Aubrey was woken up, fifteen minutes after finally forcing her Adderall fueled body into sleep, to the sound of someone whispering her name. After feeling a poke in her side, her eyes immediately snapped wide open and she looked around for the offending party.
"Chlo, come on," she groaned, digging the heels of her hands into her eyes. The redhead was perched on the side of her bed, coffee in hand. When she realized Chloe looked like she had been crying, she sat up from her pillows slightly, appraising the tired, yet panicked state of her best friend. "What's wrong?" she asked with a frown. The redhead looked near tears as she handed Aubrey a cup of coffee, which was graciously accepted by the blonde, who leaned back on her elbows in order to drink it without spilling. She had only planned to nap for half an hour, anyway. Midterms were killing her.
"Alright, so this is so completely stupid, but I'm exhausted and emotional and stressed," Chloe huffed, taking a large gulp from her own mug. Aubrey could tell from the manic edge to Chloe's voice that this wasn't her first cup of coffee, that she probably hadn't slept very much, and that she was legitimately upset about something. The redhead took a deep breath before launching into a rant, keeping her voice barely above a whisper the entire time. "So, I know you said I need to talk to Beca about liking her, but she's really sick with pneumonia so I made her come over last night. I gave her some codeine cough syrup and she was all loopy and feverish and ended up taking off her pants and getting really cuddly with me, and then she told me she likes me," Chloe stopped for a moment to collect her thoughts. "She totally doesn't realize what she said, though, because when I asked her to repeat herself she just fell asleep!" Chloe added, exasperation notching up the volume of her rambling. "It's not like she doesn't have a toner for Jesse, anyway!" the redhead cried, catching herself and dropping back down to a whisper when she realized how loud she was being. "So now I just feel weird and creepy and this is just totally hopeless. I seriously sat awake almost all night."
Aubrey shook her head at Chloe's obliviousness. The best friends had been having basically the same conversation ever since Beca had joined the Bellas, but Chloe remained uncharacteristically skittish about finding out where the two stood in terms of their feelings for one another.
"Alright, well so much is wrong about what you just said," Aubrey sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. She sat up fully, scooting over so the overly-giddy Chloe could sit slightly less precariously. "First of all, why wasn't Beca wearing pants?" she asked in exasperation, wrinkling her nose at the redhead.
"She was hot and she just kind of took them of when she was half asleep." Chloe shrugged. Aubrey sighed once more.
"You're probably the only person I know that could try to rationalize cuddling with a half naked girl as something that normal friends do," Aubrey accused, laughing slightly. "On a scale of me to you, how cuddly would you say Beca was being last night?"
This question caused Chloe to grin. While she had forced Aubrey into cuddling with her more times than could ever be counted, the blonde usually just passively allowed it to happen. Aubrey had no problem indulging her best friend and it was quite normal for their friendship, but she was still nowhere near as affectionate as the redhead.
"She was definitely coming in at a Chloe Beale on that scale," the redhead laughed dryly. "But, for serious Aubrey, I think her and Jesse-"
"Alright, Chlo," the blonde cut in, her tone biting. "I love you to death, but you're driving me crazy with this. Grow a pair and fucking tell her, okay?" Chloe looked affronted. Sure, Aubrey was direct, but her exasperation surprised the redhead. Aubrey softened her tone, continuing in a more joking manner. "Look, if I'm wrong and you make an ass of yourself, I will pay for you to move to another state."
Chloe dramatically groaned and ran a hand through her horrifically tousled hair. She was exhausted and she looked like hell. Aubrey gave her a sympathetic look. Both girls had chosen rigorous majors and their senior schoolwork load on top of their other obligations, including their co-captainship of the Bella's, had left them looking a little worse for wear.
"Sorry for the dramatics, Bree," the redhead muttered after a moment. "I feel like I'm living off of Adderall, coffee, and hour long naps, at this point." Chloe joked wryly, earning a barking laugh from the blonde.
"Yeah, that and the tears of all the people I've verbally abused in the past two weeks." Aubrey agreed, warranting a light punch on the arm from Chloe.
"Do you know how hard I work trying to convince people you're actually nice, Bree?" she joked leaning her head against her friends shoulder. The blonde shrugged in response, taking a sip of coffee instead. A few peaceful moments passed, both girls willing their brains into action, before Chloe jumped away from Aubrey and off the bed. "Fuck! I promised I'd help Edna at the coffee shop before my 11 a.m. exam," She groaned, looking at Aubrey's alarm clock, which read 7:05 a.m. Chloe promptly bounded from the room and Aubrey leaned back against her pillows, picking up a notebook that she'd filled with the answers to one of her study guides. She perused the information, which she definitely knew, but one could never be too sure, until Chloe flew back into the room. She had managed to tame her mane, pulling it into a sloppy bun, and had donned a v-neck shirt and shorts, an unusually lazy outfit for the fashion forward ginger. She still looked frantic, though.
"Bree, since your exam isn't until three can you do me a favor?" she asked sweetly, Aubrey looked up at her skeptically. "Beca is still here, but she's super sick. If she gets up before I come back, tell her I insist that she stays." Chloe said, winking at the blonde.
"Uh, I'm not going to wink at her," Aubrey snarked, looking disgusted. "But yeah, I'll trap the hobbit here until you come back… on one condition," she mused, pausing for dramatic effect. Chloe raised an eyebrow at Aubrey's wicked expression. "The next time you see her, you have to promise to put an end to your misery and talk to her about your feelings."
"Bree-" Chloe squealed, ready to argue. Aubrey silenced her with a wave of the hand.
"Then I'll turn her out on the streets, where she'll inevitably die from her pneumonia." Aubrey exaggerated, an affected coolness to her voice. Chloe stomped her foot in irritation, but smiled shortly after.
"Well, I hope your exam goes aca-awesome!" she pronounced, shutting the door to the apartment just after hearing Aubrey respond with a "you too!"
XXX
Beca groaned as she woke up coughing for the umpteenth time. Except now, daylight was peeking through the crack between Chloe's strategically black curtains. The brunette groaned and reached for the bottle of water Chloe had given her last night, taking a few big gulps to alleviate the aching in her throat, before flopping back down onto the large, queen size bed. She rolled back towards Chloe, seeking out the comfort she offered- but Chloe was no longer there. She felt a pang in her chest as her night spent wit Chloe flooded back.
She'd finally told Chloe she liked her, falling shortly asleep afterwards, but Chloe had seemed so shocked. Displeased, even, and now she was gone. She bit her lip to suppress the urge to cry. It was just after eight in the morning, she still felt like shit, and Chloe had basically rejected her. Now, she just wanted to get the hell out of the redhead's apartment so she could go wallow in her sickness and misery in her own dorm. Unwillingly, a few tears escaped. Being sick always made her overly emotional, and the sting of rejection was getting to her. She petulantly dug the heels of her hands into her eyes, sniffling pitifully. Sighing in irritation at herself, she crossed the room to Chloe's bathroom and splashed some water on her face, wiping away smudged makeup and attempting to alleviate the redness around her eyes from crying.
She hurriedly gathered her clothes, exchanging the pajamas for her jeans. She didn't change out of the borrowed tank top, though. She still felt achingly hot, and the walk back to the dorm, even in the cool fall weather, was sure to be unpleasant.
She made it to the kitchen, the BU sweater she'd stolen from Chloe weeks ago tucked under her arm, and was reaching to pick her bag up from the counter when a hand shot over her shoulder to stop her. Beca yelped and retracted her hand quickly, wheeling around to face an especially insane looking Aubrey.
"Where the hell do you think you're going?" Aubrey barked, not relinquishing her hold on Beca's messenger bag. Beca stammered for a moment, not entirely over Aubrey startling her so sufficiently. "You like hell, Mitchell, so go back to bed until Chloe gets here." She demanded, causing Beca to scowl.
"I was going back to my dorm, I kind of don't want to see Chloe right now." Beca grumbled, attempting to take possession of her bag. She clamped down on her bottom lip again as the urge to cry threatened once more at the thought of Chloe's displeasure with her.
"Aca-scuse me? I'm under orders from Chloe to not let you go anywhere, Typhoid Mary," Aubrey snarled, looking extremely offended. Her voice softened imperceptibly when she noticed the glossiness of Beca's eyes. "Why don't you want to see her?"
"That's none of your business." Beca mumbled, her voice as audible as Lily's on any given day.
"That's most definitely my business, since you seem to have suddenly developed some sort of issue with my best friend, Mitchell." Aubrey growled, pulling the bag further away from Beca. The brunette struggled for a moment with what to say, taking Aubrey by surprise when she finally burst.
"I told her I like her! And she ignored me!" Beca belted, her voice hoarse from days worth of being sick. "So now, I want to back to my dorm because I'm fucking mortified, alright? Just let me leave!" she whimpered.
"I'll cut you a deal, Mitchell," Aubrey said after a minute, her voice sinister and devious. "You can leave and go back to Baker Hall on one condition…" Beca threw up her hands in exasperation as Aubrey paused. "You have to let me walk you to Edna's Café first."
"What the fuck ever." Beca seethed as an agreement, snatching her bag away from Aubrey when the blonde offered it to her, a look of smug satisfaction on her face.
XXX
The walk to the coffee shop was a quiet one, where Beca spent most of her time glaring at the back of Aubrey's head. The blonde did not seem inclined to converse very much either, so when the destination was reached, Beca was very surprised when the other girl abruptly turned and grabbed firmly by the tops of the arms.
"Aubrey, come on, dude. I just want to go home so I can die from embarrassment in peace." Beca moaned, trying to pull away from the older girl.
"There's some serious miscommunication going on right now, and it needs to be cleared up, okay? Everyone will be happier once this is taken care of." Aubrey asserted, a manic glint in her eye.
Beca was about to ask what the hell she was talking about when Aubrey dragged her indoors by the hand. From behind the counter, an older woman waved enthusiastically.
"Chloe's in the back, dear!" the woman said to Aubrey, beaming at the blonde. "And who's this?" she asked, gesturing to Beca.
"Actually, she's the one looking for Chlo!" Aubrey replied happily, shoving Beca forward. "I'll see you around, though, Edna!"
Beca was jerked out of her initial shock when the door slammed shut behind Aubrey. That bitch.
"Well, come on this way, dear! She's organizing the stock room." Edna chirped, gesturing for Beca to walk around the counter. .
God damn it.
