Chloe and Toby sat on the plane as they waited to take off. Toby had been quiet as Aubrey dropped them off and while they waited to board. Chloe squeezed Toby's hand resting on the arm rest. She turned to look at the redhead.

"You okay?"

"Yea, just not completely ready to go home."

She nodded and let the topic drop. They had talked about it often. Since everything happened and Toby was told she would have to get my family's affairs in order herself, Chloe was adamant about helping. Toby had declined multiple times but Chloe wasn't having it.

The two were going to spend almost two weeks in Cleveland. Chloe said sheds never been and wanted Toby to show her around. Toby was grateful she'd be there. It was going to be hard but Chloe made everything easier.

The flight was quick. They landed in the CLE-Hopkins airport and were on the road within 15 minutes of getting off the plane. The 15-minute cab ride went smoothly and quietly. Chloe paid the cab driver as Toby grabbed their bags. She stood at the curb waiting for her girlfriend and looking at her childhood home. It already felt different to be there.

Chloe appeared by Toby's side and took her hand. She leaned up to kiss Toby's cheek then pulled her forward. Toby dropped her bag at the door to fish the house keys out of it. Toby slowly slid the key in and turned the lock then pulled the key back out. She placed her hand on the handle for a few seconds before opening it. Once the door was open, Toby led Chloe in, dropping the bags near the door and shutting the door behind her. Drawing out each simple task to put off the next two weeks as much as possible.

"So you want the tour first?"

"You up for it?"

Toby nodded and began.

"This is the foyer, obviously."

They stood in a medium sized, light yellow room with stairs opening on the right, a big hallway straight ahead, and a closet taking up the left. The wooden front door was taller and wider than an average entryway with a window taking up the top half. The window had stained glass around its edge.

"We'll do the downstairs before we go up. Come on." Toby took Chloe's hand as they went further in.

The silence made Toby uncomfortable. She grew up with at least three other people in the house. Then when she was a sophomore in high school it was just her mom and her but her mom always had music playing or was singing. Silence wasn't common place in the Wright household.

The foyer was the only closed in portion of the house. Toby's dad spent the first couple years knocking walls out to give her mom the open concept she wanted.

"That's our dining room."

Toby pointed to a maroon painted room with a large, dark wood table in the middle. There were two windows with white curtains but otherwise the walls were bare. Her mom always said the room was more about who was in it rather than what was in it. The dining room was the only room that held its walls still but her dad had widened the entry way.

They walked further into the main living space. Toby's heart hurt more as each step further into the house caused memories of her family to flood her thoughts. They might not have been together often but her family always made it an event when they were all together.

"So that's the living room, kitchen, and like a middle area for our kitchen table." Toby pointed to each. The different furniture was the only thing showing what each area was.

The kitchen was in the back of the house. There was a big window that rested above the sink. Toby looked at the brick backsplash her mom had begged her dad to save because she thought it would look perfect with the white cabinets and the dark hardwood floors.

There was a tall, skinny chalkboard that stood next to the pantry. Her mom's writing covered it as well as some silly notes her siblings and Toby wrote on it that their mom couldn't bring herself to erase. Toby's eyes found a drawing she made when she was 12 in the bottom corner. She tried not to give it more than a passing glance.

Toby placed her keys and phone on the kitchen table as she glanced out of the back doors to the patio. The garden was overgrown but still looked nice, in a wild way. The back of the house was always her dad's project when he came home. He knocked out the walls early on and replaced the entire back one with a wall of windows and a large sliding door. Besides music her mom loved gardening. He wanted her to be able to see her flowers as often as she could.

It made watching the TV during the day a bitch though. The TV hung on the wall to the left of the kitchen with the couch separating the two spaces. A love seat sat along the back windows and a chair floated in the area between the living room and the back entrance to the stairs. A coffee table sat in the midst of the furniture and electronics.

"Wow, Toby. This is kind of amazing." Chloe turned to Toby after looking around.

"My dad did most of it back when they first bought the place. The windows are only a couple years old. I think he finally got around to them the summer before I started high school. He got an extended period of time off."

"Where to next?"

"Well that's the door to the basement," Toby pointed to a door they passed in the hallway, "and that goes to the garage." She pointed to a door opposite the basement's. "The basement is finished but we never used it for much other than storage and Mom's music room. Mark, the Vice Admiral," Chloe nodded as Toby reminded her of the man, "said he put Carter's stuff in the garage so we'll get there eventually."

"So upstairs?" She asked.

"Yea." Toby sighed, not moving.

Chloe moved closer and rubbed my Toby's arm.

"We don't have to go up there. We don't even have to stay here if you don't want to."

"No, I do. It's just hard. I have to do it eventually though. Might as well be now."

Toby tried to move towards the stairs but Chloe stopped her.

"No, Toby. You don't. You can't try to force yourself to do these things if you aren't ready to." Chloe gave the girl a stern look but continued to rub her arm comfortingly. Toby pulled a chair out and sat heavily into it. She did need to go upstairs but if Chloe wanted her to wait then that was fine. She was tired from the traveling anyways.

Chloe sat across from Toby and started talking to her about their summer plans. Beca and Toby had gotten a house to rent together. Toby was able to cover the first two months' rent and Beca promised to take the next two once she started getting paid for her job at the station.

Beca was taking summer classes to finish her minor early so she could fit in more music classes and Toby was going to be working summer programs for her coaches. Chloe's refusal to let Toby stay in Cleveland by herself was another reason she was staying at Barden over summer break. Chloe in general was another, very large, reason she was staying at Barden.

They talked about the trip they had planned to Chloe's family lake house for the Fourth of July. The dinner they were going to have with her parents a few days after they got back from Cleveland. Really that conversation was mostly Chloe trying to get Toby to relax about it. They talked about Aubrey's upcoming trip home with Luke and how Chloe was so jealous.

"Can we go upstairs now?" Chloe rolled her eyes as Toby asked. Toby flashed a smile and watched Chloe shake her head with a smile of her own.

Chloe followed as Toby walked up the stairs. Toby stopped at the end of the hall and pointed to three of the rooms, all the doors were closed.

"That's Carter's room, Pete's room, and my parent's." The first and second doors on the left, and the one at the end of the hall. The girls walked farther on and stopped at the door across from Pete's room. Toby opened it. "This is the bathroom. Towels are in the closet behind the door."

She flipped the light on. The white tile and white counter made the room just as bright as she remembered. The toilet sat in a little cubby next to the shower. The shower curtain was the same obnoxious floral print as it had been before she left for college. Toby hated it but her mom said it was the perfect amount of color for the white room.

Toby flipped the light back off and pulled the door shut as she turned to face her room. It was next to the bathroom and closest to the stairs.

The door opened to a medium sized room with a white wood ceiling and light gray walls. There was a twin bed in the middle of the left wall with a dark green bedspread. A tall, obnoxiously yellow dresser sat next to the closet door and a window took up the far wall. A desk covered in things her brothers and dad brought back took up space on the remaining wall. Toby had books covering most of the surfaces and a small, overflowing bookcase next to her bed. The walls were bare but the bookshelf had a few picture frames on it.

Chloe wandered around the room looking around. Toby sat on her bed and watched. Chloe ran her finger along the spines of a stack of books on the dresser, examined some of the small statues on the desk, looked at the pictures on the bookshelf, then sat next to Toby.

"The ceiling is really nice. Did your dad do that too?"

"No. It was like that when they bought it. All the bedrooms have it."

"Cute room, Tobs."

Toby laughed. Cute wasn't what she was going for with her bedroom. When she was six, just like her brothers, she got to pick what color to paint the walls and then she could change it again when she was 12. Toby never could decide so her mom picked light gray so it would match whatever bed stuff Toby wanted. Blankets were cheaper and easier than paint.

"Thanks. We'll sleep in here. I know you aren't crazy about sharing a twin bed. Sorry."

"Uh, that's you. I loved sleeping in your dorm. You couldn't roll away from me while you slept!"

"I didn't roll away from you! I just move when I sleep. And anyways, you always just roll over with me! I think the only time I don't wake up with you on top of me is when you have to get up first."

"You make it sound like it's the worst thing in the world." Chloe pouted.

"Oh no. Not today, Chlo. That's not working." She tilted her head to give Toby the full effect of the puppy dog eyes.

Toby looked away from her then felt a shift in the bed and looked back. Toby was a second too late as Chloe pushed her back on the bed and started tickling her. Toby swatted Chloe's hands and squealed. As she started having trouble breathing, Toby leaned up and bear hugged Chloe around her arms. She flipped them over, pinning Chloe's arms down above her head.

Chloe raised her eyebrows. "Well then. I didn't expect it to take this turn." She followed up with a wink.

"First of all, this is not like that. This is the only way to get you to stop! And second, you're the one who always starts with the making out."

"You never complain."

"You're right." Toby leaned down and kissed her. "And I never will."

Instead of taking it farther, Toby rolled onto her side. Chloe pulled Toby's arm away and snuggled against her side, putting her head on Toby's chest. She ran her thumb back and forth across Toby's stomach. Toby looked outside as she finally noticed how dark the room had gotten.

"We should probably start thinking about dinner."

"Anything special you've missed eating from up here?"

"Not really. There's a real good pizza place a couple blocks from here though. They deliver."

"Pizza sounds great."

"Pepperoni, bacon, and pineapple okay?"

"Mhmm."

Chloe long ago gave into the weird pizza toppings. She gives Toby a hard time but Toby is positive she actually likes the combination. It's not even that different from a Hawaiian pizza anyways. Toby fished her phone out of her pocket to order their dinner.

"It'll be like a half hour."

"Mkay." Chloe sounded half asleep as she answered.

"Tired?"

"Obviously." She mumbled.

Toby chuckled at her sarcastic comment but stayed quiet. She didn't move until she heard the doorbell ring, gently slipping out from under Chloe.

Toby talked with the delivery guy for a few minutes, he was a kid she went to high school with, before shutting the door and throwing the pizza in the oven. Her mom always did the same thing if they weren't ready to eat yet.

Toby flopped on the couch instead of going back up with Chloe. She didn't want to risk waking her girlfriend up. She didn't know how long it took before her eyes slipped shut.

Toby woke up to a dark house and a gentle nudge on her shoulder.

"Babe."

"Yea? What time is it?" Toby asked groggily. She rubbed her left eye with her palm.

"Past midnight. We fell asleep." Chloe sat on the couch beside her. Toby shifted so her head could rest on Chloe's shoulder. She leaned her head on top of Toby's. "Did you get the pizza?"

"It's in the oven." Toby nodded. Her shoulder poked awkwardly into Toby's face with the movement. "It's probably cold now."

"Do you want some? I'm hungry."

"Yea, I'll get it."

"I can do it."

Toby stopped her from trying to get up.

"No, let me. I know where everything is. Just flip the TV on. Maybe there's a movie or something good on." Toby handed the remote to Chloe and got up to get their food.

The pizza was pulled from the oven to preheat it. Toby preferred microwave reheated pizza but Chloe liked it in the oven. She wandered back over to the couch as she waited. Toby stood behind Chloe lightly massaging her shoulders.

The oven beeped but Toby made no move towards it. Chloe tilted her head back. When Toby didn't notice she reached her hand to Toby's to stop the movement. "Go get the pizza" she urged gently.

Toby brought the plates of preheated pizza and sat next to her girlfriend on the couch. When their late dinner was finished, the two snuggled up on the couch to watch some movie Chloe found. Toby wasn't paying attention. Instead she focused on the girl laying against her chest. Toby played with Chloe's hair, watching her hands slide through the red locks.

"So what are we starting on tomorrow?"

"The garage. Mark already boxed Carter's stuff so we just have to go through it and decide what to take and what to donate or toss. He doesn't have a lot other than equipment. I told Mark to keep anything the Navy could reuse too."

"Ok. Anything else?"

"All the stuff we decide to donate we'll take to Goodwill right away. The less clutter around the house the better."

"Smart plan."

"Maybe we can get Pete's room too. He said to just box it up and give it to my mom."

"Wait." Chloe sat up to level Toby with a look. "We're going to see your mom?"

"No. I am." Toby saw the hurt flash through Chloe's eyes and tried to explain. "It's not that I don't want you to see her. I just don't want her to meet you, not as my girlfriend. She doesn't deserve that anymore."

"Toby…"

"No, Chlo. She doesn't. I needed her but she wasn't there. I get people cope differently. I do. But she managed to be there for Pete." Toby's voice turned bitter. She hadn't voiced this level of hurt to anyone before. "They managed to be there for each other without doing a fucking thing to help me. I shouldn't have gone through that by myself."

"I'm not disagreeing, baby, trust me. I'm probably more pissed at her, at both of them, than you are. I just wish it wasn't like that. You're so sweet and you don't deserve anything you're going through."

Chloe kissed Toby softly then laid back down. Toby hugged her tight.

"Does she know you're selling the house?" Chloe asked.

"My lawyer told her. She doesn't care. If my mom even stepped back onto this street she'd have a mental breakdown. She doesn't want the house."

"I wish you could keep it."

"Me too." Toby sighed. "But I'm 19, babe. I can't just have a house."

"We could figure something out if you really wanted to."

"I don't. It just feels wrong to be here. It doesn't feel like home anymore. Like, it does because I have so many memories but it feels like when I lost Dad and Carter I lost this place too. It's not home anymore. Barden's home for now."

…

"What is that? Chloe, eyes wide, stopped in the doorway to the garage. Toby laughed as she turned around.

"That's uh, Carter's motorcycle." She responded.

Toby glanced to the Kawasaki z900. She loved the old bike. It was black and really well kept for a 70s bike. It had always been Carter's baby.

"A motorcycle that you now own?"

"Yea." Toby paused. "You okay with that?"

"Depends." Chloe closed the distance between them. "Are you going to be driving it?"

"Well I need to get a motorcycle endorsement first but yea. They're pretty safe if you're careful. I've ridden them for years with Carter and Pete. Just not my own or on my own. They really aren't that bad. I'd be fine."

Toby looked away from her girlfriend as she explained, looking at the bike in question. She was nervous Chloe would be mad. Most people thought motorcycles were dangerous and they can be if driven like an idiot. Toby continued.

"It's not like I would ride it all the time. I got my dad's truck too. So anytime the weather sucks I would drive that."

"We'll come back to it." She smiled. "It's not like I can stop you anyways."

The two set to work. Toby was going through the boxes while Chloe began organizing the garage items. A pile for keep, a very small pile since college kids don't need very many water cans, hoses, or other random things. As well as a pile for donate and a pile for trash.

Chloe would let her hand trail across Toby's shoulders or rest on her head for a split second every time she walked by. It was her way of reminding Toby that she was there, as if it was something Toby could forget. Besides her singing along to each song that played, Chloe was also the girl Toby not so recently understood she was 100% in love with. Toby always knew when she was around.

They finished the garage around 1pm. Luckily, the garage was Toby's dad's space and he kept it organized. All Chloe had to do was decide what went into each pile. The donate pile was the largest. Toby had decided to donate all of Carter's clothes expect for a couple things she wanted. She also kept the few books he owned, the pictures he had, and anything else that strongly reminded her of him. Everything else was donated. The decisions on each item wasn't easy.

After lunch, the girls boxed up Pete's room. Toby was less than careful with his things. Chloe reminded her more than once to be gentle and eventually kicked Toby out to finish. Chloe voiced that he might not appreciate his things broken even if he might deserve it.

Toby collapsed on the couch grumbling. Being in Pete's room coupled with donating/throwing away all that was left from Carter had ruined her mood. Chloe joined her around a half hour later.

"All done! When are you going to give them to your mom?"

"She wants to meet us for dinner but I said no."

"Okay, and I thought about it and I don't want you to do this alone." Toby tried to argue back but she held up a hand. Toby let her continue. "It has nothing to do with your mom. I get why you don't want me there but it's about me being there for you, not being there to see your mom. She was great when I met her but after what happened if you want nothing to do with her than neither do I. I'm just worried about you."

"Not dinner though."

"Not dinner." She shook her head. "But you need to call her and set something up. I think we should still do it tonight. Get it out of the way."

Toby groaned but knew Chloe was right. She snatched her phone off the coffee table then waited for her mom to answer. Toby's face, that was set in a scowl, softened a little at her voice.

"Hi Toby girl!" She tried her best to ignore the pet name and stay mad.

"Hey Mom."

"How's your day going?"

"Fine. I have Pete's stuff ready."

"So we're on for dinner tonight, then?"

"No, Mom. I don't want to have dinner. I'll bring them to your place or we can meet somewhere."

"Oh. Well, okay. You can come here then if that's what you'd rather do."

Toby tried to ignore how her mom's voice fell and tried to focus on the annoyance she had moments before as her mom pretended nothing had happened.

"It is. We'll be over around 8. Bye Mom."

"Bye Toby. Love you."

Toby tossed her phone across the room at the chair. Maybe just a little harder than necessary. She hit her target but the phone bounced off, hit the coffee table then the floor. Toby rolled her eyes.

"What time is it?"

"A little after 4pm, Tobs."

"Hungry?"

"Yep! We didn't have lunch so definitely yes!"

Toby laughed at Chloe as she got up from the couch.

"Stay here."

She nodded as Toby headed upstairs. It took a couple trips and lots of reassuring to Chloe that she could handle it herself but Toby managed to get all of Pete's boxes loaded. Toby walked back to Chloe sitting on the couch, took her hand and led her out the back door, stopping by the key hook in the kitchen. Toby's dad's truck sat at the end of the side driveway next to the garage. Toby opened Chloe's door for her.

"Where are we going?"

"For a drive. You said you wanted to see Cleveland right? Well I figured I could show you most everything from the truck. Cleveland isn't too big. We'll hit anything you wanna see up close later though. Then we could go walk around Little Italy for a bit and grab some food while we're at it. My mom's apartment is around there."

Chloe beamed as Toby pulled out of the driveway in the old truck. They rolled the windows down, turned the music up, and fulfilled every cliché that two people can on a car ride in the summer. Including at least a dozen pictures. Toby rolled her eyes at each one but her smile was still always in place as Chloe took them.

They ate first which didn't leave a lot of time to walk around Little Italy but it was enough. The girls looked in a few shops and bought some treats for later from a bakery. Mostly they enjoyed walking together. Chloe and Toby hadn't had much carefree time together since Toby's life exploded in March.

As 8pm rolled around, Toby pulled up outside of her mom's building. She climbed out as the woman walked out. She had a smile on her face that Toby managed not to return. No matter how mad Toby was she's still her mother and it was still good to see her. Toby had to stop herself from reverting to a little kid and running to hug her mom.

Chloe climbed out as Toby's mom got to the truck and greeted them. The lack of hug threw her off, Toby could see the hurt. Toby always hugged her mom and gave her a kiss on the cheek since Toby was tall enough to do so. The older Wright faltered a little but pushed on.

"Hi Toby! I'm so happy to see you. It's been so long!"

"And whose fault is that, Mom?"

Her face fell at the abrupt and harsh question. Toby turned away, busying herself with boxes and feeling bad. Toby ended up facing Chloe but turned again before she could see Toby's face. She didn't want Chloe to know how much she was struggling.

"Toby-"

"No, Mom. It doesn't matter. Let's just get these boxes inside. Okay?"

She nodded. Toby walked away with two boxes as her mom and Chloe each grabbed one. Toby waited in the elevator then followed her mom into her new home. Toby dropped the boxes harshly then turned to get the rest. Chloe helped Toby's mom move them out of the way in silence.

Toby returned with two more to find Chloe lecturing her mom. She shouldered the door open as Chloe spoke calmly but forcefully.

"She needed you, Mia. You're her mother!"

Toby dropped the boxes causing both women to look at her. She turned quickly to get the other boxes. That wasn't a conversation she wanted or needed to be a part of.

It took Toby two more trips to get all the boxes. Each time she came upstairs Chloe and her mom were still talking. Her mom was visibly upset and Chloe had anger written boldly across her face, a look Toby wasn't used to seeing.

"I'm done." Toby interrupted as she dropped the last box. "Let's go, Chloe."

She turned to leave but Chloe stopped her.

"Toby, wait. Just talk to her."

Toby turned back around and shook her head. More anger than she meant was laced her voice.

"No, Chloe." Toby looked at her mom. "You left me. You made the decision to be selfish and now it's my turn. I don't want to fix this. You and Pete are gone just like Dad and Carter except this is worse because they didn't choose to leave."

Toby walked out without Chloe. She knew Chloe would follow her. Toby got in the truck and waited. She scrubbed her face clean of the few tears that escaped before Chloe could see them.

Chloe climbed in silently, Toby reached to turn the keys in the ignition but Chloe stopped her. They sat in more silence as Toby waited for her to start talking.

"I'm still mad at her, Toby. I didn't say that to make her feel better or to help her. I can tell how much you want your mom back. You try to hide it but I still see it. I know she hurt you really bad. I was just trying to help. I'm really sorry."

Toby turned to Chloe in shock, not expecting an apology. Toby wasn't even mad at her. She could've guessed Chloe would try something like that if Toby had actually thought about it. Chloe's always trying to help anyway she can.

"I'm not mad at you. Like at all! It's just- She's- I won't fix this. She messed it up and she's the adult and she has to make the fucking effort. I'm not going to go out on a limb for her to just run away again. I'm too busy putting myself back together from the last time."

Chloe nodded and dropped Toby's hand after a squeeze. She slid into the middle seat of the truck as it started up. Toby mentally shook her head for admitting all that. Chloe knew how tore up Toby was about her mom and Pete but Toby mostly tried to ignore it. She thought it would be easier to rebuild that way.