overlapped for Tom. Her fiery red hair, her insanely deep blue eyes, her adorable smile, the way she always made him laugh, he liked her for all those reasons and then some.

"Well, we care about each other, we enjoy each other's company, we want the same things in life; we just work Chloe. It's easy with you, we make sense. That's why."

She couldn't really argue with that, being with Tom was easy and she did enjoy his company, and she cared about him more than anything in the world. Tom was her best friend, next to Aubrey anyway but the blonde hadn't offered her hand in marriage.

She rolled over closer to him on the blanket and pressed a sweet kiss to his lips. "Let's get married then."

Tom's smile was enough to force an even wider one on Chloe's lips, and the look in his eyes melted her.

"You'll need this then," he smirked, handing her a small velvet box.

"You bought me an engagement ring?"

"Naturally, you actually think I would ask you to marry me and then not give you a shiny object?"

Chloe laughed, giving him a playful punch to the shoulder. "It's gorgeous, thank you."

"I know diamonds are a girl's best friend, but when your girlfriend has such gorgeous blue eyes, sapphires are definitely the way to go."

"Agreed," she mumbled into his lips.

"Oh," was Beca's initial reaction, followed closely by "the shower guy?"

"Yes, the shower guy," Chloe laughed. She could still vividly remember that day in the shower. Tom had asked her afterwards what exactly she was doing breaking into "that aggressive but hot brunette's shower." He just laughed when she told him she had been trying to get Beca to try out for the Bellas. Tom was very familiar with her lack of personal boundaries, but he didn't really care, he liked that she was so friendly and open. When they met in freshman year it had been because Chloe randomly walked up to him as he walked across the quad, grabbed his sweater and said "cute, and the sweater is too."

At this point Chloe began rifling through her purse, Beca just watched and waited. After a minute or two she pulled out a small photo album and handed it to the other woman.

"Our kids," Chloe explained when she noticed the confused expression on Beca's face.

Beca stared down at the photos, and three smiling faces stared back at her. The oldest one, a tall red head who was the spitting image of her mother, the middle child a red headed boy with freckles and glasses and the smallest a brunette with light hair in pigtails. If Beca cared to admit it she would say the kids were absolutely adorable, how could they not be with their mother, and hey, shower guy wasn't so bad himself.