"How come you're not drowning your sorrows, Bree?" Chloe asks, brandishing her bottle of beer in front of her friend. It's their second year as Bellas and they just came third in Regionals, so their victory booze to celebrate going to Nationals has quickly been rebranded.
"I need to be up at 5," Aubrey says, looking mournfully across the room at their glorious leader. "I have to do an extra twenty-five laps for missing that note in the second verse."
Chloe frowns, her head just on the edge of foggy. "Fuck that," she decides, enjoying the way Aubrey's eyes snap right to hers. "You think Alice is gonna be up at 5 tomorrow watching you do laps?" She gestures blindly behind her. "She's already onto vodka and you know she can't handle her liquor."
"Still, I better do them anyway," Aubrey's eyes drop to the floor, her nose wrinkling as she pushes something that used to be food out of the way with her toe.
Chloe's heart aches. Literally. Something in her chest starts to hurt as she listens to Aubrey speak and watches her body almost fold in on itself as she internally chastises herself for every flaw, real and imagined. Chloe shakes her head, and comes to a decision; she's going to tell Aubrey how she feels about her. She's going to show Aubrey that there are people who think she's amazing just the way she is.
Gently, she takes hold of Aubrey's arm and pulls her away from the wall. They make their way through the roomful of Bellas who are drunk to varying degrees and out into the hallway.
Aubrey stops walking, pulling Chloe to a halt. She turns and finds confusion written all over Aubrey's face.
"Wh-where are we going?" she asks, glancing behind herself. "Alice is gonna be pissed if w-"
"Alice is always pissed," Chloe interrupts. "Alice wouldn't know what to do with herself if one day she suddenly discovered that she wasn't pissed. Maybe she'd just stop existing, I don't know." Her heart is beating fast and the alcohol buzzing in her system has made her babble, neither of these things are good for what she's planning to do. To buy herself some time, she takes Aubrey's hand, threading their fingers together, and starts walking again. Aubrey follows without protest, although Chloe knows she's still wondering what the hell is going on.
Once they're back in their own dorm room, Chloe gently pushes Aubrey down so that she's sitting on the edge of her bed. This leaves Chloe standing, which is awkward, so she gets onto her knees in front of Aubrey, which is super weird, so she settles for sitting next to her on the bed. The walk hasn't slowed her heart down at all, and now her breathing is funny. Aubrey's hand comes to rest on her thigh and she jumps at the contact.
"Chloe…are you okay?" Aubrey's voice is soft and she's looking at Chloe with such concern that everything inside her feels like it's melting. "Do you think someone spiked your drink, maybe?"
Okay, that's maybe not the best thing for Aubrey to be suspecting right now. Chloe shakes her head and covers Aubrey's hand where it still rests on her leg.
"I'm fine, Bree," she assures her. "I just wanted to talk to you. In private." Aubrey's eyes grow large and panicked and Chloe curses herself. She knows that Aubrey associates that kind of language with her father and his constant put-downs and impossible standards. "No, no, it's a good thing. I mean, at least, I hope you think it's a good thing. I think it's a very good thing and-"
"Chloe," Aubrey says, squeezing Chloe's leg. "Maybe you should just tell me what the thing is."
This is not off to the best start. Aubrey's using that placating voice that she sometimes uses when Chloe is drunk or crying or demonstrating any of the variety of emotions that Aubrey isn't sure how to deal with. But Chloe is determined to go through with this. She inhales, trying to ignore how shaky the breath is.
"Okay, firstly, I want you to understand that I am not drunk."
"Ummm, I think you're a little drunk," Aubrey counters.
"I have had a bottle and a half of beer," Chloe says, looking Aubrey straight in the eye. "I am nowhere near drunk. Okay?"
"Okay." She can't quite tell if Aubrey's just agreeing with her for an easy life, but she'll take it.
"Good. And thirdly, I-"
"Was there a secondly?"
"Secondly," Chloe narrows her eyes, playfully, enchanted as ever by Aubrey's attention to detail. "I am not doing this because Alice screamed at you in front of everyone earlier today and I feel sorry for you. Got it?"
Aubrey is starting to look very pale. "Chloe, I'm really worried about what you're going to s-"
"I like you, Aubrey," Chloe blurts out. Right away she feels lighter. She's not the type to bottle things up, and she's been carrying that around for way longer than she would like. It's not like she could talk about it with her best friend, and she'd rather cut out her tongue than tell any of the other Bellas.
The confusion on Aubrey's face has only deepened. "I…I like you too, Chloe," she says, hesitantly. "You're my best friend and-…oh." She stops, her face falling. "Is there a 'but' coming?"
Chloe's throat tightens as she watches a lifetime of being told that she wasn't good enough wash over Aubrey's face. She expects not to be good enough for Chloe. Chloe shakes her head and lifts a hand to cup Aubrey's jaw, the softness of her skin making her fingertips tingle.
"I like you, Aubrey, but not just as a best friend." Aubrey's eyes widen again, but this time it's not panic, and it gives Chloe the courage to keep talking. "I like like you. And normally when I like like someone, I kiss them to let them know. But I know you hate surprises and unplanned things and I didn't want to make you uncomfortable, so I wanted to ask your permission before I did anything like that."
"Oh." Aubrey's lips stay in a perfect 'o' shape after she breathes out her response and it takes every ounce of control Chloe has in her not to kiss her. Instead, she takes heart from the fact that Aubrey is still holding her hand, and hasn't pushed her away or recoiled in horror. In fact, Chloe is pretty sure she detects the beginning of a smile right at the edge of Aubrey's lips and at the sides of her eyes.
But before she can come to any conclusions about any of that, Aubrey's lips are pressed against her own.
Aubrey Posen is kissing her.
It's so much softer and warmer and comfortable than she ever imagined. Comfortable should not be a word associated with a first kiss, but it fits and it feels better than any fireworks or raw animal list could ever feel. She's kissing her best friend and it's the best feeling that she's ever had.
Aubrey ends the kiss way too soon and Chloe follows her as she pulls away, whimpering at the loss. But then Aubrey's hand is on her cheek, her thumb caressing Chloe's lower lip and that feels pretty damn amazing too.
"Did I surprise you?" Aubrey whispers.
"Uh, yeah," Chloe says, with a soft laugh.
"It means the world to me that you did this in a way that would make me comfortable," Aubrey continues. "That you would even know what would make me comfortable is…well, no-one's ever taken the time to-…to care before."
There it is again; that pain that stabs her heart whenever she thinks about how people have treated Aubrey. But this time, she can act on what she wants to do. With the slightest touch, she tips Aubrey's chin down and kisses her again; a brush of lips in some kind of attempt to kiss away all the hurt that Aubrey has endured.
They part more slowly this time, sharing short, soft kisses and touches until they are sitting in each other's arms, their foreheads pressed together and smiles on their faces.
"Just so you know," Aubrey begins. "I had planned to tell you how I felt soon. You just beat me to it."
"And by 'planned', I assume you mean there are actual written plans, right?" Chloe asks, laughing as Aubrey blushes and looks down. She takes Aubrey's chin between her thumb and forefinger, bringing her face back up and meeting her eyes with a smile, glad that Aubrey's smiling too.
"I had some…strategies," she admits, her lips puckering into a pout that Chloe can't help but drop a tiny kiss on. "But I think I showed tonight that I can improvise, right?"
"You really did," Chloe agrees. She grins. "This is way better than getting through to Nationals."
"This is way better than anything," Aubrey says, leaning in for another kiss and making Chloe's heart beat faster than it had all evening.
"Yeah," Chloe agrees, between kisses. "It's too bad you need to have an early night so you can get up and run laps for Alice."
Aubrey pulls back and Chloe's breath catches in her throat at how dark her eyes have gone. When Aubrey speaks, it's low and rough and the absolute best thing Chloe's ever heard her do with her voice.
"Fuck Alice."