A/N: So this is a new pairing for me, but I love these two together and it just makes sense. Part of my love for Chaubrey has come from this website and the writing for this pairing is top-notch, so hopefully this doesn't suck. This is a two-shot story and this is part one.

Title is from the song by Foreigner and inspiration is from my ripped apart heart courtesy of Ingrid Michaelson and the below lyrics. Enjoy!

Eyes on the prize and I can't capsize this time,
'Cause there's somebody else in my boat.
Used to live alone in a tomb I made my own,
But now I've gone and given up my coat.

And it's cold outside but I'm just fine.
You are mine to keep warm.

Keep Warm- Ingrid Michaelson

Part One: The First Time

Aubrey was two weeks away from turning twenty years old the first time that it happened. She had been prone to anxiety her whole life, a product of her overbearing father and her terrible nerves, and the vomiting was nothing that was new to her. Doing it in front of her friends was though and as the rest of the Bellas looked at her in shock and gagged as she lost the contents of her stomach on the floor of their rehearsal space, her face burned and she wished that she could sink through the floor. She thought that she had control of this and that she would be okay, but her nerves had won out and as Alice berated her for missing her note in Turn The Beat Around…she had just lost control.

They were just about to walk over as a group to the Sigma Beta Theta house to perform at their annual mixer and the idea of performing in front of these strangers for the first time had sent her over the edge. She had been on the debate team in high school and pitched for the baseball team, but she couldn't consider any of those girls in her private school to be her friends and nothing like this had ever happened before. She had debated against a rival high school in front of a crowded auditorium, with her father perched in the front row, and didn't break a sweat. She had pitched five perfect innings in the state championship game without faltering for a moment. This though, this was painfully different and it had knocked her off of her feet and made her head spin. Somehow, these girls had become her friends and she just wanted to be at her best for them and that was all it took to destroy any semblance of control that she had over her stomach and to knock her out of their performance.

She was on her knees and wiping her lips with the back of her hand as Alice stared at her in disgust. While Alice was only a junior, she was a fierce leader and would do anything for the Bellas. She could be a nice person to be around when they weren't singing or dancing or preparing for a competition, but now was not one of those times and Aubrey could barely look at her as Alice glared down at her.

Alice tapped her heel against the concrete floor and waited for Aubrey to look up at her before she started to speak. Aubrey met her eyes for a moment and Alice just shook her head as she tried to come up with something to say to the girl. Something like this had never happened at a Bellas' rehearsal before and for the first time in her life, Alice was actually at a loss for words.

It didn't last for long though and Alice wiped the smirk off of her face as she spat out "Get off of the floor, Posen. You're embarrassing yourself and the Bellas by acting like this. Take your scarf off too. You're not singing with us today."

Aubrey pulled herself up slowly as she stared at Alice incredulously. She had been preparing for this for weeks and to have it just ripped away over one moment of weakness…she could not handle that. Her stomach turned again and she didn't dare open her mouth as she slipped the scarf from around her neck and placed it into Alice's outstretched hand. Alice threw it into her bag and turned away from Aubrey, motioning for the other girls to follow her through the double doors and outside so they could carpool over to the frat house. Aubrey just watched them as they walked away and fought the tears from falling from her eyes. This couldn't be happening to her. She had finally found a group of people that cared about her and that she seemed to fit in with and it was over now. She had blown it, as usual.

The tears were warm as they slipped from her eyes and as she picked up her purse and walked through the emergency exit of the building to get some air, the sobs were quivering in her chest and she had to fight her legs to move forward. All she wanted to do was collapse on the floor and cry her eyes out, but she was a Posen and that was unacceptable. Anything emotional had always been off limits and her face burned as a whimper escaped her lips and she slid to the ground, sitting on the back steps of the building and resting her arms on her knees as she buried her face in her hands and cried.

She didn't expect what happened a moment later when warm hands were suddenly on her shoulders and a body lowered itself onto the concrete step next to her. She didn't have to look up to know who was there and the tears only slid faster down her face as the smell of strawberry bubble gum and floral body spray invaded her nose and made her anxiety disappear. It was unmistakable and after a year of being roommates and best friends, she would know that combination anywhere. It was sickly sweet and intoxicating and enough to calm her nerves and back her away from the edge.

A moment later, she heard rattling coming from next to her and soon found a small metal tin thrust in front of her. She wrinkled her nose as she looked down at it and Chloe softly said "Want a mint? Your mouth must taste awful and I always carry a bunch with me. It's kind of a necessity when Alice is constantly telling you that your breath reeks. Last week was fish and this morning it smelt like peanut butter. I don't even eat that stuff, so she must be crazy. Or high. Here, have a couple."

Aubrey slid a few from the tin and popped them into her mouth, slowly chewing as the minty flavor exploded over her lips and took the sick taste away. After a few quiet moments, she sniffled as she wiped her cheeks off with the collar of her crisp dress shirt and softly mumbled "Chlo, what are you doing here? You should be with the other girls and not stuck here with me. If you go now you could probably catch up with them."

Chloe chuckled as she found Aubrey's words completely ridiculous and swiped some of the damp hair away from Aubrey's cheeks. Aubrey looked away from her friend and bit her lip as the tears desperately wanted to slip from her eyes. Chloe's hands were soft and gentle as she pulled the hair off of her slick cheeks and slipped her hair out of the tight bun she had placed it into before heading off for rehearsals. Her blonde locks cascaded over her shoulders and Chloe ran a hand through it as she smoothed them down and tried to straighten out a few unruly pieces.

"I don't care about them." Chloe crooned as Aubrey seemed to relax with the touch of her hand. "You're my best friend and I couldn't leave you here by yourself. Don't listen to her, Bree. Alice is an idiot and you would have been great at SBTs today. Next year will be better, I promise."

"I just wanted to be normal, you know?" Aubrey lamented as she swiped away at a lingering tear in her eye. With a heavy sigh, she softly admitted "I didn't want to be the girl that I was in high school and I thought that if I kept it under control, you guys would like me. I'm terrible at making friends and even worse at keeping them and I made a fool of myself today. I'm surprised that you're even sticking around."

"Hey, you know me and you know that I'm not like the rest of them. I love you and this isn't a big deal. I've seen worse at frat parties and this…it was just a tiny thing." Chloe trailed off as Aubrey looked away from her and glanced down at the pavement below them. Chloe smiled sadly for a moment, knowing that Aubrey would never believe a word that she was saying, before the lie easily spilt from her lips. "They'll all forget about it once the weekend is over. You'll be okay."

Aubrey swiped the lingering tears from her eyes and said "No, I won't. I've always been like this and I don't know how to change. I don't want to be the person that blows under pressure and I just want to be happy. All I do is stress out about everything and college is supposed to be fun. Today wasn't though and I really wanted to perform with you guys and sing. Alice is never going to give me a solo now because she won't trust me not to screw it up." As she looked down at her hands and wrung them together, a single tear spilt from her eyes and her face burnt with embarrassment as she softly lamented "I screw everything up."

"Bree, you're not missing out on anything. We were just going to sing for a bunch of drunk frat guys and it's kind of stupid when you think about it. We get dressed up and torture ourselves to sing for a bunch of guys that don't pay attention to anything but our boobs." Chloe laughed as the sheer ridiculousness of their Bellas obligations settled in. "I'm glad to be here with you and not ogled by Terry, the quarterback, or Jeff, that guy that tried to pick you up at the diner last weekend. It's not a big deal and anyway, you're like the best singer in the Bellas and Alice would be stupid to not give you another shot at a solo."

"Save it, Chloe! I'm tired to embarrassing myself." Chloe looked away from her, closing her eyes for a moment as Aubrey seethed and choked back a sob. "Do you know what it's like to lose it in front of everyone like that? It's awful and I hated every minute of it. So, as much as I like hearing your platitudes, save them for someone that actually believes what you're saying. You won't find that here."

Chloe just shook her head and whispered "This isn't you, Aubrey, and you're not going to get me to leave by yelling at me. It takes a little more than that to get rid of a Beale. In case you haven't noticed, we're a clingy bunch."

Aubrey allowed herself to laugh at Chloe's statement and Chloe poked her in her cheek as a smile grew on her face. Aubrey's body seemed to settle at Chloe's words and Chloe just grinned and lilted "See, I told you that this wasn't so bad. You were wrong about not knowing what it's like to be embarrassed. I don't do this for many people, but I'm going to give you a flashback into the secret childhood files of Chloe Beale. Are you ready?"

"Do I really have a choice?" Aubrey retorted with a smirk growing on her lips. "Go ahead; impress me with your story. How could it be any worse than projectile vomiting all over the auditorium?"

"You'd be surprised. Okay, prepare to be impressed." Chloe smiled at Aubrey, catching her eye and cocking an eyebrow before starting her story a moment later.

"When I was about five years old, my parents would drag me and my big brother to Sunday school every week. We would complain the whole time because it was boring and all we wanted to do was stay at home in our pajamas and watch cartoons. Mom wasn't having it though and one Sunday, the kindergarten group was going to sing some songs for the whole church at morning mass. My mom was so proud because our teacher gave me a solo and she got me dressed up in this frilly dress with a big poofy train and she put a bonnet in my hair and everything." Chloe paused for a moment, laughing at the memory and composing herself before continuing. " I wish you could have seen me, Bree. I was a hot mess!"

"A bonnet? This I have to see." Aubrey giggled as Chloe shoved her gently. "God, I hope that your mom took pictures of this outfit. It sounds…precious."

Chloe shook her head and said "She has a whole album full; I'll have her e-mail you one later. Anyway, they dragged us all to the front of the church and my dad had his video camera out and my grandparents were there and they were all ready for my big debut. We sang a couple dumb Easter songs and then it was my turn to sing Yes, Jesus Loves Me. I had practiced that song every night for a month and as soon as the piano started and my teacher pointed at me, I froze."

"You froze?" Aubrey asked in disbelief. "Somehow I find it hard to believe that someone like you, who oozes confidence, would just freeze. What else happened?"

Chloe blushed as she continued with "Well, I opened my mouth and instead of singing, I peed my pants in front of everyone there. All of the other kids scattered and my dad almost dropped his camera and my mom was as red as my hair and mortified. All I could do was stand there in a puddle and cry until they ushered us out of the church and to our classroom. My brother laughed at me for months, you know how Adam is, and I still hear about that when I come home to visit. My dad even has it on video, but I have it stashed somewhere where they'll never find it."

"Wow, that's pretty terrible. I don't feel so bad anymore after hearing that." Aubrey joked as Chloe reached out and shoved her again, both girls starting to laugh and relax for the first time since joining each other on the steps.

"See? I told you that it wasn't that bad." Chloe assured with a smile small. "It's just a cappella and anything that happens here isn't the end of the world. We sing and dance to Mariah Carey and we take it seriously. That's enough reason to lighten up a little when you're around these girls and to just have fun. You may have puked, but they're dancing to Gloria Estefan right now and that's super embarrassing. So, will you stop crying now and go back to the dorm with me? Please?"

Aubrey just nodded and stood up, extending a hand for Chloe to grasp and pulling her to her feet as well. They were inches away from each other as they balanced on the step and Aubrey averted her eyes as she blushed and murmured "Thank you for coming back, Chloe. I don't know what I would have done if you weren't here and you really made me feel better. Thank you for staying and being a good friend."

Chloe grinned and as she drew a little closer to her friend's face, she softly confessed "There's no place else that I'd rather be. I'm kind of fond of you and this is better than anything that those idiots are doing right now. Are you ready to leave?"

Aubrey shook her head as she raised her eyes to look into Chloe's and she couldn't stop herself as she moved forward and pressed her lips against Chloe's. It wasn't the first time that they had kissed, which had come courtesy of a drunken game of spin the bottle, but this time was different and she felt the spark as Chloe's lips kissed her back and made her head spin. It was the nicest thing that she had ever felt in her life and as Chloe slid her tongue over her bottom lip and deepened the kiss, Aubrey didn't have a single care in the world.

It was the first time and it certainly wasn't the last. It was the first perfect moment of her life and she never wanted to forget it. As Chloe snaked an arm around her waist and pulled her close, Aubrey knew that forgetting would be impossible and let herself hold Chloe back and return the sentiment. For the first time in her life she felt like she belonged somewhere and this…this was normal. Normal and perfect and a million adjectives that had slipped from her brain as Chloe shoved her straight over the edge.

There was no turning back and for the first time, Aubrey was glad that someone had stuck around for her.