A/N: Aubrey's father's job needs him in Manhattan, which means another move for Aubrey, but this time, she's not going to make it easy for him.
They're graduating this year. This can't really be happening. He can't do this to her.
"Daddy, I've made so many friends here. You can't just take that away from me."
Two years. After two years of her father seemingly finding solid ground on New York, he decides he will work in an office in Minnesota. She should have known it would all be pulled from under her feet, but she had been so immersed in her new social life that she hadn't even given a thought to this happening.
"I can't just leave."
Dean Posen just stands there, his arms crossed.
"You can't do this."
No response.
"Daddy, answer me!" Aubrey has tears in her eyes, and she does everything in her power to not throw the lamp next to her at a wall.
Dean sighs. "Aubrey, this will be good for you. You've spent too much time worrying about your social life, anyways."
"What is that supposed to mean?"
"It means that your grades have been faltering. You're always going out to hang out with that redhead-"
"Her name's Chloe! You have known her for almost two years now! Chloe Beale!"
Her dad arches an eyebrow. "Watch your tone, young lady. Chloe Beale," he puts an unnecessary emphasis on her name, making Aubrey's fists curl into tight balls, "is not what we are talking about right now."
"Right. We were talking about my grades. My straight A's. Wow, I'm a horrible student-" Aubrey starts sarcastically.
"Your biology mark is at an 86%," he says.
"That's an A!"
"That is bare minimum. Is that what you want to be? The bare minimum?"
"I don't even like biology! You know that!"
"You think I like my job? I still go to it and succeed and do my best at it every day. I don't see why you can't do that for something as simple as biology."
"I don't see why you can't do something as simple as stay in one place. Mom's tired of it. I'm tired of it. You're the only person in this entire family who actually has a say in where we go, and it's not fair."
"Aubrey, you've never had a problem with moving before-"
"Because I never had friends before!" Aubrey's starting to shout again. "Because of you! Because I couldn't make friends!"
"The way you handle your social life has nothing to do with me and moving-"
"Fine! Leave! Go to Minnesota!" She yells, "I'm staying right here!"
Dean sighs again and pinches the area between his eyebrows. "And stay where?"
"Anywhere but a place where I have to be around you," Aubrey spits at him, running up to her room and starting to pack her things.
Her father is screaming."Aubrey Jean Posen, you get down here right this instant before I-"
"Before you do what?" She shouts back, her throat stinging with how loud she shouts. "What will you do? Ground me? I'm eighteen, soon, dad, and you won't be able to do shit." She shocks herself when she swears at her own father, Dean Posen, who flushes and starts screaming a stream of curse words up the stairs and she's crying and he's screaming and oh my God it's a huge shit show and where is her mother-
She puts a few t-shirts and jeans and a toothbrush with her iPod in her duffel bag, runs downstairs, and bursts out the door before her father can stop her. She opens up her car door and drives to the first place she can think of.
Chloe opens the door and gives Aubrey a beaming smile. "Aubrey, hey-" her smile falters when she sees that Aubrey's face is streaked with tears and she's holding a duffel bag with a t-shirt hanging out of it and Chloe understands.
She steps back from the door, letting Aubrey in. Aubrey throws her bag on the ground and collapses, her body absolutely racking with sobs, in Chloe's arms.
Chloe doesn't say a word. For the first time in her life, she has nothing to say. She just holds her best friend tight tight tight, as tight as she can, as if Aubrey could break apart at any second if she doesn't hold her together.
Chloe's mom comes down to the front door to see what the commotion is all about. She sees Aubrey in her daughter's arms and slowly walks down the stairs to the front door and rubs Aubrey's back while Chloe holds her.
"I'll make some Chai tea for you, love," Chloe's mom says in a gentle voice. She walks back up the stairs.
This then becomes the first time Aubrey stress vomits, too. She's horrified when she feels her stomach heave, and she runs to the bathroom and it's all gone.
She's horrified again when she sees that Chloe has been behind her the whole time and is now holding her hair. "No-" she gasps in between heaves, "Please. You don't have to see this."
Chloe still hasn't said anything and is now rubbing small circles into Aubrey's back.
Once Aubrey is done, Chloe passes her a cup of water, flushes the toilet for her, and leads her to the sink where Aubrey rinses her mouth out.
She starts crying again, from the things her father said to her and the fact that she could be gone from New York next week and the fact that she has just made a complete embarrassment out of herself in front of her best friend.
But then she looks at Chloe, who is still holding her, and makes eye contact with her for the first time tonight and Chloe has nothing but concern and reassurance in those blue, blue eyes and Aubrey's not embarrassed anymore.
Chloe leads her to the floor of her bathroom and lets Aubrey cry out the last of her tears.
"Bree?" Chloe asks quietly when Aubrey's crying dies down a little. "Do you want to talk about what happened?"
"My father" is the only thing Aubrey can manage before bursting into tears again, but that's all Chloe really needs to hear to know what's happening.
"You can stay here for as long as you like," Chloe whispers into Aubrey's hair. Aubrey can only nod and give Chloe a watery smile before she is able to stand on her own feet.
They spend the rest of the night watching reruns of "Friends" and eat strawberry flavored ice cream and drink the Chai tea Chloe's mom made without saying a word to each other and this alone makes Aubrey feel better.
That's when she knows she's found a soul mate in Chloe; not in a romantic way, no, but a soul mate nonetheless.
A/N: Sorry that this wasn't as happy as the other ones! Thanks to all of the positive reviews, keep reviewing, please! :)