Aca-scuse me?

Chloe neither froze up nor pulled away this time. In fact, she simply took comfort in Aubrey’s hand resting against her arm, it was something she hadn’t really realized she’d needed. She still didn’t agree, still didn’t believe that she’d hidden anything from herself, but the past didn’t matter anymore. What did matter was the fact that, even if she’d told Beca everything was going to be okay between them, Chloe was, quite frankly, scared. And perhaps that was where her emotions were coming from.

“Everything’s just weird,” she choked out defeatedly, shoulders slumping. “I was really sad when Jesse moved here, and I felt selfish for being so sad…” She wanted to say more, wanted to blurt everything out about the club, and about the next day, but Beca had trusted her with a secret, and that wasn’t Chloe’s secret to tell. So, she instead cut herself off with a sad sounding sniff, hand resting over the top of Aubrey’s as she brought her watery gaze toward hers. “I just don’t want to be any of the reason they broke up. And I don’t want things to change with Beca.”

Aubrey rubbed Chloe’s arm with thumb affectionately, swallowing the lump in her own throat as she tried to keep a level head. She hated that Chloe was feeling like this, hated that she’d been holding onto this for so long. 

Aubrey gave Chloe’s arm a gentle squeeze as her hand rested on hers as she frowned again but kept the concerned smile on her face, “You can’t help the way you feel Chlo, it’s okay.” Aubrey didn’t need Chloe to say anymore. She’d seen how close they’d gotten at Output and it didn’t take a genius to figure out that things had probably been said that may have set these events in motion. And even though Aubrey knew that Chloe was probably part of the reason that Beca had broken up with Jesse, it wasn’t what Chloe needed to hear right now.

“None of this is your fault Chloe. Beca is a big girl, she can make her own decisions about her life.” Aubrey smiled warmly as her eyes met Chloe’s, “And as for things changing with Beca? I don’t see that happening. That little weirdo would be lost without you.” Aubrey chuckled softly, “And even if it does, that’s part of life. It sucks but it is. No matter what happens though, you will always have me. I’m always going to be here for you. Whatever it is that you’re feeling, I’m here to talk about it, and I promise you there is nothing wrong with you feel. It’s human Chlo.”

“And I’m telling you that you haven’t seen what you think you’ve seen,” Chloe pressed with a note of exasperation. “You don’t think I would’ve told you if I was hiding these deep feelings for someone who couldn’t return them? I would’ve told you because I would’ve needed you.” Her arms tightened where they rested around her middle, fingertips disappearing beneath the long sleeves of her sweater and clutching for comfort at the loose fabric. She didn’t really know why her eyes had begun to sting, but Chloe really did wear her heart on her sleeve, and she wasn’t one to hold back her emotions—she didn’t really have the capacity for that.

“I need you now, because now there’s something and I don’t know what to do with it, but it’s really new and I need you to believe me,” Chloe urged in a choked up voice. She trailed off defeatedly, rising volume evening out into a quieter, more helpless tone. “I don’t know what to do.”

Aubrey frowned deeper still as she watched Chloe’s body language. This had been the last thing that she had wanted when she’d started this conversation, she hated seeing Chloe so visibly upset and hated even more that she’d done this.

“Chloe...” Aubrey’s tone was gentle as she went to put her hand on Chloe’s arm, “I don’t think you hid it from me for a minute, I think you hid it from yourself. But that’s not important right now, what is important is that you know that I am always here for you. I believe this is totally new to you right now, I really do.”

“I was recruiting for the Bellas. We needed her,” Chloe shot back with an open scowl, something she didn’t wear very often, but this particular topic was conflicting for her. Maybe recently things had started happening between her and Beca, their drunken confessions being the perfect example, but it hadn’t always been this way… had it? “I haven’t,” she shook her head quickly. “Beca has a boyfriend— had a boyfriend. I’m not stupid, Bree. My feelings for Beca were always just friend feelings. Maybe there’s something more now, but it wasn’t always like that.” Admitting so aloud, the fact that there was maybe ‘something more’ should’ve been scary, but it wasn’t. If anything, it was just…confusing.

Although her hand stiffened beneath Aubrey’s, Chloe didn’t immediately pull it away. She simply glanced down to Aubrey’s hand, then brought her confused gaze back up to her face. “They were happy,” she said in a cold, shaky tone. They had to have been happy at some point; Beca had to have been happy, Chloe couldn’t cope with the idea that she wasn’t. Perhaps that was why a lump had begun to form in her throat. “We don’t get to speak on that, Aubrey. Just like you don’t get to tell me how I feel.” Her voice cracked then, hand slipping away from Aubrey’s to instead wrap her arms protectively across her middle. “I don’t even know how I feel.”

Aubrey’s smile of comfort turned to a frown of concern when she saw Chloe scowl. It seemed so out of place for the usually bright and perpetually upbeat redhead that she loved and it made her heart ache to think that she was at least partly responsible for it. Hearing Chloe admit out loud that there was more to her feelings for Beca should have been a triumphant moment but it wasn’t, not in the context of the conversation they were currently having, not when Chloe wouldn’t admit that there had always been something more. Aubrey didn’t care if Chloe didn’t admit it to her; she knew what the truth was, but if she wouldn’t even admit it to herself Chloe would never be able to move forward from here.

Aubrey’s frown only deepened when she felt Chloe’s hand stiffen and noted the cold tone in her voice, “I’m not saying they weren’t happy, of course they were at one point. I’m not trying to speak for them Chloe, I’m really not, I’m just telling you what I’ve seen.” She sighed softly again as she looked at Chloe, heartbreaking a little as her hand slipped from under hers, wanting nothing more than to wrap her arms around Chloe as her voice cracked.

“Well, I won’t tell her if you don’t,” Chloe joked, though she knew there was something lacking in her own tone, something not quite as light as usual. She really was just on edge, she couldn’t help it; when Chloe Beale thought or felt something, it was difficult for her to keep it hidden. That was just the kind of person she was, especially around someone who knew her as well as Aubrey did.

It was instinct for her to want to offer Aubrey a drink, but as she floated toward the kitchen table, Chloe couldn’t help but follow, especially given Aubrey’s perplexing statement. “About all of what?” she asked, shuffling into the opposite seat, and watching Aubrey with a tilted head. Her words caused Chloe’s brows to lift. “How I feel about her?” she echoed, this time shooting Aubrey an incredulous look. “I love Beca. She’s my best friend, just like you’re my best friend. That doesn’t…” Chloe shook her head, words coming out more defensively than intended. “I don’t know what you think you know, Bree, but you don’t. You don’t know anything.”

There it was. The urge to smack Chloe upside the head. But it was soon replaced by a surge of concern at the defensiveness of Chloe’s tone. Aubrey’s brow furrowed as she sighed softly; she knew Chloe was in denial about her feelings for Beca, she just didn’t realise it still ran this deep. Especially not after everything that had happened recently.

“Chlo... you and I both know that it’s more than just best friends. I mean you never barged into my shower!” Aubrey joked weakly, a soft reassuring smile on her face as she studied Chloe’s face, trying to alleviate some of the attention that she could feel building.

“I do know Chloe. I know that you’ve been denying how you feel about Beca for years because she was with Jesse. And now she’s not, and I can’t imagine how complicated your feelings must be at this moment. Because this has been, and I won’t say this to Beca because she doesn’t need to hear it, a long time coming. Jesse’s fine, he obviously cared about her, but Beca was never truly happy with him.” Aubrey tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear as she reached for Chloe’s hand.

Following Beca and Jesse’s breakup, Chloe didn’t fully understand why Aubrey was checking up on her of all people. If anyone needed a shoulder right now, it was definitely Beca (or Jesse… but he had his own friends), but Chloe also wasn’t going to turn Aubrey away. She was, however, incredibly confused by their brief text conversation, especially the part about how ‘this Beca stuff’ had been hard on her, so Chloe was feeling perhaps a little unfairly defensive as she awaited Aubrey’s arrival.

There was also the fact that she was worried about Beca, but she also was not trying to overcrowd her. She figured she probably needed some space, and Chloe would be there for her once she returned home. For now, she simply kept herself occupied with playing with the kittens, only setting them back in their makeshift bed when Aubrey’s text came through, then pulled herself up from her spot on the bed to pad toward the door.

“I told you, you never need to knock,” Chloe chuckled softly as her gaze landed on her best friend, offering her a small greeting smile. She took a quick step back to give Aubrey the room to enter, before closing the door gently behind her. “Should I be worried about this conversation?” she asked with a slightly arched brow. Aubrey’s texts has been kind of vague, but Chloe had a feeling there was more to come.

Aubrey grinned as she rolled her eyes at Chloe a little, stepping into the apartment, “And I told you that my mother would kill me if she ever found out that I walked into someone’s house without knocking.” 

Chloe’s soft chuckle had put her at ease a little as Aubrey turned to her friend with a soft smile. She wanted Chloe to be as relaxed as possible for this conversation because she hadn’t come here to upset her or start a confrontation of some kind. She just wanted Chloe to have an outlet for the emotions she was undoubtedly feeling with the recent turn of events. 

Aubrey sighed softly as she set her phone down for a moment, scraping her hair into a messy ponytail and grabbing her keys before summoning an Uber. Beca breaking up with Jesse had come out of the blue, but it was hardly a shock to the former captain. After the events at Output the other night, Aubrey had thought (and rather guiltily, hoped) it would be the straw that finally broke the camels back and force both of them to confront the way they felt.

Heading for the elevator, Aubrey mentally prepared herself for what would undoubtedly be a difficult conversation. Chloe was her best friend in the whole world, the sister she had never had, but sometimes she wanted to smack her upside the head. Especially when it came to her feelings for Beca. She’d been patient for years about this (and she’d continue to be because that’s what Chloe needed from her) but she knew Chloe better than the redhead would care to admit and with what would have undoubtedly have been a very emotional breakup between Jesse and Beca, Aubrey knew Chloe was going to need someone that she could talk to about the way she was feeling about all of this.

CHLOE: yeah, we can do that

CHLOE: i'm waiting for beca and i need to stay with the kittens, so can you come here??

AUBREY: I can come over, no problem

CHLOE: no, it's not that. i don't think it's that anyway

CHLOE: i hope it's not that

[...]

CHLOE: i think maybe it's a little me, but it's not all me

[...]

CHLOE: what beca stuff has been hard on me?

AUBREY: Maybe it's better we have this conversation in person? Do you want to come over here or is it easier for me to come over there??

AUBREY: Okay, you can absolutely tell me to keep my nose out, but does Beca breaking up with Jesse have anything to do with what happened at Output?

AUBREY: Because I saw you both on the dance floor... and that lap dance

↳ INSTA: @THE-ACA-DICTATOR UPLOADED A PHOTO

CHLOE: i can. i just kind of get bored of being subtle sometimes, it's easier to just be straightforward

CHLOE: i'm sorry! it's really cute though 🥺 plus stacie is as good at subtle as i am, you know she totes meant something by that

CHLOE: for tomorrow? or specifically for /that/??

AUBREY: I always enjoy it more when you're direct 😂 it's what got Beca to audition for the Bellas after all

AUBREY: 😳 yeahhh, subtle is not a word I'd use to describe Stacie Conrad 😂

CHLOE: i do

CHLOE: i can be subtle! sometimes you just have to jump in there though, you know??

CHLOE: a cute shade of red though! like a sweet little aca-tomato 🍅

CHLOE: plus now you get to help stacie with her body paint

CHLOE: in the "hard to reach places" 😏

AUBREY: You can be very subtle when you need to be, I'm just teasing 😘

AUBREY: OMG SHUT UP YOU'RE MAKING ME BLUSH MORE

CHLOE: you weren't going to do it!!

CHLOE: i mean, i think so

CHLOE: but i'm also told i'm really not the most subtle. i don't really know what that means, but i've heard it a lot

AUBREY: I- okay you have a point...

AUBREY: You?? Not subtle?? Never... 😂😘

[...]

CHLOE: it's not like it has to mean anything to anybody who doesn't know what's going on though, right??

CHLOE: hold on

[...]

CHLOE: there. you're welcome 😘

AUBREY: You know what they're like, they'll blow it wayyy out of proportion 😅

AUBREY: CHLOE??? WHAT'RE YOU DOING???

AUBREY: I'M SCREAMING I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU DID THAT

AUBREY: ... thank you

[...]

CHLOE: no you totes should

CHLOE: maybe she wants you to, what if it was a hint 👀

AUBREY: I can't just volunteer in the gc!!! The Bellas will never let me hear the end of it!!!

AUBREY: Is it bad that I want to volunteer to help with her body paint?

AUBREY: Because I really really want to...

STACIE: Aw, don't cry! 🥺

STACIE: Because we're both morons, obviously. 😅 Friday sounds great!

STACIE: But just FYI, I like you in your uniform. 😏😏 You could come in a potato sack and still look amazing.

AUBREY: I can't help it, I'm so happy right now... 🥺💖

AUBREY: I'd love to argue with you on that point, but the evidence does point that way... 😅 great! There's this great French place in Manhattan, it's quiet and intimate but not super fancy if you wanted to try that?