A/N Hello awesome nerds! I know i should say sorry but the looooong wait but i just doon't think that is enough. I want trough some life stuff and writers block. I'm not a hundred percent happy about this chapter but i hope is decent enough for you guys. I can´t say i'll be updating regulary but i promise i'll try and not take a whole year to update again.
Here is chapter 11, hope you enjoy it and let me hear your thoughts.
Disclaimer: I don't own PP nor any of it's characters.
Aubrey wakes up the following morning blinded by a redheaded mane; she smiles, she is happy Chloe made up her mind already and that is now going to try to get Beca back, she is happy that her friend is finally acknowledging her true feelings for the DJ, however she can't help but wonder what is going to happen now. She has no idea on how is she going to introduce the idea of Chloe to her tiny friend, especially since there is an annoying tall brunette in the picture, maybe Jesse and Amy can help them out. Shit! I forgot to call them. She reaches over to the night table to grab her phone only to find it dead, she forgot to charge it. The blonde lawyer sighs and makes her way out of the bed. She looks back and can't help the smile that appears on her face as she watches her best friend still asleep.
She walks out of the room and into their kitchen to start the coffee machine, she knows her best friend is going to need a huge amount of caffeine once she wakes up, and takes her house phone to call her mom.
"Selene Posen speaking!" comes her mom's business greeting and can't help but cringle at how snob that sounds when she is the one on the receiving side of the line. I really need to pay more attention at the caller ID.
"Morning mom!" the younger lawyer greets her mother over the phone.
"Good morning honey, sorry 'bout that, just got out of a meeting. How are things back home? Is Chloe ok?" Selene asks worriedly, she loves the redhead as if she is another daughter.
"She is fine now, will have a hell of a hungover when she wakes up, but she is fine, I manage to explain things to her and she calmed down. Sorry I had to leave yesterday. Everything went well I assume?" Aubrey explains to her mom.
"As well as a meeting with the Conrad's can go. Don't worry baby, you know that there is nothing more important than family to us Posen's. I'll be heading back tomorrow morning so I'll go and check up on you two and give that redhead a hell of a lecture for acting so irresponsible." Mrs. Posen says trying for a stern voice but failing to keep the amusement in her voice which makes her daughter chuckle.
"Please do, I love how Chloe cringles when you act like a disappointed parent on her, that's one look I don't get to see often enough since she is like the perfect daughter you wish you had, I swear you love her more than your own." Aubrey says with mocking hurt in her voice.
"Oh, come on honey, you know I love all my daughters the same, it´s not my fault that she is more adorable and grateful than my own sometimes, also she is more obedient and never talks back to me." Selene answers playfully to her daughter, knowing that Aubrey loves to joke about this all the time.
"Yeah, yeah, I know how much of a disappointment we all are compared to miss perfect saint Beale!" Aubrey answers in playful surrender. "Any way I better let you get back to your work, and I go and call Amy and Jesse, they probably… hold on. "Just then her front door opens revealing both her friends with worried looks, she barely catches a glimpse before she is effulged in a bone crushing hug between multiple screams of "Thank God's" and "You're alive's" the phone still at her ear letting her hear her mother's laughter. "Oh my God, guys back off, I need air. Let go of me your weirdos." Trying her best to push them away from her with one hand while keeping her grip on the phone and avoid tripping" It's not funny mom, they are killing your daughter and you find it amusing!" The young lawyer yells at her mom over the line, the trio just messing around and laughing forgetting that certain redhead was at hearing distance.
Chloe wakes up at Aubrey's yelling over someone else's laughter, those laughs sound barely familiar but with the headache and hangover she is feeling can't for the life of her place a face to them. She stays a few minutes lying on her bed while she collects her thoughts of the day before.
Sighing she slowly gets up and goes to her ensuite bathroom to freshen up a bit before heading out of her room, the brightness of the living room blinds her for a minute but once her eyes adjust and can focus on what is going on in the room, she can't help but chuckle, it's been a while since the last time she saw her best friend so care free and happy, even if she is angrily yelling at the duo that currently have her wrapped in what seems a pretty uncomfortable bone crushing hug covering her face with kisses.
She decides to just lean at her room's doorframe and enjoy the view. She studies Amy's features, she seems older, of course she is, but there are some maturity features that have nothing to do with the years they've lost touch with each other, she can't put her finger on what it is, from the way she dresses to her makeup and her hair style. She is definitely not the same girl she met all those years ago at the activities fair, nor the girl she spent years singing along with, not even the girl she saw graduate from the same university with her. She can also see all the features that she remembers from those years the playfulness, the joviality and the carefreeness that defined her aussie friend all through college.
And she can't help but feel a pang of sadness in her heart, she haven't realized how much she missed her, they were really good friends, a wave of guilt hits her, when Amy left after telling them she wasn't able to find the wandering girl, she didn't try to keep in touch, she knew if she did the aussie blonde will be a remainder of the tiny brunette and she wanted to leave all that behind, now she can see how wrong she was back then.
Just then Jesse starts laughing louder at Aubrey's attempts to disentangle herself from the hug and Chloe places her attention at him, he also seemed more mature and sophisticated, however the goofiness and childishness is still present in his eyes.
Seeing this interaction between the three of them she can see how hard it must have been for Aubrey to keep them a secret from her. She has been here for a while now and not once has she seen or heard about them, and the familiarity which they treat one another is undeniable, they are really more like a family than friends, a family she could've been part of If not for her actions all those years ago, seeing this she makes a promise to herself that she will try with all she has to become a part of this family again, she know it won't be easy but she is determined to earn their trust back.
Just as she hears Aubrey whining at her mom's antics over the phone, Amy notices her standing there smiling at the sight, Chloe can see the slow change in the aussie's eyes from joy to surprise to guilt, to fear, to… out of sight.
Apparently as Amy noticed Chloe standing at her doorframe she lost focus of what she was doing and didn't notice the little step dividing the kitchen from the dinner area, she lost her footing and fell backwards taking the other two to the floor with her. Chloe rushes over to see if anyone got hurt to find the three of them on their backs, Jesse and Aubrey still laughing their ass out and Fat Amy looking straight at her with disbelieve in her face. The other two finally notice the lack of laughs from their aussie friend and open their eyes to find a pair of light blue eyes looking back at them with a hint of amusement, worry and fear in them.
Chloe watches the trio on the floor, the laughs already forgotten they just keep starring at her, not knowing what else can she do the teacher just waves at them from above. "Hi, guys" she greats them not knowing what else to say. A silence not really uncomfortable but not really an easy one just settles in the room for the next few seconds until all of you hear Aubrey's mom from the other end of the line asking if everything is ok and what was that noise. That seems to break the trance they were all in and the trio on the floor pick themselves up.
"Yeah mom everything is fine, we just tripped but no one got hurt. I gotta go, talk to you soon. Love you" Aubrey says to her mom over the phone before hunging up and walking up to her best friend. "Morning sleepyhead, how are you feeling?" She says while hugging Chloe.
"Good morning Bree, I'm feeling better than I deserved that's for sure. I'm really sorry for all the things I said yesterday." The redhead answers taking comfort in the hug.
"You don't need to apologize for anything to me Chloe, don't worry about it." The blond lawyer says while giving her best friend a kiss on the top of her head and turning at her other two friends. "You should close your mouths, you'll catch a fly." She says at her stunned friends before starting to make her way towards the kitchen. "Come on guys there is coffee ready and I think we all have a lot to talk about. I'll order some food from the deli down the block, any requests?"
Chloe was nervous, so she was really glad that Aubrey as always was taking charge of the situation. She knew she had to be really careful in this meeting, saying the wrong thing could make her chances at getting close to Beca disappear.
They all drank some coffee while the food arrived, it only took about 20 minutes since Aubrey was a VIP costumer of theirs. Once breakfast was over silence fell among the group.
"Oooook, so I'll jump from the cliff of this silence like a baby kangaroo into her mother's belly. How you been Red? How is the big apple treating you? And most importantly what are your intentions with my tiny little DJ?" Amy asks bluntly just like she always does.
"Well, ummm, I've been fine I guess, the city is great I really love it here and I'm sure I'll love my job once I start teaching." Chloe answers slowly unable to meet her…friend's? eyes. "And well, about the other thing, I … uhhh… I'm not sure what to say Amy."
Hearing this Jesse's blood stars to boil, he can't believe this girl, there she is seating in front of him and Amy like nothing happened she is back into their lives and most importantly she can be back into Beca's radar and she doesn't fucking know what her intentions are?! The nerve of this girl!
"How convenient, you don't know. It's great to see you find the city so lovely and that you have a dream job. Everything seems to have been perfect for you isn't it Chloe?" The only boy in the room starts to talk with a voice so cold and calm that none of the girls have ever heard coming from him, none of them thought the happy and goofy boy could be capable of talking at such tone. "You have everything you ever wanted now, don't you? And you only had to, what? Umm, let me think… Oh yeah, break someone's heart!"
Jesse never realized he was so angry at the redhead until this moment, he was the most persistent in trying to get the two girls back together if not to get another chance at least to part ways in a more healthy and amicable way, but now that he started he can't seem to be able to stop his angry rant. "And not only did you consciously decide to do it, you also cut out one of your so called "aca-sisters" without a second thought. You have any idea how many times I heard Beca cry herself to sleep? How many times I've heard Amy drunkenly rant about you not caring enough about her to try and keep in touch with her? Have you ever thought of the damage you caused to the girl that gave you everything she was, everything she had, just to see you happy?! The girl that trusted you with the most valuable thing that someone has, her heart, just for you to crush it when you felt like you deserved more?! The girl that would've been more than enough for a lot of us! And now you have the chance to know about her and where she is and all you can say is that you ARE NOT FUCKING SURE OF WHAT TO DO ABOUT HER?!" Unable to keep his emotions in check at this point he started yelling.
The three girls were totally taken aback at the boy's actions, Aubrey and Amy have never seen him like this, they didn't know he was so pissed at the redhead. Chloe was looking down tears falling at her lap just hearing all the things Jesse was saying and knowing that he was right about all of it.
Jesse suddenly stands up pushing his chair with his foot with more force than necessary making it fall backwards. I'LL TELL YOU WHAT YOU SHOULD DO ABOUT HER, FIND A WAY TO BEG FOR HER FORGIVENESS, PRAY TO ALL THE GODS THAT SHE WANTS TO SEE YOUR FACE AGAIN AND IF SHE DOESN'T GET THE HELL OUT OF HER LIFE FOR GOOD! SHE IS FINE WITHOUT YOU, SHE DOESN'T NEED YOU! FOR ONCE IN YOUR LIFE STOP BEING SELFISH AND LET HER LIVE HER LIFE HAPPY WITHOUT YOU! GET THE HELL AWAY FROM HER!" And with that last sentence he walks to de door and slams it shut after him.
All the girls stay silent processing what just happened, they can´t believe it. Jesse, sweet lovely Jesse actually yelled at, cursed at and verbally destroyed Chloe.
You hear the door slam shut behind you and just a moment latter you are unable to stop the sob that comes through your mouth. Hearing all those things hurts especially since they came from someone who loves her as much as you did, as much as you do. You hear someone on your right standing up and then you feel arms around you trying to comfort you, however those are not the arms you were expecting to feel, you open your eyes for confirmation and you realize that Amy is the one hugging you and you can't help but break down and try to find comfort in those arms that back in college when Aubrey or your girlfriend were not available were the best comfort you could find. How much I screwed up back then.
After a while you manage to stop crying and Amy releases you from the embrace, she looks down at you and gives you a small smile, you give her your best grateful one.
"All better ginger?" The aussie asks and you nod slightly. "Don't mind him Red, I dunno what came over him, trust me he just needs to cool off, probably hit his head during the fall, he was the first one to suggest we should find a way to get you and shorty to talk things out." Amy says trying to reassure the teacher.
"I'm sorry Amy, for everything that happened back then, when I finally came to my senses, too much time had passed and I just didn't have the courage to face you anymore. I know he is right I made a huge mistake, one I don't know if I'll ever be able to fix, at least I don't think I'll be able to fix it completely. I understand if you don't want to give me another chance to be your friend again but if you let me I'll really like to try and be your friend again." Chloe apologizes.
"Not gonna lie Red, you put a really shit show these last couple of years, but we are family, ever since we became Bellas, so I won't put you through a lot of hell for it, won't be easy either, don't get me wrong I love you and it hurt that you cut my sexy fat ass off just like that, but we can fix this shit between us. Shawshack on other hand is a totally different matter, I won't let you come near her unless you prove you are worthy of trust again, I won't face the wrath of that little dingo for nothing." Amy says looking straight into the teachers eyes with a seriousness totally uncharacteristic of the big blonde, she could see the different emotions running through the redhead's face, shame, pain, regret, gratefulness, love and pain again at the mention of the DJ. "As for Jesse, i´m sure he is just being…"
"A total ass." Comes Jesse's voce from behind them, making the three of them turn, they could see the embarrassed look on his eyes. Aubrey takes a protective step in front of Chloe regretting ever giving him a key to her place, she is not sure her best friend will be able to handle another verbal run down at the moment. "I´m sorry Chloe, I shouldn't have said those things it's just… I dunno I never realized I was so angry I guess. I know you don't trust me right now Aubs, but could you give me a minute to talk to her alone? I promise I'll behave." Jesse asks calmly, Aubrey looks him up and down thinking if she should or not but before she can make up her mind Chloe's hand comes to her shoulder and gives her a firm nod.
"Fine, but if you make her cry again I'll tear you another Swanson. Come Amy let's leave this two to talk." Aubrey sais leading the aussey to her home office.
Once they were out of sight Jesse turn to look at Chloe. "I'm really sorry for what happened before Chloe, I just, well I guess that hearing that you were unsure of what to do about her just made me really angry, you know for the longest time all I could think were ways to get her better, for her to stop hurting and I always thought the only way to do it was to get you and her talking again, I guess hearing those words from you just made me realized that even if you guys talk there is a chance that things won't get better because I never stop to think of what will happened if you didn't wanted to fix things with her and in that moment it came to me that my plan has flaws and that, I don't know, maybe I won't be able to help her at all." The redhead just stood there silent while hearing Jesse explanation she understood where he was coming from but she also noticed that he took her words out of context, she was sure of what she wanted, to win the Tiny girl back, what she meant was that she wasn't sure how, but before she could explain this to the boy he started talking again.
"You know I had a crush on her right?" He asked the redhead who was a little taken aback by the question but manage to nod. "When I realized that I didn't have a chance with her due to her being gay and all, I decided that i´ll just became her best male friend, when you guys started dating I could see how happy you made her, those walls that she kept up around her were practically none existent when it came to you. I was so happy to see her like that even if it was just from afar. And then after years of making your way over into her heart you went and screw it up. I just couldn't believe you would do that, I mean, you loved her I knew you did, I wouldn't have let you get that close to her if you didn't even if that meant that I'll lose her too, I would have done anything to protect her. I guess the reason that I went all Hulk on you a while ago is because I just felt that I would be making the same mistake all over again. I was hoping you will help making everything right but what if you won't or can't. What if I let her get hurt again and worse of it by the same person than before?" Jesse finish his explanation and Chloe doesn't know how to respond to that, they just stay in silence.
"Sometimes I used to feel jealous of the bond you two had, I could tell that you had feelings for her beyond friendship and that was unsettling, especially in the beginning we had a bumpy road then but she always knew how to calm my mind and eventually I knew there was no way she will ever leave me, what I never thought was that I'll be the one leaving her." The redhead says thinking of the look on the DJ's face the night everything fell apart. "Are you, are you in love with her?" She can't help ask.
"No, I'm not. I don't think I ever was. I do love her but as nothing more than family sort of like a sister. Which is why I wanted to get you guys to talk things out." Jesse answers honestly.
"Ok. I know I don't deserve forgiveness not from you guys and especially not from her, but that doesn't mean I won't try with everything I have to earn it. What I meant when Amy asked me about what my intentions were, wasn't that I don't know what I want, what I meant was that I don't know what to do in order to get it. I'm not sure what Aubrey may have told you guys but these past years haven't been a walk in the park for me either, I know I didn't have it as bad as her but after a few months passed and I realized the mistake I made I wasn't able to do anything to fix it, I felt like I was not allowed to even try, so I just deal with things the best I could, and denial was handy. Now I know that I should've try and make thing right before. I'm not gonna lie I was pretty content with denial and if it wasn't because of this plan that you guys made I probably wouldn't have face my true feelings." Chloe just explain in order to try and get Jesse to understand her true intentions. "I was able to make up my mind early this morning when I talk to Aubrey, I want to try and get her back, I know it will be hard and I know that after what I put her through I don't really stand a chance but I know I can deal with things not working out but what I can't live with is the what if's, what if we could get together again? What if we could try and be happy again? What if she forgive me? What if, what if she still loves me?. I'm just not sure how I'll be able to get close enough to her to try and find out."
Jesse just looks at her trying to read if her intentions are true before sighing. "I'll help you, we all will. Just promise you won't let us down again"
She looks at him with grateful eyes and can see that even if his words are soft there is a treat in them. "I promise I won't . I'll do whatever it takes to try and make things right." After hearing this he shoots her a small smile, then puts his finger in front of his lips motioning her to keep quiet and slowly and silently makes his way to the door of Aubrey's home office and carefully turns the doorknob opening the door suddenly making both blonde girls drop to the floor, apparently they were overhearing the conversation.
"Don't you know it's rude to overhear people's conversations guys?" The redhead asks between laughs.
"We just wanted to make sure you wouldn't kill each other" Amy answers.
"Yeah, you don't have to worry about that, we are ok now." Jesse says and Chloe nods to confirm it.
"Well that is good to hear, and Jesse is right Chlo, we will help you with the midget." Aubrey comments while making her way to hug the redhead.
"Thank you guys, this really means a lot to me. I know we still have a lot of things to work on but I promise I'll do my best to win you guys back." The redhead teacher says giving all of them a grateful smile, she knows that even if thing are only starting and they sure will only get harder she has her friends to back her up.