“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.
Chloe, running to catch up to Jesse in the parking lot, called out to him, “Jesse, wait up.” He responded, turning around as his hair flopped over his forehead, “What’s up, Chlo.” He was carrying a big stack of his books after locker cleanup just ended. You could see the aura of happiness radiating off of him. Summer was finally here and Jesse couldn’t have been more excited.
The corners of his mouth turned downwards once he saw the expression on her face, “You have to tell Beca how you feel and you have to do it soon.”
Jesse ran a hand through his hair, swallowing hard, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Chloe waved her hands around in front of his face, “Earth to Jesse, of course you do. Don’t pretend you don’t know what I mean. I just talked to her. She’s going away for the summer, Jesse, to London.”
Jesse’s eyes grew wide with disbelief as Chloe uttered the words, “What are you saying? How could that be true? She would’ve told me.” Jesse dropped his books onto the pavement, looking lost in a sea of celebrating high school students.
“I know,” Chloe responded, “She told me that if she told you, she wouldn’t have been able to get on that flight.” She watched the way his faced dropped, how the light in his eyes seemed to dim.
“I have to say goodbye,” Jesse stated, his hands already digging through his jacket pocket to find his car keys. He was not letting her get away, not this time.
…..
Chloe had never seen Jesse like this. His eyes were focused so intensely on the road that they didn’t even make small talk on the drive there; a silence fell over the two of them. Chloe knew that Beca needed to go to London, where she would be able to do what she loved. Beca, before leaving, had briefly talked about her plans what she got there, how her parents had finally said yes, and how Luke had found them an apartment. Everything felt so set in stone that Chloe didn’t even question anything.
They had to say goodbye one last time before she left, even if she wasn’t going to stay. Jesse only ever spoke to ask Chloe for directions for the airport, her fingers gliding over the keys on her phone before locating the way on Google Maps. If Chloe had remembered correctly, Beca had said her flight left around 4:30 and right now it was 4 on the dot. Good thing there was an airport right in Atlanta. The only problem was it was all the way down towards the southern border of the city and the traffic at this time of day was terrible.
By 4:10 they got there, rushing out of the car and down the parking garage. It was almost like a switch had turned on in Jesse’s brain as he focused on their mission. With only a phone in hand, Jesse had ran all the way to the JetBlue desk with Chloe trailing not too far behind.
“My friend is leaving on the 4:30 flight to London and I need to see her before it leaves,” Jesse pleaded to the worker, hoping that he could just rush through security and make it to Beca in the 8 minutes he had left.
It was a good thing the worker seemed to understand Jesse’s problem, giving him and Chloe passes and ushering security to follow them. The two, out of breath high schoolers didn’t seem like a big threat to the security of the airport, but Jesse was just glad they were able to get in.
Running up and down the halls, making erratic turns left and right, Jesse stopped at Gate 6A which read 4:30 flight to London International Airport. He stopped for a second, bending over with his hands on his knees as his breath slowed down. With only 2 minutes before boarding started, and already many of the people were waiting on the line to enter the plane, Jesse and Chloe had made it (along with the security guards that were trailed along behind them).
He saw a petite girl with long, chestnut brown hair pulled into a braid, wearing jeans and a long sleeve cardigan, headphones placed on top of her head and a small, carry on bag by her side. Her back was turned towards him as she was the next one on line.
“Beca!” He yelled, trying to get her attention, “Beca, wait. You can’t leave.” Jesse pushed past all the other passengers in the line, not caring that he didn’t have a ticket. He just needed to say goodbye to her, to tell her how he felt. She was his best friend, the person that would suffer through his constant talks about movies. She was the one that made him laugh hard enough that his stomach hurt for days. Beca was the girl that was everything to him when he were younger and now she was back to steal his heart once again. She was his princess, the girl that he dreamed about all those years ago but never fully realized it was her.
There she was, just about to hand her ticket over to the attendant. He pulled his arms around her, “Beca, you can’t go. I lov…” He was cut off when the girl turned on her heel, tensing up at his touch. She look at him questionably, her eyebrows raised.
“Who’s Beca,” the girl asked before walking off inside the gate. Jesse stared in astonishment, apologizing to the girl but also scanning his mind as where Beca might be. Looking up, he saw, a Southwest Airlines pin on the woman collecting the tickets. How could he have been so stupid? Jesse took Chloe by the hand and started to dash again towards the sign that read JetBlue. Sure enough, at Gate 9C was another flight heading off to London. Jesse glanced quickly at the sign to make sure he was in the right place. The flight was already boarding so he had to be quick.
He scanned the area left and right, looking for his Beca. She wasn’t seated and she wasn’t on the line. Where could she have gone? The gate seemed new. The pathway to get to the airplane was full of glass panels so you were able to see the passengers as they boarded the plane. Right in front of the line into the plane was Beca, he could tell it was her when she turned slightly.
He was too late, he couldn’t get past into the gate without a ticket and she was too far away to hear his desperate calls. She laughed softly as Luke took her bag and let her walk inside the plane before him. Before getting on himself, Luke looked back at the building, his eyes widening once he saw Jesse and Chloe. His mouth hung open for a second before his face turned still, his eyes diverting from Jesse’s while his lip curled and his face hardened.
Jesse was shocked at Luke’s response, but he knew one thing for sure, he had to get to London.
A/N: So this is the last chapter of this fic. Thank you all for reading. There will be a sequel hopefully soon and I'd love for you to check it out.