#beca's out of her comfort zone whoop whoop

[wearebadcode]

Chapter V: II.II. 2015. The move (part II).

“Chapter summary: second part. This one follows Beca and Amy road-trip across the country, from Atlanta (GA) to Washington, DC -where they have to stay the night before hitting the road again to NY. Amy has a lot to say about Beca and Chloe's relationship during this trip...

Also on AO3.

(II). June 12th, 2015. The road-trip. Atlanta-Greensboro-DC

Atlanta.

6am, ET (Atlanta) - 3am, PT (Portland).

"Why is it 6am already? So sooooon" came Amy's sleepy voice when she heard the alarm went off.

"Ugh, I know, dude. It's too soon" came Beca's response in between yawns. "Okay, I'm gonna go take a quick shower since I'm the one who'll drive for the first 5 hours. Get ready, Ames".

"Ye... yeah. Let me know when you're ready so I could jump in the shower myself".

"Okay...".

The clock struck 6.30 am when the two women were finally ready. They left their attic room they've been sharing for the last three years and went straight downstairs towards the Bellas' kitchen.

"Coffee right away, Amy please. I need multiple shots of coffee right now" Beca demanded.

"Would you like me to fill a thermo for us to take away?".

"Pretty please".

"I happen to have a few syringes, too. In case you know..." Amy imitated the gesture as if she was injecting something into her veins trough some syringe.

"Wh... I don't wanna know why or how you managed to get those syringes, actually... Anyway. I say we grab some pastries, some bread or toast, two bottles of water and definitely coffee to take away and we hit the road. We're late already...".

"Start the car, then. I'll bring the cavalry" Amy proposed, so Beca exit the Bellas' house one last time to get to her car. Her gaze found the house she lived in for almost the entire time of her uni period and a sad smile appeared on her face. She, then, took her phone out of her pocket jeans and took a photo of what it will be her happiest and last memory of Barden.

"Look at this place... So sad already 😟 I'm gonna miss it here" Beca texted Chloe as she sent the picture she just took of the Bellas' house. "Anyway, it's 6.35 am here in Atlanta. We're about to hit the road. I'm gonna drive for 5 hours, aprox. We'll be stopping at some point in North Carolina to switch places with Amy, don't know where or when would that be. I'll let you know as soon as we decide something. Morning, btw 😊”.

"Start the car! Beca, start the caaaaaaaaaaaaaaar!!!! C'mooooon" Amy began shouting and running with several bags on her hands once she'd exit the Bellas' house.

"Dude, Amy. Why are you screaming? And why are you running? If Aubrey could see you right now..." Beca asked through the car's open copilot door.

"Nothing in particular... I've always wanted to say that as if we were on a movie, you know. Like we could've just robbed a bank and you'd be the getaway driver, so I figured why not" said Amy, looking directly at Beca, who was sat down in the pilot's car seat.

"What?" Beca furrowed her brown -she was always so confused by the Australian... "Why are you carrying so many bags? Have you left something in there?"

"Water, milk, some veggie food and... I think that's all. Look, Beca, no one's here at the moment and we're not ever getting back here, so..." Amy said, as she took the copilot seat.

"Fair enough, Ames..." Beca answered, as she closed her car side's door. "Safety first. Seat belt?"

"Check" Amy affirmed.

"Okay, then we're reaaadyyy. NY, we're coming for you!"

"Yeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah! Let's gooooo"

And the two women began their road-trip journey to NY. First stop: somewhere in North Carolina to continue to DC.

Atlanta-Greensboro.

Around 11am, ET (somewhere in North Carolina) - Around 8am, PT (Portland).

"Okay, Ames. I think we've almost completed half of the road-trip to DC. This little 'fella' here says we're about to arrive in Salis...bury?" Beca said, pointing at the car's GPS.

"Where is that?" asked Amy.

"North Carolina, apparently?"

"I don't even know where that is! Anyway, when do you wanna switch places?"

"I'm good for another hour, that would make my 5 hour-drive mark. You good to switch places in an hour? That way we both drive for 5 hours or so".

"Yeah, no problem. That means I'll get to change the music playlist? 'Cause I gotta say, this man right here has no rhythm at all" Amy agreed.

"What are you talking about? Johnny Cash is a country legend, dude! He's the fucking 'Man in black'! Perfect playlist to listen to while driving through the country roads! And he actually had a song titled 'Get rhythm', just so you know".

"Whateveeeeer".

"You literally have no idea! Anyway, grab the GPS and look where we can stop in less than an hour or so, wherever might that be" Beca asked, who was still driving and focused on the road ahead.

"On it. Let's see... Oh, god".

"Amy, what the fuck? I can't pay attention to you right now! I'm driving!"

"Sssshhhh, the GPS just slipped off my hands, but I'll find it".

"Dude, you're such a terrible road-trip buddy".

"Okay, I got the little bastard. Um... So we're around... which was the city we just left behind? Sals... something?"

"Salisbury, yeah".

"Riiiiight. Okay, so apparently we have a bunch of cities ahead before we get to the next state" Amy checked.

"Okay, then pick one of them before arriving there. Whichever you like the most".

"What about Greensboro? Sounds cool".

"Is that an hour or so apart from wherever we are now?"

"45 minutes according to this".

"That'll do. Greensboro it is".

Greensboro.

Around 12am, ET (Greensboro) - Around 9am, PT (Portland).

Beca and Amy just arrived in Greensboro. They looked for a right spot to stop the car at, took the coffee thermo Amy filled before leaving Atlanta with them, and the two women stepped out of the car to stretch their legs a little.

Beca took her phone and took a picture of the street she and Amy were at. 'I mean, it's not exactly NG quality material but it's something...' -Beca started typing on her phone. 'This is the looovely Greensboro we're at right now, North Carolina apparently. We stopped here to stretch our legs a little -we've been on the road for like 5 hours now and we still have another 4-5 hours ahead before we arrive in DC. Amy's gonna drive from now on. We leave in 10 minutes -12am o'clock. It's 9am in Portland... Shouldn't you get up of bed already? 🙄'

"Okay, so right now we're just 4 hours and a half away from DC, right? And we've been on the road for another 5 hours or so. So we're pretty okay on time" Beca pointed out after putting the phone back on her jeans back pocket. She, then, took a sip of coffee and handed the thermo back to Amy.

"So Chloe's habits finally rubbed off on you... You got this pretty under control".

"Yeah, since you're a disaster... Even I have to got things under control when you're around...".

"That's also right. I would've get lost before leaving Atlanta...".

"And that's why I have to take care of delicate things like this one, in case you're wondering".

"That's also so very Chloe of you..."

"Whatever, Amy..." Beca rolled her eyes. "Are you good to go?" the woman asked as she began walking rapidly towards where they parked the car, desperately looking for a way out of the conversation while giving her back to Amy -Beca wanting to avoid eye contact with the Australian, who the brunette felt she was about to come out with some sort of  'Bhloe' undeniable fact.

"Hey, send a letter when you get to the car. I have no intention to walk faster. You know my deal with cardio" Amy shouted.

"Yeah, you're pretty much allergic to it..." Beca whispered once she got to the car.

Amy get to the car a couple of minutes later, she sat down, closed the door, put the seat beat on and started the car.

"Let's burn this roaaads!" Amy encouraged.

"Eeeeeasy, Ames" Beca grinned. "Okay, let's go to DC".

Greensboro-DC.

Around 1pm, ET (Greensboro) - Around 10am, PT (Portland).

'Wake uuuuuuup, dude. Amy's playlist is literally a physical torture my ears wished they're deaf 😟' Beca typed on her phone and put the device down right beside the car's gear shift.

Beca slowly began to open her eyes, waking up after a while, just to found Amy grabbing and shaking her by her left shoulder. "Dude, what's up? Why do you do this stuff? Why are you like this?" Beca asked in a sleepy tone.

"Beca! Wake up!"

"Don't you see that I'm trying that already?! Jeez..." Beca said

"Your phone's getting crazy! It won't stop vibrating!"

"Oh... I hope it's not job related or I'm screwed..." Beca said as she unlocked the device screen.

"Are you fired?" Amy asked.

"... It's just Chloe".

"Since when do you guys text each other so feverishly?".

"What?" Beca asked, looking confused. "Amy, it's Chloe. We're always texting".

"Why did you skip the 'so feverishly' part?".

"Not relevant? I mean, I told her I will be texting her during the road-trip. No big deal".

"Ahaaaaa!".

"Aha what?" Beca rose her eyebrows.

"Don't you see where am I going with this?".

"Not a clue, honestly".

But Beca knew the moment Amy joked about Chloe's habits rubbing off on her when they were in Greensboro earlier, she was just trying to avoid the 'Bhloe' topic conversation.

"You and Chloe are always texting and you just made no big deal about it...".

"Yeah... 'cause it's not a big deal, Amy?".

"But you're always texting each other, you guys!".

"Only because we've always been texting each other! It's just how it is, I don't know dude".

"Doesn't that tell you something? You don't usually text me..."

"Amy, Chloe's my best friend! Of course I usually text her...".

"What? Am I not your best friend?!".

"Uh... I mean, you are one of my best friends. But with Chloe... I don't know, it's just different..."

"Ahaaaa! I caught you with your guard down..."

"Wh... I said nothing!" Beca protested.

"Oh, but you said enough... Now answer her, she seemed very anxious...".

That left Beca thinking about what just happened. Yeah, she and Chloe were always texting each other, 'cause they've always been. It was more than an habit, more than a thought -it'd always came as a natural thing for them to do, to act like this when they were around each other even if that was miles apart. They've always had this unspoken thing floating between them. And Beca started placing that 'thing' some weeks ago...

Since the Bellas spend that weekend at Aubrey's retreat as a preparation for Worlds. The look she shared with Chloe that final night by the campfire left her wondering if those feelings had always been there -only it was right there, in that very intimate moment, when she started identifying them as what they were: a crush, maybe? And yeah, she was pretty excited about the fact she will be sharing an actual home with Chloe, her best friend after all, in New York. That's why she was letting Chloe know all the details of this road-trip: she loved to share things with her, making the redhead part of her 'journey'. Whatever that 'journey' was.

"Bhloe will riiiiiiiseeeee" Amy sang softly.

"Amy! Enough of that!".

"Yeah, okay. But you do realize you haven't mention Jesse not one single time, right? You pretty much text Chloe as if she was your girlfriend instead..." Amy pushed.

'Shit' thought Beca.

"Do you always have to push things to the limit?" Beca sighed.

Amy shrugged and Beca chose the silence, only her brain was working a thousand revolutions per second. The brunette, then, rested her head by her car's side window and closed her eyes. She knew Amy had a point, and she knew her friend was right: she completely forgot about Jesse -being the man Beca's actual boyfriend. He lived miles apart, on the other side of the country now she'll be living in New York. With Chloe. Not with him, but with Chloe. Not with her boyfriend, but with her best friend -the person Beca happen to have a crush on. 'I'm so screwed' Beca thought to herself.

The brunette opened her eyes, at properly on the car's seat and unlocked her phone to read the messages Chloe had sent her a while ago.

'Oh my god, Bec, I'm so sorryyyy! I thought I left my phone plugged during the night, but I actually forgot to do that and the thing ran out of battery! 😭 So obviously the alarm didn't go off and I overslept 😴 sooo late...'.

'Anyway, I see the road-trip is going pretty good? Except for the wanting to be deaf part... That is complicated given you're stuck with Amy... what? 4 more hours or so? Don't woooorry, you'll liiiiive. Where are you guys now?' said the texts Chloe sent to Beca.

So Beca decided to reply. 'Yeah, you're definitely not helping by counting the time left... Maybe I'll live, but my ears? Listening to the Spice Girls in a loop for two hours? Yeah, good luck with that...'.

'Couldn't reply earlier. Felt asleep for an entire hour 😴 Don't know where we are exactly, but pretty sure it's already Virginia' Beca typed, recoiling a little.

"You really made my day, Amy... Congrats" Beca said sharply -sarcasm was Beca's ultimate weapon- and left the phone somewhere in the car.

"Shhhhh... You'll thank me one day" Amy reassured.

"Whatever. Any idea where we are?".

"Why are you asking me? You're the one who knows this country!".

"You're the one driving, Amy! You should know where we are any moment! 'Cause you know, the signs and all that... And this? Not happening anymore. I'm putting a stop to this" Beca said irritably, pointing to the CD entrance.

"What? No!"

"Amy, c'mon. The Spice Girls? On loop? Seriously, I can't take more crap today! I'm ejecting this right now" Beca said as she pressed the eject button. "Radio will do just fine".

"Hey, Beca, look! Road sign coming! What does it say, can you see it?".

"5 miles to Richmond, which means less than 2 hours to arrive in DC. Yay!".

"Yeeeeeessss!".

Meanwhile, a familiar melody came out of the radio. And as a few chords began to play...

"Oh yeeeeahhh! The boss came here to rooock!" screamed Amy.

"You know 'Thunder road'?" Beca asked, surprised.

"Of course! Who do you think I am?".

"Wait. Do you know Springsteen's music?".

"I mean who doesn't?!" Amy answered, Beca shook her head in approval as in 'fair enough'. Seconds later, the two women began singing at the top of their lungs.

"... as the radio plays / Roy Orbison's singing for the lonely" then the two women look each other and pointed their index fingers to one another, while they kept singing "Hey, that's me and I want you only / Don't turn me home again / I just can't face myself alone again / Don't run back inside / Darling you know just what I'm here for [...]".

By the time the song came near to its end, Beca and Amy lost themselves on the song's lyrics and melody. Beca turned the volume up and threw her arms trough the air while kept singing, Amy joined her. "Oh, oh take my hand / We're riding out tonight to case the promised land / Oh, oh thunder road. Oh thunder road, oh thunder road / Lying out there like a killing in the sun / Hey, I know it's late we can make it if we run / Oh, thunder road sit tight / Take hold, thunder road [...]".

"That was pretty awesome, huh. Cooling off the tension..." Amy said while chuckling as the song finished.

"I gotta admit it was, yeah" Beca was also chuckling. "Told you the radio would do just fine. Shame on you for listening The Spice Girls...".

"Whaaat? They're coool!".

"Yeah, cool as in '90's cool'. You're a bit late for that, Ames" Beca grinned, as she grabbed her phone once she found it.

She noticed she had a new message notification. It was Chloe's.

'Everything okay?' said the text. 'Shit. She noticed. How the hell she can always tell?' thought Beca. 'Cause yeah, Chloe noticed something went wrong with Beca the moment she stopped using personal pronouns, especially the ones who Beca was related to. And Chloe knew Beca would use this technique of hers whenever she felt emotionally troubled, 'cause if anything the redhead knew that was her best friend's ways of express herself. Chloe could easily identify whenever Beca was feeling okay, cloudy, moody, happy, sad, angry -any mood at all, really- through the brunette's way of typing. She knew her so well, after all.

That's why Chloe would never push Beca -she knew she needed time and space sometimes, to readjust, to found herself. And Beca knew that, she'd always felt so safe around Chloe. It was one of the qualities she appreciate it the most about Chloe. And the redhead also seemed to know Beca had always known that, too. That was also one of the reasons they understand each other so well: they were grateful to one another's sympathy. Fitting really well together.

'Yeah, just tired 😩 bonus: Amy was giving me such a headache. Sorry if I sounded so... me. You know how I can get sometimes' Beca texted Chloe back.

And Chloe, who seemed to be desperately waiting for Beca to answer, texted her immediately back.

Chloe: I know. You know you'll never have to worry about that 😊 everything okay now?

Beca did the same

Beca: I know, dude 😊 I'm always safe with you. Yeah, yeah, all good now. We did a sing-along 🎙️ haha

Chloe: haha 'Wannabe'?

Beca: dude, no way! Turns out Amy has a decent musical culture after all... We sang 'Thunder road'

Chloe: ooh! The boss is awes, isn't he?

Beca: definitely. Oh and by the way, we passed Richmond about ten minutes ago. We're a little closer to DC 🎉

Chloe: that's greeaat! 🎉

Beca: yeah. Maybe we'll get there in an hour or so... 🤞🏻

Chloe: at least you're not listening to The Spice Girls anymore?

Beca: thank god. This radio station saved my life, honestly. The music they're playing is like a perfect classic rock playlist 🖤

Chloe: sound very Beca... Hey, I'm gonna go packing now. Gotta travel tomorrow... 🙄 I'll text you later? x

Beca: I'm gonna have to sue you for excessive use of my buddy here 🙄 okay, go pack haha talk later!

Beca and Amy kept passing road signs and county roads. Cars kept passing by and the radio kept giving them memorable and classic rock songs such as 'Come as you are', 'Dream on', 'Stop crying your heart out', 'Reptilia', 'Don't stop me now', 'Supermassive black hole', 'Hurts so good', 'More than a feeling', 'Lyin' eyes', 'No one like you', 'Black hole sun', 'Fix you', 'Stairway to heaven', 'Hush', 'Back in black'', 'Light my fire' or 'The passenger'.

DC was now 20 miles away when...

"Dude, no way!" Beca screamed while smiling broadly and immediately reaching for her phone.

"What's up?" Amy asked, confused.

"Do you remember the concert Chloe and I attended back when we were still at Barden? In 2013?".

"The one I accidentally kept your ticket?".

"The very same, yeah...".

"How could I forget?" Amy joked, proudly.

"This guy's singing is that guy!".

'Hey, Chlo. You won't believe what just happened. Have I mentioned how much I love this radio station we tuned in yet? Anyway, the music they play was beyond awesome, but then they played 'Get better'! 🖤 🖤 🖤

Chloe's response came a minutes later. 'What?! 'Get better' as in Frank's newest single? ❤️'.

So Beca replied. 'Yeahyeahyeah!'.

And they started texting each other once again.

Chloe: aweeeeeees!!! I miss him 😭

Beca: me toooooo 😭 and listening to Frank without you... Not cool, dude.

Chloe: agreed. Shouldn't he have said anything about the new album by now?

Beca: that's riiight 😯 maybe soon?

Chloe: pleeeeease 😭 I'm done packing, by the way 🤛🏻

Beca: and we're like 15 miles away from DC 🤜🏻 I swear god I'll jump on the bed as soon as we get some motel room to crush on for the night

Chloe: and you'll fall asleep as soon as your head touch the pillow bed 😴

Beca: positive 😴 oh, shit! My phone's the one dying now. 15% of battery and going down... I don't think it'll make it to DC, but I'll plug it in once we've settled. Don't miss me too much until then 😛

Chloe: I'll try to live... 😛 x

DC.

Beca and Amy arrive in DC around 5pm, being settled half an hour later.

"KO" sighed Amy as soon she and Beca entered the motel room they will be staying the night at.

"Ugh, completely trashed" followed Beca, who began walking towards one of the single individual beds the motel room had. "I think I'm sleepwalking" she sighed.

"I'm gonna go to sleep like now" Amy said.

"Yeah, I'm following you".

"Night, road-tripping buddy".

"Night, Ames".

They both switched off the bulb lamps and lay down in their respective beds. Amy began snoring, Beca grabbed her phone while laying.

'We finally made it! Laying in bed already, I'm completely trashed 😴 I'm gonna go to sleep now. See you tomorrow at JFK, Chlo! Night! 😊' texted Chloe.

'We'll meet there at 2pm! See you tomorrow, Bec! 😊 x' Chloe’s text would say back.