A/N: For my dear Wins, who needed some fluff and asked for Gilmore Girls, jolly ranchers, and jellyfish called jellys.
It was summer break, graduation had just happened a mere four weeks prior and now Aubrey had settled in to planning her move for graduate school. However, she had a new factor to consider that hadn't been present a month ago. She had confessed her feelings to her best friend the night that they won the ICCA's and she had experienced the happiness of having her feelings reciprocated.
She smiled at the memory of their discussion in the hotel room that night. Chloe had been disappointed when she had seen Beca and Jesse finally kiss but she wasn't overly heartbroken. If she had really felt one hundred percent right about taking the chance, she would have done it by now but something always stopped her.
Aubrey was sitting on her hotel bed staring at the TV, too energized from their win to go to sleep immediately. Chloe was in the bathroom getting ready for bed. Her favorite episode of Gilmore Girls was on. Well, one of her favorites, because she knew them all by heart.
Lorelai had just confessed her feelings to Luke and they were getting back together again. She took a long deep breath and pondered her single status. It had been nearly a year since she had dated anyone, a fact that was pointed out to her regularly by her best friend, but she couldn't bring herself to find anyone interesting, because they weren't Chloe.
Watching Chloe hook up with other people and be infatuated with Beca had made a mark on her. It was frustrating and part of the reason she had been a bitch to Chloe all semester. She was glad she had apologized and that they were past that. What still remained was to tell her best friend that she was in love with her. She knew Chloe would be nice about it. She would be sweet and flattered but she would crush all Aubrey's hope by telling her that she didn't feel the same way. She was too blind to see or even dream that Chloe would love her back.
If she was going to say something this was the time because they were both free and unattached. She was sure that if she waited someone would come along to capture Chloe's fancy. It was inevitable with the bevy of admirers that seemed to follow her wherever she went.
Her breathing came quicker just thinking about taking that chance. "Now or never," she chanted under her breath as Chloe walked from the bathroom, clad in her pjs, a t-shirt and shorts, Her hair was wet from the shower, the waves weighted down and darker than they were dry.
Aubrey loved it when Chloe had just gotten out of the shower. Her shampoo smell, the warmth from the water radiating off of her, and she was the only person with who could make wet hair look that good.
Her best friend sat on the bed with her back facing Aubrey. "Are you even sleepy? I feel so energized after tonight that I can't even imagine going to bed."
Chloe's question flew right past her. The distraction of her impending confession kept her on a delayed reaction loop. Chloe turned when she hadn't answered and smiled. "You okay?"
"Yeah," Aubrey swallowed hard and leaned back against the headboard. She wasn't sure she could do this. Everything would change one way or another and going on as they were was safe. However, she would still get hurt eventually when Chloe found someone else. "Actually, I need to talk to you."
Chloe looked worried, "Anytime you say that to me, it's never anything good." She frowned and grabbed a sour apple jolly rancher off the bedside table. She always ate candy when she was nervous or tense.
It always amazed her the ways that other people coped with stress. "You just brushed your teeth," Aubrey said and shook her head at Chloe's candy addiction. "It's not bad. At least it's not bad to me. Well, I guess it being bad depends on your reaction."
The redhead's hand went to her chest. "What the heck. Just tell me what it is before I stuff five of these things in my mouth and die from choking on them when you tell me whatever horrible news you're going to tell me. " She hated when her friend did things like this she would make these really long prefaces and explanations without getting to the point so it took her five more minutes to figure out what she was talking about than was necessary. Nothing was ever simple with Aubrey.
"Okay, so... you know how Beca went out into the audience and kissed Jess tonight?" She waited to see Chloe nod before she continued. Debating if that was the wisest way to open her explanation was worthless at this point but she was doing it anyway. "I wanted to kiss someone too but I was afraid that they wouldn't kiss me back."
Chloe's face brightened. It had been a long time since Aubrey had shown any interest in someone but if she was ready to go there it meant that she really liked this person. "Oh my god, why didn't you tell me you had a crush on someone!" She smacked Aubrey's arm, excitedly. "Who is it? Who did you want to kiss?"
Aubrey drug the moment out, hoping that she had the courage to just say it. She absently rubbed the spot on her arm that Chloe had just hit. "It was you," she finally said and closed her eyes waiting for the fallout. She didn't want to see the pitying smile or hear the delicately phrased let down.
That wasn't what she got at all. Her eyes shot open when she felt warm lips on hers and then fluttered closed when she realize that she should probably kiss Chloe back. Before she was aware of the next thought that came from her mind she was on top of Chloe, their kisses having grown more passionate. She pulled back, worried that it might be a dream. Chloe's dreamy expression made her heart leap.
"You should have just done it," Chloe said. She had always wondered what could happen with them but Aubrey never gave her a sign that she had even thought about it so she never said anything. She just proudly wore the best friend mantle even when Aubrey was being irrational and angry towards her. She knew that they could fight it out and still be friends in the end because Aubrey had the best heart of anyone she knew and that meant she would always realize that she was being a jerk and make amends. She was the only person in the world that Chloe knew she could depend on and trust.
"I didn't want to put you on the spot in front of all those people, our friends... and I didn't want to get rejected in front of them either.
That's where you're silly, because I could never reject you." She pulled Aubrey down on top of her and sighed at the contact of their skin where it was exposed. "I've wanted to kiss you for three years."
Aubrey's jaw dropped but she closed it quickly. "Why didn't you say anything!" If she had known or if she had just said anything herself maybe all of this grief wouldn't have been necessary.
"Because I knew we weren't ready but I came close one time." She smiled a secret smile and remembered. "It was when we were on spring break in Florida and you stepped on that jellyfish. You were so mad and you cried after it stung you. I just held you on the beach until it went away and when you got quiet, I looked down. Your eyes were all red from crying and you were pouting. Your perfect lips, they were just there telling me to do it but then you said I hate jelliys and I laughed so hard it made you even more mad but I wanted to kiss you even more after."
It was Aubrey's turn to smile and remember how much she had loved that moment even though she was in pain. "You always take care of me," she said and leaned in for another brief kiss. "And that's just one reason that I love you."
Aubrey sighed and placed the last of her books in a box. The memory of that night was still fresh in her mind and she hated that someday due to time and age that it would fade. Just like everything else in life memories were finite. They had a life time and then they faded from the moors that held them. They had a lot of years to worry about that though because Chloe had just accepted Aubrey's invitation to move in with her and someday if the time was right she hoped that her string of good luck would continue when she asked her to be her wife. Probably after law school and medical school, though because Aubrey was practical like that.