A/N: Alright, here we go! Once again, a big thanks to everyone who is giving me feedback and reviewing this. I'm sorry for all the angst in the previous chapter, but it's a necessary evil so I also regret nothing :) I think you'll all (hopefully) enjoy this chapter a lot more, so I'm going to shut up now so you can get on that.

Are you going to waste your time thinking how you've grown up, or how you missed out?

The election was days away, the entire District of Columbia on edge as its residents, as well as the entire country, waited to cast their votes for the next leader of the free world and other offices within the various levels of government. The presidential race appeared to be neck and neck in nearly all of the conducted polls; it was the topic on everyone's tongue, whether you were waiting in line for your morning coffee and newspaper or waiting for the evening metro ride home. Washington was the place to be, the quiet energy simmering throughout the various staffers and bureaucrats; it was a unique semester to be completing internship's in the nation's capital, which was certainly known by all the interns residing there. DC was unparalleled in their festivities and celebrations for the night of the election; college campuses held gatherings for their students as election results would come in, colleagues and acquaintances would gather at their favorite watering holes to either celebrate their candidate of choice winning or drown in their sorrows over a loss.

It was really no surprise to the girls when Jesse and his housemates decided to throw a party on election night; not only would it give the classmates the opportunity to hang out with one another, they wouldn't have to worry about bumping elbows in overcrowded hot spots with people they didn't know. Aubrey, Beca, and Chloe agreed at once to help Jesse in the endeavor as soon as he mentioned it to them, taking on the task of finding suitable decorations for the evening. So the Friday before the election, the three roommates spent the afternoon traversing the greater DC area to search for anything and everything red, white, and blue. This wasn't too difficult a task, as the local party supply stores were practically overflowing with various party supplies of the very colors. The challenge in this, as Aubrey soon learned as they walked into the first store together, was handling Beca and Chloe within the store, the combination of sheer exhaustion from work and overexcitement for the party a deadly force to be reckoned with.

"Excuse me, do you need any tickets?" Chloe approached Beca as she walked around one of the displays in the store, wearing a ridiculous Uncle Sam-esque top hat while inconspicuously clutching her fleece jacket tightly around her with one hand as to not reveal what was underneath.

"I suppose that depends on the kind of show I'm going to get" Beca replied in an amused tone to the redhead.

Chloe swiftly removed her jacket to reveal an American flag vest-no shirt whatsoever underneath-that she had recently changed into, flexing her bare, toned arms. "The gun show, silly" Chloe replied, giggling at the corniness of what she had uttered, not possibly able to have resisted saying such a thing the minute she saw the very article of clothing. While Chloe may have overreacted the previous week at grabbing Beca's hand by storming out of the room, she pushed the various things she had felt in that very instance out of her mind, determined to maintain her recent friendship with Beca. On the surface, it appeared that she was succeeding at this; she and Beca were getting along with one another extremely well. Internally, however, she was fighting a two-front battle against her maintenance of the status quo; one camp telling her that she should resent Beca for what had occurred in the past, the other constantly resurfacing more-than-platonic feelings for the brunette. Such a delicate balancing act of her emotions was difficult for Chloe to keep up, and she wasn't entirely sure just how long that was going to last, fearing she would either one day spontaneously yell at Beca for all she had put her through, or have her way with her, regardless of the location. Both of these things happening one after the other was also likely to happen, Chloe reflected.

Beca shook her head, laughing as her eyes trailed down to the redhead's partially exposed midriff. "Something's telling me the Founding Fathers didn't have those in mind when they drafted the Second Amendment" she replied, poking Chloe's flexed bicep.

"Well it's a good thing that I have backup then." Chloe reached behind the display next to her, pulling out what appeared to be a toy water gun; instead of water spraying out at its intended target, Beca soon learned, the toy ejected silly string. Beca held her hands in front of her face, running away from Chloe as she chased her up and down the store's aisles. Chloe found Beca had come to a halt as she practically ran into the brunette, Aubrey in front of them, hands full of sparkly, star-shaped streamers and hanging lights.

"Tell me you're going to wear that Tuesday night" Aubrey deadpanned to Chloe as she took in her getup.

Chloe shook her head at her best friend, putting the silly string weapon down on the store floor. "I've decided if Obama wins re-election, I'm just going to strip down to my star-spangled bra for the rest of the night out of sheer celebration. Or at least until I get cold." The redhead walked toward the back of the store to change out of the vest, leaving Beca and Aubrey standing in the middle of the store together.

"And the President just won the vote of yet another undecided voter" Aubrey mused, noting Beca's fixed stare in the direction where Chloe previously stood, jaw slightly agape. The brunette snapped out of the daze at Aubrey's words, turning her attention towards her, processing what she had said.

"I'm going to look at…things. Over there" Beca gestured, making a less-than-smooth exit away from Aubrey.

Aubrey smirked as the brunette awkwardly strolled away from her. It didn't take a genius to sense the chemistry radiating between Beca and Chloe whenever they were together; if it was even possible, they were getting along better with each other now than what Aubrey recalled of their high school years. Granted, Aubrey was now aware of Beca and Chloe's history with one another, which may or may not have affected her perspective of any interactions between her two roommates. From what Aubrey could tell at least, there was definitely something there between Beca and Chloe. She knew Chloe's past with Beca was a sensitive subject to her that she still wasn't completely comfortable talking about on a whim, even to her best friend, but Chloe had admitted that she had begun starting to think about her history with Beca and how it would play a role in any present developments. Whether this meant Beca and Chloe would stay friends after they returned to their respective college campuses or what, Aubrey didn't want Chloe to get hurt yet again by Beca. Even though she was getting along quite well with the brunette currently, ultimately her guard remained high and found herself not fully trusting the brunette's motives and actions.

Chloe walked out of the dressing room moments later, making her way over to Aubrey. "Where did Beca go?"

"She wanted to look at a few more things" Aubrey gestured over to one of the corners of the store. "You two seem to be getting along with one another quite well."

Chloe surveyed her best friend, crossing her arms over her chest, well knowing that the blonde's statement was a loaded one. "Yep, we're friends. We have been for some time now with us all living together and all. I would even go so far to say that you're friends with her as well again."

"I would say that's the case as well" Aubrey acknowledged, "However, she doesn't look like she wants to jump my bones whenever she sees me."

"Bree, we've talked about this." This much was true; Chloe had revealed her confusion of the Beca situation to Aubrey, how she had felt the rawness of her adolescent broken heart, immense anger towards Beca for doing that to her, and the spark between them, all within a moment's contact. Upon hearing this, Aubrey was quite surprised Chloe hadn't combusted.

"We have" Aubrey agreed, pausing to consider her phrasing before she continued on, "And I know you're more than capable of sorting out your own feelings for someone. It's just… sometimes your brain tells you one thing, and how you actually feel about someone can be entirely different. I'm your best friend and I've known you for a while, and I know that I haven't seen you this happy since the last time we were in DC with Beca. I haven't seen you light up the way you do when she walks into a room since junior year, before you two abruptly stopped talking for reasons I am now aware of. I may have noticed these things without any thought to them then, but now that I know what happened… I would just hate for history to repeat itself."

Chloe studied the concerned look on Aubrey's face. She couldn't have asked for a better best friend, someone who looked out for her best interests and also wanted what was best for her. "Beca and I are friends and nothing more" she maintained. Deep down, however, she knew that every time she admitted that, it lost its meaning just a little bit. She didn't truly know what Beca's feelings were toward her and didn't want to assume, but she was aware that the part of her that did feel something for Beca was winning the battle inside her. She desperately tried to conceal and deny such feelings in order to protect herself from getting hurt yet again by potentially misreading anything.

Beca walked up to the pair, hands full of America-themed décor. "Are we good to go?" Beca asked, turning from Beca to Chloe.

"Considering we have enough supplies to wallpaper Jesse's entire townhouse inside and out, I'd say so" Aubrey quipped, the girls making their way over to the cash register to pay for their supplies.

"This party is going to be incredible, Bree" Chloe exclaimed, standing between Beca and Aubrey as she eyed the various items they had placed on the counter.

Aubrey turned to face Chloe, who was currently intent on picking off the stray silly string pieces on Beca's coat. "Oh, it's definitely going to be something."


Chloe couldn't believe she was actually admitting this to herself, but she couldn't wait for her senior year of high school to begin. Chloe loved the summer; the hot weather, lack of homework and exams, beach days with friends and the bonfires at night all contributing in making it her favorite season of the year. That was the case, at least, until summer vacation began for Chloe after junior year had officially ended. Chloe had these grand ideas about how the summer before her last year of high school would go; in every one of these ideas she had imagined Beca would be there with her. Now, thinking about her plans for what the summer should have been like left a sour taste in her mouth. As much as she dreaded seeing Beca everyday in school once again, at least school would keep her busy and stop herself from constantly thinking about what had happened with the brunette.

They hardly spoke to one another after the blowout that had occurred at prom, leaving their friends as confused as ever. Things had gone no better across the three-month break from school; Chloe hadn't seen much less heard from Beca at all, the exception being the back-to-school barbeque bash thrown for the to-be senior class by the underclassmen. Even then, Beca had kept her distance from Chloe that night as much as she could without it being incredibly awkward within their group of friends. The balance was thrown off among them, and the one person who detected this best was Aubrey.

Aubrey had taken note of the progression between Chloe and Beca over the past school year. It had become more likely that the three of them would hang out together instead of just Aubrey and Chloe, and Aubrey had paid no mind to this. She didn't question her friendship with Chloe, and wasn't insecure regarding their importance to one another. When she learned that Beca and Chloe began hanging out with one another alone, she also did not let this get to her, as Chloe also had made sure to also spend time with Aubrey; never was Aubrey pushed to the side or ignored as a result of the growing closeness between Beca and Chloe. What Aubrey did turn her attention to was Beca no longer meeting up with her at Chloe, and Chloe completely brushing off Aubrey's questioning of it. For months, Aubrey tried to determine what had occurred between her two friends, why Beca had suddenly withdrawn from them and was no longer attached to Chloe's hip during their shared study halls, much less why it appeared the two hardly ever talked to one another during the remaining months of the school year. Still, Aubrey remained patient, and knew that when Chloe wanted to talk to her about it, she would.

So when Chloe received her class schedule the week before school would begin, she panicked, well remembering making her schedule with Aubrey and Beca, and well remembering she had forced Beca to take similar classes and electives with her so they would have more than one class with each other. The girls had made their class schedules well before the proverbial shit hit the proverbial fan of all things her and Beca; Chloe actually found herself laughing at the irony of it all as she dialed Aubrey's phone number.

"You got your class schedule?" the blonde stated at the other end of the phone, cutting right to the chase.

"Mhmm"

"Let's have it." The girls exchanged their schedules with one another, finding they once again had identical schedules.

"I need you to do me a favor" Chloe said to Aubrey after they were finished celebrating they would once again be in all of the same classes together.

"Let's hear it" Aubrey replied, already having an idea as to what her best friend was going to ask.

Chloe paused before replying. "I need to you find out what Beca's schedule is."

Spot on, Aubrey thought to herself as she heard Chloe's request. "Is there a particular reason you can't ask her yourself?"

Chloe bit her lip worriedly, unwilling to admit everything to Aubrey right then. "Can you just do it for me, please Bree?"

"Of course I will. I'll give you a call when I know" Aubrey promised.

"Thank-you" Chloe said appreciatively. She knew that Aubrey was being such a good friend to her, and as hard as it was to talk about what had happened between her and Beca, she didn't want to leave her in the dark about it forever. "We should get ice cream. Tonight, if you can make it and are able to find out by then."

"I'll see what I can do" Aubrey assured her before their call ended. What the hell happened between them? She thought to herself. Aubrey knew she was likely to find out later that night.


After depositing their purchases at the apartment, the three roommates decided to go to one of the restaurants close to their apartment for dinner that evening, not in the mood to cook whatsoever.

"I'm really impressed you thought to get a wall-sized Electoral College map we can color in throughout the night" Aubrey noted to Beca after their server brought them their drinks.

"I can't believe I'm going to admit this, but you can thank Pinterest for that" a grimace formed on Beca's face as the words came out of her mouth. "Obviously I didn't get it because I wanted it at the party; I figured all of you poli-sci freaks would geek out over it"

"Sure Mitchell" Aubrey replied unconvinced before turning to Chloe. "Have you found any ideas for appetizers?"

"My mom actually sent me instructions for a fruit platter in the shape of an American flag" Chloe nodded.

"How perfect for Miss Public Health" Beca smirked.

"That's actually a really good idea considering the rest of the crap that'll be there" Aubrey retorted as Chloe smirked back at the brunette. Their server came back shortly after to get their orders for dinner.

"I have to go to the bathroom, I'll be right back" Chloe excused herself as she got up from her chair before walking away from the table. Beca's eyes followed Chloe as she made her way to the back of the restaurant; when she brought her attention back to the table, she found Aubrey staring at her, a curious look on her face.

"Is something the matter?" Beca asked Aubrey slowly, well aware Aubrey had caught her staring at Chloe.

Aubrey shrugged as she took a sip of her drink. "You like her."

"I have no idea what you're talking about" Beca lied flatly, avoiding any eye contact with Aubrey.

"Look, I don't care how you feel about her," Aubrey swiftly waved off Beca's response, "I just don't want to see her getting messed up by you again."

Beca stared at the blonde; she knew Aubrey meant well and was doing this to protect Chloe, but she considered this conversation slightly unwarranted. "I don't think I've done anything for you to assume that I'm going to do anything at all that might possibly hurt her" she replied. "She and I are friends which is more than I thought we'd be at the beginning of the semester. Why would I ruin even that?" the brunette posed.

Aubrey considered Beca's point. "Just be careful" she warned. Chloe returned to the table soon after, neither of the girls speaking immediately.

"Everything alright?" Chloe asked, looking from Beca to Aubrey.

"Great" Aubrey and Beca said in unison, cringing as they did this. Their food was soon brought to them, the subject dropped as they dug into their meals.


"It looks like Beca is going to have AP Government and Spirituality and Womanhood with us" Aubrey informed Chloe as they sat down at the outdoor table, dishes of ice cream in front of them. "Her Spanish class is during our lunch, and our free periods don't overlap, but she is in our homeroom."

"Balls!" Chloe exclaimed, stabbing the scoop of ice cream forcefully with her spoon. Aubrey surveyed her, intrigued.

"Do you not remember after you and I had been elected as class officers specifically requesting she, Amy and Stacie all be put into our homeroom with whoever our class moderator is going to be this year?"

"I forgot" Chloe said curtly, pulling the spoon out of her dish.

"I'm going to go out on a limb and say you probably also forgot Beca is running the sound and light boards for the fall musical?" Aubrey guessed. Chloe only continued to fume.

"Do you think Mrs. Bottoms would understand if I chose not to audition this year?" Chloe wondered.

Aubrey sighed, having had enough of the air of mystery surrounding Chloe's desire to avoid Beca. "No, you love doing the school musicals, you are absolutely not skipping out this year" she replied sternly. "What the hell happened with you two?"

Chloe inhaled deeply, knowing she was going to eventually have this conversation with Aubrey. She had actually gone into the night with the plan to tell Aubrey everything; actually following through with such a plan was entirely different than just the intent of it, Chloe learned. She found herself opening her mouth numerous times to begin her explanation, no words or sounds coming out each time. Aubrey did not prod her best friend as this continued to occur, knowing that whatever she was going to say was probably very hard for her to admit aloud.

"I liked Beca" Chloe began, "In a more than friend kind of way. We kissed the last night of class trip, and were hooking up for about a month. We got into a fight about bringing dates to prom, and I let it slip that I was in love with her. I thought that maybe she felt the same way, but apparently she didn't. Then prom happened, and we got into this huge blowout there because she didn't tell me the entire truth about her relationship or whatever with Luke, and we haven't talked since." Chloe breathed in deeply, saying all of this in just a few breaths. "Yeah, that about sums it up."

Aubrey looked at her best friend, who appeared to be on the verge of tears after admitting all of this to her in such a short span of time. Jesus Christ, Aubrey thought. She's been carrying all of that around with her for months, not taking about it with anyone. Aubrey reached for her best friend's hand taking it in her own. "I had no idea, Chloe. Wow."

Chloe grasped Aubrey's hand tightly. "I thought things would have worked themselves out by now, but I'm pretty sure everything is beyond repair at this point. I screwed everything up."

"Seriously?" Aubrey asked incredulously. "Anyone who can't see what an amazing person you are is the one who screwed up. You didn't do a thing wrong here."

"If I hadn't said I was in love with her I doubt it would've gotten as bad as it did" Chloe reasoned.

Aubrey shook her head. "It seems like you had some serious issues communicating with each other, but you can't put all of this on yourself."

Chloe considered her best friend's words, knowing she had a point. She knew it was unwarranted to put the blame of all of this on herself. "Thanks for taking all of this so well."

"People are going to love who they love, no one else has a right to question that" Aubrey replied. "There is one bone I'd like to pick with you about this whole ordeal though."

Oh no, Chloe thought. "And that would be…?"

"The two of you hooked up with me no five feet away from you?"

"It was just one kiss!" Chloe corrected, "A very hot kiss at that, but nonetheless-" Chloe stopped, the pain from the memory overwhelming her. Aubrey could sense this as well.

"Sorry" Aubrey apologized, "This must be really hard on you."

"It is" Chloe admitted. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you until now."

Aubrey shrugged. "I could tell something was bothering you, but I didn't want to force the issue. I had a feeling you'd tell me when you were ready to."

Chloe smiled, thankful she had such an understanding best friend. They chatted the rest of the night before going to their respective homes, Chloe well knowing that handling this school year was going to be a lot easier with Aubrey there to support her.

A/N: Lyrics are from Jimmy Eat World's "A Praise Chorus."