Chloe took a minute to look at the picture she had just removed from the mantle. The smiles of the two women were so bright and happy. Just one stupid mistake and those smiles were now gone. Replaced with looks of regret and disappointment, hurt and anguish. Chloe wiped away a tear as she placed the picture in the box. She carefully went through the living room, packing stuff in boxes as she went.
Beca walked in with more boxes and gave Chloe a sad smile. "I thought you might need these."
"Thanks," Chloe said and sat down on the chair. She put her head in her hands. "This can't be the end, Beca," Chloe said, wiping away a tear.
"It has to be," Beca said sadly. "There's no going back from this."
"I can't," Chloe sniffles. "I can't believe it. It was supposed to be forever."
"I guess forever is a lot to ask for, sometimes," Beca said.
Chloe stood up and took some boxes and went into the small office off the kitchen. This room was going to take some time since almost everything in it was going. She started with the desk and just started filling boxes.
Beca was in the bedroom and taking everything from the left side of the dresser sitting against the back wall. It had several items on top that she left untouched, saving them for the woman who be would staying behind to sort through. She then went to the closet and just piled everything from one half of the closet into the boxes. She was thinking she should be a little more careful with the clothes, but frankly didn't care.
"Beca," Chloe called from the office.
"Yeah?," Beca called out in response.
"Could you come here please?," Chloe asked.
Beca took a moment and inhaled a deep breath before letting it out. She knew Chloe was feeling very emotional and hoped that she hadn't found something else that was going to make her cry again.
"Coming," she called out and slowly made her way to Chloe.
"I don't know what to do about these," Chloe said holding up more pictures.
Beca looked at them and just said, "Leave them."
"Are you sure?," Chloe asked.
"Yeah," Beca said. "Just leave them."
Chloe nodded and put the pictures back where she had removed them. "Are there any more boxes? I still have to pack up the bookcase."
"Yeah," Beca said. "I'll bring them to you. Then I'll stack the packed boxes by the door."
Beca brought Chloe more boxes and then started collecting the ones that were already packed and stacked them by the door. The movers would be coming for them the next day.
A few minutes later Chloe was sliding a box along the floor to add to the pile. "Sorry," Chloe said. "It's full of books and I couldn't lift it."
"It's okay," Beca said with a smile. "I don't want you hurting yourself."
Chloe just nodded and more tears came to her eyes. Beca knew she was hurting but she really didn't know what to do to make it better.
"I just can't believe," Chloe started and stopped, voice thick with emotion. "Cheating? Really? And with Jesse."
"I know," Beca said looking down. "It surprised the hell out of me, too."
"I thought he was your best friend?," Chloe asked looking at Beca.
"He is," Beca said. "This was a total surprise to me, too."
They both stood there not knowing what to say. Before either could say another word, there was a knock on the door. The two women looked at each other wondering who it could be. Beca was closest so she opened the door to find Jesse standing there.
"You really shouldn't be here right now," Beca said before Jesse could say a word.
"Who is it, Beca?," Chloe said coming up behind Beca. "You! You son of a bitch! What the hell are you doing here?"
Beca grabbed Chloe before she could physically assault Jesse. "Haven't you done enough?," Chloe yelled at him."
"I had to see her," Jesse said. "I know I screwed up, but I couldn't help it. I really love her."
"It's not right!," Chloe said. "She was so happy until you showed up."
"She wasn't happy!," Jesse yelled. "If she was she wouldn't have been with me. She came to me willingly."
"Jesse, you need to leave," Beca said, still holding a struggling Chloe. "Aubrey's not here. We're actually packing up her stuff because Stacie kicked her out."
"Do you know where she is?," Jesse asked.
"No," Beca said.
"I wouldn't tell you if I did," Chloe told him coldly.
"I get it, okay?," Jesse said. "I know this is messed up. We honestly didn't start this as anything other than being friends." Jesse cleared his throat, his emotions getting the best of him. "It was just, when I started working at her firm she was the only person I knew. She showed me the ropes and we would have lunch together. Then it just became something more. I found myself falling in love with her. You don't know how surprised I was when she started to have feelings for me, too."
Chloe had lost the will to struggle against Beca and turned into her, wrapping her arms around Beca. Beca put her arms around Chloe and held her, whispering comforting words in her ear. She knew how hard this was on Chloe having always looked up to Aubrey.
"I don't care how it happened," Beca said. "It's just, Stacie is one of our best friends and we are doing our best to be here for her. In case Aubrey didn't tell you, Stacie's pregnant. They had been trying for a while and she just found out a few days ago. I think you should go because Stacie is due home any minute. We don't want any more stress put on her for the sake of the baby's well-being."
"I'm sorry," Jesse said. He took one last look at Beca and saw nothing but pity and disappointment in her eyes. "I'm really sorry," he said once more and turned and walked away.
Beca pushed the door closed and stood there holding Chloe as she cried softly into Beca's shoulder. Beca wasn't sure if it was tears of anger at Jesse, tears of disappointment at Aubrey, or tears for Stacie and her unborn child. Knowing Chloe and her big heart, it was for all of the above.
Don't hate/kill me. Just a little something I'd been playing around with in my head and, since I had some time on my hands, I decided to write it down.