A/N: So this is another high school AU, and its actually set before the other one I posted, She's Not My Girl. I know a few people were asking for another installment of that one, so I decided to write a few that were set before She's Not My Girl. So here it is, The Moment Chloe Beale Fell In Love With Aubrey Posen.
Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters, and you should probably be happy about that because I would make them do all sorts of ridiculous things.
Chloe loved the rain. She loved the way it sounded as it pounded against her bedroom window. She loved the way it smelled, and the way everything just looked so green afterwards. She loved the way rain clouds looked as they hovered almost menacingly in the sky above her. She loved how the flashes of lightning and subsequent rumbles of thunder made her feel small and insignificant. She loved the way the rain felt when she decided on a whim to dance in it, the way it soaked her through, right to her bones, the way it plastered her ginger hair to her skull, the way it trickled down her back and made her feel clean in the most metaphorical of ways. But the thing she loved the most about the rain was the way it always managed to send her best friend, Aubrey Posen, tumbling into Chloe's bed in fear of the downpour and in need of cuddles.
"Chloe…" came the soft breathy whisper from Chloe's bed.
Chloe tore her gaze away from the sight of the droplets of rain that had let up, but were now pounding furiously against the window she stood in front of. She settled her gaze on a bundle of sheets and blankets on her bed that said her name once more, louder and more pleading this time. "Chloe…"
A small nose, piercing blue eyes, and pink lips set into a pout, suddenly poked out from a gap made in the mountain of blankets. Chloe's lips turned up into a small smile at the sight of the famous Aubrey Posen reduced to mere shivers at the sight of a raindrop.
The other girl's pout deepened, and she huffed out a heavy breath, sending a few blonde curls tumbling from under the sheets into her eyes, causing Chloe's grin to stretch wider. The blonde groaned and wrapped herself up tighter in her cocoon of blankets, obscuring her small nose, bright blue eyes, and soft pink lips in a flurry of fabric.
Chloe laughed gently. "It's just a little rain, Bree."
"Seriously, Chlo? It's a freaking monsoon out there!" came the muffled exclamation from the mound of blankets.
"Hardly even a drizzle," Chloe scoffed, grin still stretched across her face. A crash of thunder rattled the window in its frame. Chloe started, but the mound of blankets shot about a foot into the air with a high pitched yelp. Aubrey's face reemerged, her expression reminiscent of a deer in headlights. Her voice became pleading again, only managing to say Chloe's name. A hand sneaked out from the beneath the blankets and reached towards Chloe in a grabbing motion. Chloe sighed, and left her position in front of the window to crawl over Aubrey (or rather, the mountain of blankets) and settle in behind her on the bed.
Chloe heard Aubrey shift under the heap of fabric, and then Aubrey's big blue eyes were peeking out at Chloe again. Chloe was again reminded of a deer, not so much in the headlights this time, just… an adorable baby deer. Bambi. Aubrey reminded her of Bambi.
Aubrey's eyebrows furrowed over those wide blue eyes that so reminded Chloe of adorable baby animals. "Bambi?" she asked.
Chloe realised that she'd been thinking out loud again, and her cheeks burned, but she laughed. She reached forward and tapped Aubrey's nose gently. "Your big beautiful blue eyes, Bree," she said, laughing at Aubrey's perplexed expression. "You look like a baby deer." Chloe paused and rolled onto her back. "What are those called again?" She tapped her chin with her finger as she searched for the word.
"Fawn?"
"Yeah! That's it!"
There was another window-rattling crash of thunder, and with another yelp, Aubrey, still enveloped in her multitude of blankets, catapulted herself straight onto Chloe. The breath whooshed out of Chloe's lungs as Aubrey's weight crushed onto her, and she felt an elbow dig painfully into her ribs.
"Ow, Jesus Christ, Aubrey," she gasped out, but she still wrapped her arms around the quivering bundle on top of her. She began to try to peel away a layer of blankets, but Aubrey just pulled them tighter around herself with a tiny squeak that made Chloe grin stupidly.
"Aw, come on, at least let me under the covers, I'm freezing." Chloe poked at the bundle, causing another Aubrey-squeak, but Aubrey loosened her grip, and Chloe slipped under them, and into Aubrey's warm cocoon of blankets.
Aubrey's arms quickly wrapped tightly around Chloe, and Aubrey shoved a socked foot between Chloe's, successfully entwining their legs. Chloe giggled at Aubrey's clinginess, because she knew it was only brought on by her fear of the rain- normal Aubrey kept her distance, and wasn't one for affectionate touching.
"Shut up," Aubrey muttered into Chloe's shoulder.
Chloe laughed even harder. "I didn't say anything!" she said between bouts of giggles.
Aubrey pulled back to look Chloe in the eyes, ice blue meeting warm aquamarine. "Quit laughing at me," she said with a scowl.
Before Chloe could respond, there was a loud clap of thunder, and Aubrey shrieked, jumping back into Chloe's arms, sending Chloe laughing even harder, but she pulled Aubrey close all the same.
Aubrey's sudden movement had dislodged the blankets from around their heads, and Chloe glanced over Aubrey's head at the clock on the bedside table. She nudged Aubrey.
"Hey, Bree, it's almost eight. Is your mom expecting you home?"
Aubrey didn't loosed her grip on Chloe as she spoke. "No, I texted her and told her I was over here. Plus," she leaned back some to look at Chloe again. "You don't honestly think I'm going out in that, do you?" she asked incredulously.
With a smile, Chloe shook her head, both in response to Aubrey's question, and also in response to her irrational fear of storms.
Aubrey nodded with a "hmph", and wrapped herself around Chloe again. Chloe relaxed in her arms, and rested one hand on Aubrey's waist with a contented sigh.
The rain didn't let up as they lay there, room darkening to a pitch black and thunder still rolling, the only sound in the room Aubrey's frightened squeaks and Chloe's subsequent giggles. Chloe could feel Aubrey falling asleep, as her grip on Chloe loosened with each passing minute. Eventually, even the thunder didn't wake Aubrey, and her arms slipped from around Chloe as she sprawled across the bed. She kept her legs still entwined with Chloe's, and one hand found Chloe's to hold, even in sleep. A light, barely audible snore punctuated the silence in the room, and Chloe grinned. Sleeping Aubrey was the most adorable Aubrey, in Chloe's opinion.
As her head rested next to Aubrey's on the pillow, Chloe studied Aubrey's profile, outlined by the glow from the clock on the bedside table. Her lips that hung slightly open, her small, rounded nose, her long fluttery blonde eyelashes, it all entranced Chloe in a way she couldn't explain, not to herself and certainly not to Aubrey (or anyone else of lesser significance).
As Chloe watched, Aubrey sucked in a quick gasp of air and rolled closer to Chloe. Her eyes never opened, but she squeezed Chloe's fingers with her own and sighed.
"Love you, Chlo," she whispered in a raspy, slurred voice.
Chloe's heart thumped heavily in her chest at the words. She brushed a few curls from Aubrey's face, and pressed her lips gently to her forehead.
"Love you too, Bree."