Disclaimer: Characters, songs and people you recognize do not belong to me. The title comes from the song by Florence + the Machine by the same name.
A/N: So all I want to do is write stories based around "Pitch Perfect" and I don't really know why I should stop. This story is for sendricamp, who first gave me the prompt. I hope you like it!
"The Dog Days Are Over"
Let's get one thing straight. Aubrey Posen doesn't do yard sales. I mean seriously, who actually does that sort of stuff? Going through other people's things, furniture and books and CDs and clothes that they used and laid on and read and wore. It's just not Aubrey's style and that's not just her upbringing talking. She feels like that should be everybody's motto. But clearly there are plenty of people out there who get their kicks out of going from yard sale to yard sale, going through people's things and trying to talk down the price of a really nice dresser. Unfortunately Chloe is one of those people. Aubrey considers it her girlfriendly duty to accompany Chloe whenever she gets on these kicks, which are thankfully infrequent.
They'd been on their way to the Dogwood Festival at Piedmont Park, which Chloe had insisted they walk to since parking was going to be atrocious and happened to pass a row of cute little houses with huge porches and residents who had all decided that now was the perfect time to off load some of their shit. So now Aubrey is trying to look interested as she looks through a box of old paperbacks while Chloe is off looking at God knows what. Aubrey's trying to decide the nicest way to say no, Chloe, you don't need to bring other people's junk into your apartment.
Chloe practically tackles her out of excitement for whatever it is that she's discovered. "Bree, you'll never guess what I found!" She grabs the blonde's hand and tugs her around the side of the house to the backyard, which is full of more shit.
What Chloe has found is an old record player, which Aubrey does have to admit is better than some of the stuff she could have stumbled on. The contraption is dust free and looks like it's pretty well taken care of; there's a crate of records resting beside the table holding the player and a sign that encourages browsers to try it out.
"How cool is this?" Chloe questions, grinning at Aubrey. "An old-fashioned record player."
"Yeah, it's pretty neat." Aubrey hedges. She likes music as much as the next person, especially if it's music from a Broadway show or all girl band, but she's not the type to get a lot of joy or use out of an old record player. "Does it even still work?"
Chloe takes out one of the records and gently sets it on the turntable before carefully putting the needle in place. The record starts to spin and gives a little hiss of static before the opening cords of "Come Together" start playing. Chloe claps her hands together and rocks back on the balls of her feet.
Aubrey looks at the record as it spins. "Do you really need a record player though, Chlo?" She's trying to be the voice of reason here, before Chloe lugs this thing back to her apartment and five months later is using it as a table.
"Well, no." Chloe says. "But you don't always have to get things you need. You don't have to be so practical." She points out.
But practical is pretty much Aubrey's middle name. "Well, what about the festival? And we didn't drive, so how are you going to get this home?"
"I'll buy it now and then come back for it on the way home." Chloe says after giving herself a moment to consider. "It can't be that heavy. Plus I bet my super amazing girlfriend will help me carry it."
Chloe gives Aubrey those puppy dog eyes she can't resist and the blonde lets out a sigh. "Fine. I'm not your mother, it's not like you have to ask me for permission."
Chloe stops the record and slides it back into the sleeve. "I'm going to get a few of these too. You know, to start my collection. We can go to that cute little record store in Little Five!" She tells Aubrey, still grinning widely.
She goes off to talk to whoever is trying to off-load the record player and comes back a few minutes later and gives Aubrey a thumbs-up. "We can come back for it when we leave the festival." Chloe slips her hand into Aubrey's. "Ready?"
Aubrey nods. "Ready when you are."
The festival is fun, with its endless rows of craft booths and food stands and a few tents here and there selling beer or giving away water bottles. Aubrey is more of the handmade craft type person, though she is more reluctant than Chloe to actually buy anything that she sees. But she still enjoys looking at the various crafts and marveling at how talented some people are; she might have a knack for using cute stuff to decorate her place but she definitely can't make it. There are people and children everywhere, though (ironically) the only dogs allowed are the ones that jump around and catch Frisbees while somersaulting through the air and Aubrey and Chloe watch the talented canines while they eat frozen lemonades under the shade of a giant tree to give their feet a rest. Even though they tried to get to the festival early, the humidity is still nearly unbearable and by early afternoon Aubrey is sweaty, dusty and exhausted. The fact that Chloe is leaning against her every time they stop at another booth is a pretty good indicator that she's feeling drained as well.
"Ready?" Aubrey gives the red-head a smile and pushes a few strands of hair away from her sweaty cheeks. "You look tired."
"I am." Chloe gives her a slightly pouty look. "I'm really regretting not driving."
What she regrets even more is the fact that they have to go back to the yard sale and pick up the record player. Chloe refuses to reconsider and leave the player behind for someone else to buy and even though she really just wants to get home as fast as possible, Aubrey agrees to help Chloe cart the record player back to her apartment. At least Chloe's place is closer than Aubrey's, otherwise Aubrey would try and convince Chloe just to leave it behind.
When they finally get back to Chloe's apartment, the redhead puts the record player on the coffee table and then walks into her bedroom and flops face first down on the bed. Aubrey smirks at her from the doorway and rolls her eyes when Chloe twists around to face her. "Let's take a nap."
"It's the middle of the day." Aubrey points out. She's never been a fan of wasting an entire day away by lounging around; even when she's sick, she tries to be a productive as possible. There's always something that can be taken care of.
Chloe gives her the puppy dog eyes again. "It's Saturday. It's okay to relax." She pats the mattress beside her. "Come cuddle with me."
Aubrey hesitates. "I'm all sweaty." She gestures to her rumpled clothes and frizzy hair.
"So am I." Chloe points out. "You worry too much, Bree." Once again with the sad puppy dog eyes.
Rather than risk upsetting Chloe, Aubrey kicks off her shoes and climbs into bed beside her girlfriend. Chloe lets out a sigh of contentment as she slips her arms around Aubrey's waist and rests her forehead against the spot between Aubrey's shoulder blades. It's one of her favorite positions to sleep in and she finds herself steadily lulled to sleep by the rhythm of Aubrey's breathing. Even Aubrey finds it difficult to continue to fight off the feelings of exhaustion; the heat of the spring day, coupled with the comforting heat of Chloe curled around her are definitely putting the blonde in a stupor. Right before she drifts off, Aubrey thinks that maybe mid-afternoon naps aren't quite so bad after all.
That evening they decide to order takeout and open a bottle of wine instead of going out so that they can shower and stay in pajamas. Even though Aubrey still has her own place, she has enough stuff at Chloe's to ensure that she'll never be without something she needs. Half of Chloe's things are in Aubrey's closet, so she feels like it's a fair trade off. Aubrey can't remember the last night that they didn't spend together in the year and a half long course of their relationship and she's starting to consider Chloe's apartment as much of a home as she does her own place, even if it is nice to know that she still has her own space if she ever needs it.
Chloe puts her new record player on a little side table by the TV that has so far only been used as a home to her tenacious cactus. Aubrey's secretly relieved that there's at least one plant in this world that can survive living with someone who often forgets to water it.
"I can't wait to get more records." Chloe says as she puts on a vinyl of Bon Iver's self-titled album. She turns the volume down so that the music is pleasant background noise.
"I didn't even know you were into that sort of stuff." Aubrey remarks, sitting down on the couch with a glass of wine in her hand. As much as she loves having a night out on the town, Aubrey's pretty sure she loves these evenings in more.
Chloe shrugs as she comes to sit down beside Aubrey. "I've always loved music." She points out. "And who wouldn't want a record player? They make everything sound awesome."
"It sounds the same to me." Aubrey points out with a smile.
"No, it totally sounds better." Chloe says with a little smile of her own. "It sounds more real."
Aubrey kisses the top of Chloe's head. "If you say so babe."
Chloe snuggles against her and even though Aubrey feels like it's still way too hot to be this close, she'd rather deal with it than push Chloe away. "We should go to yard sales more often." Chloe remarks. "I bet we could find all kinds of cool stuff."
"Sure, Chlo." Aubrey agrees, even though the idea of having to politely look through people's junk couldn't be any less appealing.
Unfortunately this doesn't escape Chloe's attention. "You don't sound very enthusiastic." She remarks, lifting her head so that she can study her girlfriend's face.
Aubrey shrugs. "If that's what you want to do, we can definitely do that." She assures her.
"What do you want to do?" Chloe questions and Aubrey doesn't miss the tiniest hint of exasperation in her tone.
"No, that sounds fun." Aubrey assures her. She can't help but think of one of her father's earliest life lessons: if you don't have a worthwhile idea then keep your mouth shut.
Chloe doesn't look convinced, but the sound of the delivery guy wanting to be buzzed into the complex effectively ends the conversation before it can really begin. And honestly, Chloe doesn't put much thought into it in the weeks that follow because they get caught up in doing other stuff and she and Aubrey both get busy with work and as spring stretches into summer it starts to become too hot for outdoor activities before eight PM anyway.
The dog days of summer are in full swing as their official two year anniversary approaches. There's always been a bit of discrepancy about how to mark the beginning of their relationship, seeing as their comfortable and effortless friendship seemed to naturally just transition into something more the summer after graduation. Aubrey's argument that four years of the occasional drunken make-out session didn't constitute as a relationship eventually won out and Chloe was forced to consent to marking their anniversary as the day that Aubrey first used the word girlfriend. Chloe had been pretty much calling her that for years but she'd learned long before that moment to let Aubrey work at her own pace, as frustrating as that could be sometimes, seeing as she's not the most patient person.
Honestly, Chloe knows this is a weakness of hers. She's always been the type of person who didn't see the point in slowing down; it wasn't just her hair color that earned her the nickname 'firecracker.' Over the years, Chloe feels like she's gotten less insufferable when she has to wait on something, but it's still not her strong suit. But she tries, she really does and dating Aubrey has definitely helped in some aspects. But definitely not all of them.
So over breakfast on their official two year anniversary, Chloe suggests, "We should move in together."
Aubrey tries to keep her face expressionless; she's had a lot of practice with this thanks to life with her father. Her heart has started jumping in her chest. There's a part of her that's screaming yes, yes, now! but there's also a little voice whispering too soon, way too soon.
"Your lease is up in two months and I'm month to month anyway." Chloe points out, oblivious to the thoughts running through Aubrey's head. "I think it just makes sense. I mean we're together every night away, it's stupid to have to figure out who's place we're going to stay at and all that."
Aubrey has to admit that Chloe has a point. They are together every night anyway and sometimes trying to figure out who's place to stay at is unnecessarily frustrating. And it's not like they've never lived together before; they were roommates for three years in college. But there's still that annoying little voice that is reminding Aubrey that things are always different when you're living with the person you're dating.
"Well…" Aubrey starts pushing around the fruit on her plate. "Don't you think it's a little soon?"
The excitement on Chloe's face disappears. "Too soon? No. We've been together for two years. And we've known each other for longer than that. How much time do you need?"
Aubrey purses her lips, tapping the tines of her fork against her plate. "It's just a big commitment. And I sort of like having my own space and I know you do too…"
Chloe arches an eyebrow. "A commitment?" She repeats. "It's not like we just met or started dating or something. Aubrey, you've been my best friend for years. We've been dating for two years. That says commitment to me."
Aubrey can tell that her reaction is not exactly what Chloe was anticipating. And of course it's not. Who expects their significant other to shoot down a suggestion to move in together? "I'm not saying that we're not committed." Aubrey assures Chloe. "I'm just not sure that we should get a place together. I mean, what's the rush?" She gives Chloe a smile that she doesn't feel, mostly because she really hates the look that she sees on Chloe's face right now. When Chloe's happy, her whole body shows it, especially her eyes; the same goes for when she's upset.
"Forget it." Chloe mumbles, picking up her fork and then setting it back down again. "It's not a big deal." She pushes her chair back and stands up, heading for the bedroom. They're at Aubrey's, but she still feels like the bedroom is hers to storm off to. If they had their own place, then it really would be.
Aubrey sighs and gets up as well, following Chloe down the hall and to the bedroom. Chloe has gotten back into bed, pulling the covers around herself in spite of the heat.
"Chlo, don't be upset." Aubrey says softly, keeping a smile in place so that she doesn't show the worry she feels inside. She hates fighting with Chloe; their senior year at Barden taught her what would happen if she continuously grappled for control and tried to force others into believing that she was always right. One of the first things she learned from her father was to talk louder than the other guy. Feeling Chloe pull away from that stern and controlling Aubrey was one of the worst sensations of her entire life. Aubrey knows that she shouldn't let that control her actions, but she's desperate to ensure that that never happens again.
"I'm not upset." Chloe mutters from underneath the blankets. "Just disappointed. I mean, I thought my girlfriend would jump at the idea that we move in together."
Aubrey slips into bed behind Chloe but she doesn't reach for her on the off chance that Chloe might pull away. "We still see each other all the time." Aubrey points out. "We don't have to live together to do that."
Chloe turns so that they're face to face. "But don't you want a place that can be ours?" She questions. "A home we can make together?"
Aubrey doesn't answer right away, mostly because of that annoying little voice in her head that says I want a place that can be mine. But she wants Chloe in that place too and unfortunately it seems like those two realities aren't going to continue to mesh.
"I guess we could start looking." Aubrey relents after another moment of silence. "Just to see what our options might be."
Chloe grins widely, almost as though the past few minutes hadn't happened at all. "Bree, think of how much better it'll be not to have to drive back and forth. We'll just come home." She slips her arm around Aubrey's hip. "It'll be amazing." She moves closer to the blonde. "I think you're pretty amazing."
"I think you're just a sap." Aubrey says with a smile. There's nothing in her tone that suggests that she minds this quality in her girlfriend. "I love you Chlo."
Chloe kisses the curve of Aubrey's jaw and smiles. "I love you too." Her lips find Aubrey's. "We should just stay in bed all day."
And so they do.
Chloe begins looking through the apartment listings in the local paper and on the Internet and Aubrey attentively looks at the places that the redhead shows her and makes thoughtful noises but doesn't make an effort to look for a place herself. She's still not entirely convinced that moving in together is the right thing to do and it seems that the universe agrees because Chloe has yet to find a place that they're both sold on. And while Aubrey can admit that she might be dragging her heels a little, she figures that if the right space shows up, she'll change her tune.
One evening after work, Aubrey leaves the office and heads towards Chloe's apartment. She's tired and all she wants is to put on a pair of sweatpants and open a bottle of wine and listen as Chloe talks about her day. Chloe teaches music at the local elementary school and it's like the job was made just for her; Aubrey has no doubt that all of Chloe's students love her, because, honestly, how could you not? Chloe's stories of tone-deaf grade school kids always make up for Aubrey's shitty days.
When she's still two blocks away from Chloe's place, Aubrey makes the mistake of answering her phone without checking the caller ID first. Gone are the days when she answers every call with a brisk and professional "Aubrey Posen." Once she's out of the office, she figures that a simple hello will do. Unfortunately, this is just the first in a long list of problems that her father quickly brings to her attention.
Aubrey tries to avoid phone conversations with her father whenever possible. They usually don't see each other more than twice a year, at Christmas and Thanksgiving and Aubrey can't remember the last time that she spent a birthday with her parents and older brother or celebrated any other holiday with them that didn't require familial presence. She got her law degree on her father's recommendation and got her job at a respectable law firm because of his connections and, unfortunately, Marc Posen likes to call her up occasionally just to remind her of how much she owes him and to remind her of all her failings. Aubrey loves her older brother (even though affection for ones family members was not a requirement in the Posen household) but Brad has really screwed her over by getting engaged to his long-term girlfriend.
Marc is preparing to launch into his why can't you find a man who will put up with you diatribe as Aubrey unlocks Chloe's door and steps into the apartment. Chloe insisted on making dinner because her mother e-mailed her a few of Grandma Beale's recipes and the apartment smells heavenly. Chloe gives her girlfriend a big grin but her greeting freezes in her throat when she sees the expression on Aubrey's face. She knows by now what that look means.
"Yes, you're right, sir." Aubrey says on auto-pilot as she goes into the bedroom to change. "Yes, I know that the older I get the harder it will be to find someone to settle down with. Yes sir, I know I'm not getting any younger. Well, I'm sorry to hear that Robert's son is getting a divorce. Next Tuesday? No, I'm busy. No, sir, not with work. Yes, sir, you're right, I should have a stricter work ethic. No, I didn't know that Robert's son was the CEO of his company."
Chloe listens to all of this from the bedroom door, a frown on her face. This isn't the first time that she's had to listen to Aubrey deflect her father's attempts to set her up with some eligible bachelor. It doesn't bother her that Aubrey hasn't been honest with her family about their relationship; she doesn't need the Posens approval and it's enough to know that Aubrey doesn't either. But that doesn't mean that she enjoys listening to Aubrey's father insinuate that the reason she's not married yet is because she can't find anyone to put up with her. It doesn't exactly do wonders for Aubrey's self-esteem.
Aubrey finally manages to get off the phone with her father and tosses the device onto the nightstand. "That's why I should never forget to check the Caller ID." She mutters. "At least when it's a voicemail I can just delete him."
"More grief because of Brad's wedding?" Chloe guesses.
"Of course." Aubrey puts her hair up into a tight ponytail. "My dad thinks that I should do everything exactly like Brad. 'Brad got into medical school, Aubrey. Brad graduated at the top of his class, Aubrey. Brad bought a house, Aubrey. Brad's getting married, Aubrey, where's your ring?'" She mimics her father's stern tone perfectly because of years and years of hearing it. She rolls her eyes. "I wonder what he'd say if I told him that I found someone who will put up with me and happened to add 'oh yeah, by the way, it's a woman.'"
Chloe arches an eyebrow. "I'd like to say that he'd support you no matter what but I think we both know that's not the case." She says with a hint of regret in her tone. Her parents couldn't have cared less when she'd told them that she and Aubrey were dating. They'd always loved Aubrey and Chloe'd had the suspicion that they were grateful that she'd found someone to keep her in line and on track. She'd always had a knack for dating the bad boy types before Aubrey.
Aubrey sits down on the edge of the bed. "It doesn't exactly match his mental picture of the perfect daughter."
Chloe comes to sit down beside her. "You don't have to be his perfect daughter, Aubrey." She says softly, taking her girlfriend's hand. They've had this conversation time and time again, but she has the feeling that they'll continue to have it for quite some time. "I think you're perfect."
Aubrey stares at her hand entwined with Chloe's but doesn't say anything. She can't help but think that it's a lot of pressure to try and be perfect, not just for her dad but for Chloe as well. No one looks at her or makes her feel the way that Chloe does and she can't help but worry about the day that Chloe looks a little too closely and sees that she's not so perfect after all.
"Bree, what are you thinking?" Chloe questions, tucking a strand of Aubrey's hair behind her ear.
Aubrey looks up and forces a smile onto her face. "Nothing." She assures the girl, leaning in to give her a quick kiss. "Dinner smells delicious."
Chloe's not stupid. She knows a subject change when she hears one. But she also knows that it'll cause a fight if she tries to press Aubrey for details or insist that she's keeping things to herself. And she's really not in the mood to fight right now.
"It's almost ready." Chloe says instead, following along with Aubrey's change of topic. She slips her free hand around Aubrey's neck and pulls her in for another kiss. "I love you Bree." She says against her lips. "To me, you are perfect." She doesn't normally quote lines from movies but she can't pass this one up.
Aubrey smiles and rolls her eyes. "Cheese-ball." But that hasn't bothered her yet, so why start now?
It's Friday and as much as Chloe loves her kids and loves her job, she really loves the weekend too. Everyone needs a break, right? Plus Aubrey doesn't have to work either and they can spend all day together if they want, doing whatever they want. Maybe Chloe still has that old high-school mentality, but she thinks that weekends are pretty much the greatest thing ever.
Another great thing about Fridays is the fact that Aubrey sometimes leaves the office early and is waiting at Chloe's apartment by the time she walks in the door. Aubrey's also one of those types of people that seem to love to clean when relaxing would be just as nice and coming home to a tidy apartment definitely doesn't bother Chloe.
"Bree, I found the most perfect place." Chloe says without preamble as she tosses her bag and keys onto the dining room table and pulls out the page she printed off the Internet. "It's perfect. Seriously, just look at these pictures."
It's been nearly three months since Chloe first suggested they move in together and they've yet to actually look at a single place. Chloe hasn't let that fact, or the fact that Aubrey has been less than interested, discourage her because she'd figured that she'd eventually find the most perfect place that even Aubrey couldn't say no too. And she's pretty sure she's finally found the right apartment.
Aubrey takes the flyer from Chloe and unfolds it as the redhead kicks off her shoes and heads into the living room. She thumbs through her records as she continues to talk, unable to contain her enthusiasm. "I called the complex on my break and they said that we're welcome to come by any time this weekend and check it out." She takes out the album she's looking for and slides the vinyl out. "Doesn't it just look perfect? And we can move in right away, we just have to put down the deposit. There's two bedrooms, so we could make one into like a study area I think. You could work on cases in there and we can finally, officially share a closet and we won't have to drive back and forth all the time. I can't wait. We should go first thing tomorrow before anyone else tries to move in. Can you believe it? We're finally going to move in together."
Throughout Chloe's monologue, Aubrey remains silent, studying the pictures of the apartment that Chloe printed out. There's nothing wrong with the space. It looks plenty big and she loves the windows and the arched ceiling and the kitchen looks spacious and the appliances look new. It all looks fine. But she can't help but freeze up at the idea of actually moving into this space, of having to take some of her things and some of Chloe's and make a place that is their own. What will happen to her furniture that they don't need? Those are her things, in her place. Trying to bring her apartment together with Chloe's suddenly seems so overwhelming.
"Let's not get ahead of ourselves." Aubrey says, looking over at Chloe. "We haven't even see the place."
"I can already tell it's perfect." Chloe assures her. "It's perfect for us."
Now does not seem like the time to say but I'm still not sure we should move in just yet. But now is better than waiting until they're moving their stuff in. "Chloe, we should talk about this." She says, watching the redhead fiddle with the record player. "Can you focus, please?"
Chloe puts the needle on the record and gives Aubrey a slightly offended look. "I can do more than one thing at once."
"I just really think we should talk about this." Aubrey says, holding up the flyer. "Can you turn off the music?"
"Aubrey-"
"I really hate this song." Aubrey continues once she realizes what's playing. It's a song by The Middle East and it never fails to make her cry, though she tries to avoid listening to it at all costs. She has no idea why Chloe loves it so much. "It's so depressing."
Chloe glances down at the record player. "It's not. I think it's nice."
Aubrey crosses the living room and switches off the record player before Chloe is even fully aware that she's moved. "Can we just turn it off. Christ."
Chloe's eyes go wide. "Wow. What the hell is wrong with you?" In retrospect, that's probably not the best thing to say.
"What's wrong with me?" Aubrey repeats and it's around that time that Chloe realizes that she maybe she should phrased her question a little more tactfully. "All of this!" She holds up the flyer. "This is too much! I'm not ready to move in together, it feels too sudden! I like the way that things are now, why do we need to change that?"
Chloe's face because of a picture of shock. "You don't want to move in together? Why the hell have you been letting me talk about it for the past few months and keep looking at places?"
"You get all upset when I try and tell you the truth!" Aubrey points out and Chloe starts to protest, crossing her arms over her chest. "You're doing it right now! Everything has to be exactly the way that you want it."
"That is not true!" Chloe snaps back.
Aubrey rolls her eyes. "Yes, it does. I feel like it's been pretty obvious that I was unhappy about the idea of moving in together but you never noticed because I had agreed to do what you wanted. That was enough for you. You don't care as long as you're getting what you want."
Chloe's anger quickly snaps into an expression of hurt. "How can you say that? Of course I care about you. I want you to be happy."
"You want me to be happy with what you want!" Aubrey counters, feeling like she's unable to stop herself and turn on that rational part of her brain that is trying to tell her that there's a better way to handle this. "You put just as much pressure on me as my father does."
Chloe arches her eyebrows. "Don't you dare compare me to your father. That is bullshit Aubrey." She snaps. "How am I supposed to know that you're so fucking unhappy when you won't talk to me? I practically have to force you to open up to me about anything, so don't make this my fault."
"That's not what I'm trying to do." Aubrey rolls her eyes.
"I mean, I'm not a mind reader." Chloe continues. "You think it's easy to be with someone who never tells you what she's really feeling? Because it's not like you're always the easiest person to put up with."
Aubrey feels her anger drain out of her in that single second and she stares at Chloe; the hurt she feels right now is almost physical, it makes her want to curl up in a ball on the floor. She can't help but think about her father's words and how maybe he's been right all along. "Oh." She says simply. "I'm sorry."
Aubrey turns away from Chloe and walks toward the kitchen table, where she set her purse and keys down when she walked in the door. "No, wait, Bree." Chloe reaches for her hand but Aubrey pulls away without turning around. "That's not what I meant."
"I'm just going to go." Aubrey tells her simply, opening the door and leaving the apartment without a backward glance.
Chloe yanks open the door and sticks her head into the hallway but Aubrey has already disappeared. She slams the door shut again but it doesn't make her feel any better. She kicks at one of the chairs around the kitchen table in hopes that that'll help but she still feels like shit. Chloe has no idea how things got so out of hand so quickly; she hadn't even been aware that they were fighting until she'd started yelling back at Aubrey. She'd been so surprised by Aubrey's confession that she didn't want to move in together and honestly, Aubrey could have said something a long time ago. Aubrey isn't the only one in this situation who has the right to be upset. She just found out that her girlfriend didn't want to move in with her after all, after months of making it seem like that was what she wanted too. Though Chloe can't help but think that maybe Aubrey was right; she'd never seemed as excited as Chloe had wanted her to but she hadn't cared because they were going to be moving in together.
Ugh, no. Chloe has every right to be upset here. She's not the bad guy. They both just need a little space to cool off and then Aubrey will realize that she overreacted and things can go back to normal. But Chloe can't help but wonder if maybe Aubrey didn't overreact and that she should be the one apologizing. She can try to convince herself that she's in the right here, but she can't help but wonder if maybe that's not the case.
Chloe turns the record player back on, mostly out of spite even though Aubrey is no longer around but instead of relaxing the song just sounds incredibly depressing. As Jordan Ireland sings and there's nothing we can do about it now she puts her head down and starts to cry. Because she really hopes that's not the case.
Aubrey tries every trick in her book to get herself to relax and take her mind off her fight with Chloe but nothing works. It seems that it's harder to distract herself from a fight with her girlfriend than it is to take her mind off being yelled at by her father. Not even a bubble bath and a glass of wine do the trick. As she lays alone in her queen-sized bed, staring up at the ceiling and trying to fall asleep, Aubrey wonders if all of this -her own bed, her own kitchen, her own closet, her own couch- is really worth not having Chloe here with her. It doesn't feel like a sanctuary, it just feels lonely.
Aubrey has long since giving up on actually falling asleep when she first hears the tapping against her window. Her apartment is on the third floor, so she's never been bothered by the outside noise or had to worry about leaving her window open in the spring. At first she chalks it up to her imagination or maybe a nearby tree branch rustling in the wind but when the sound persists and she remembers that there aren't any trees near her window, Aubrey pushes off the covers and pulls open the blinds. She can see a figure standing below her window and Aubrey unlocks the window and pushes it open, leaning out slightly and squinting against the darkness.
"Oh Juliet!" Chloe calls from three stories down. "You gonna let me in?"
Aubrey rolls her eyes and hurries over to the buzzer by the door, unlocking the door to the complex so Chloe can get in. Chloe lets herself into the apartment without bothering to knock and Aubrey arches an eyebrow. "You could have called."
Chloe shrugs. "I liked this idea better."
"I'm not sure my neighbors will feel the same." Aubrey remarks.
"It's a Friday night, they'll get over it." Chloe assures her. "I didn't wake you up did I?"
Aubrey frowns and shakes her head. "No. I couldn't sleep." She admits.
"Neither could I." Chloe takes a step closer to Aubrey. "We need to talk." She says frankly.
Aubrey nods even though she feels a hint of dread creeping over her. This is moment she's been dreading ever since Chloe came bursting into her life years ago: the moment when she'd finally realize that Aubrey just wasn't worth it.
"I'm sorry about earlier. You're right, I knew that you weren't one hundred percent behind the idea of getting a place together but I didn't care because it was what I wanted. If you want to take things slow, I can do that too." Chloe says and it takes Aubrey a second to realize that she's not being given a break-up speech. "But what I'm most sorry about is what I said. I love you Aubrey. I don't feel like I have to put up with you or any of that crap that your father is always saying. I hate myself for ever making you feel that way. I love you, I have no idea what I'd do without you."
Aubrey feels tears prick her eyes and she gives Chloe a weak smile. "I love you too. More than you'll ever know."
Chloe reaches for her hands. "Then you have to talk to me, Bree." She says, giving Aubrey's hands a squeeze. "You can't keep all of this to yourself. We need to talk to each other. I'm not like your dad; you're not going to push me away just because we don't have the same opinion."
Aubrey nods, looking down at her hands. "I know. You're right. I just…sometimes I worry that if I'm not exactly like the person you want-"
"That's crazy talk." Chloe interrupts. "I love you because you're you, not because you always do what I want. That's not going to change because we disagree about something. Okay?"
Aubrey nods and puts her arms around Chloe, closing her eyes as she feels Chloe's hands slip around her. "Okay." She says softly. "I'm sorry."
"Me too." Chloe feels like she can start breathing again, like that weight in her chest is finally gone and she can think straight. "So you think I can bunk over? My apartment is awfully lonely without you."
Aubrey smirks and kisses the crown of Chloe's head. "I think I can work with that."
And six months later, when they finally do decide to move in together, it's Aubrey who broaches the subject and Chloe who finds a place even more perfect than the last.
End