The summer in Zambia

It had been one month since Chloe Beale ran away from heartbreak and got on a plane to Zambia. When she arrived she had been friendly, clearly a genuinely lovely person but nevertheless there was a sadness behind her eyes which was evident to anyone she interacted with. This combined with the subdued demeanour that she carried herself with indicated that Chloe was trying to cope with some sort of tragedy in her life. Although Charlie had instantly been attracted to Chloe and they spent a lot of time together, he still knew very little about her. When they did hang out there were brief moments when Chloe would wholeheartedly smile, her face lighting up, and Charlie could see that this was what she used to be like all the time. It was in these moments when she seemed relaxed happy. So Charlie did all he could to make sure that Chloe felt that way more often, as it truly was an amazing sight to behold and it felt good to know he could draw that out of her. But what he really wanted was for Chloe to tell him what had made her become so guarded and at times melancholic. She never complained, and was always smiling but the obviously disconnect behind her eyes was what concerned Charlie. He just wanted to know why the first girl he had liked in months had detached herself emotionally from those around her. All he knew was that it had something to do with college. When the topic came up Chloe's entire body tensed up and she would always swiftly change the topic, she was so guarded about it that Charlie didn't even know where she went to college. He also had no idea of her plans to return to Barden once the program in Zambia was completed.

Charlie had tried to subtly tell Chloe how he felt, but eventually he realised that the subtle approach was not going to get him anywhere, so he asked her out.

"Chloe"

"Yeah?"

"Can I ask you something?

"I mean you kinda already did, but sure go ahead. What did you want to ask?

"Would you uhhh… maybe… food… sunset… with me. Date. Umm yeah?"

"Could you say that again slower, I didn't catch what you said"

"Would you maybe like to go on a picnic with me at sunset, as a umm date?"

Chloe didn't say anything in response, instead she beamed and threw her arms into a tight hug. Charlie was so surprised that she had accepted without him having to ask again that he just smiled dumbly back. Once he snapped out of his daze he told her to meet her outside his hut at eight that evening.

The date was a completely success. Charlie did everything Chloe could have asked of him, and most importantly he provided a temporary distraction from Beca, who had been haunting Chloe's dreams and every waking hour since the night of that fateful ICCA performance. The pair had a picnic which Charlie had prepared, watched the sunset and got to know each other. Well, Charlie talked and Chloe listened attentively, offering her thoughts from time to time. But Chloe felt no desire to share personal details about herself, as she couldn't shake the thought that Beca was the last person who she had truly revealed herself to, and she knew it would take her a lot more time to recover from that particular friendship falling apart. So Chloe hadn't told Charlie even the most basic facts about herself, which meant she didn't like any of the food that he had brought for them. But still she didn't mind, as Charlie was the opposite of Beca; nothing about him reminded Chloe of her. The physical differences were very apparent, Charlie is a six foot classically handsome all American young man, with rich brown eyes, a thick head of dirty blonde hair, chiselled cheekbones and a strong jawline. His personality was also a total contrast to Chloe's favourite little DJ; he always openly conveyed his emotions, was very expressive and had no interest in singing. He was perfect… as a rebound. Chloe snapped out of her daydream when she realised that Charlie had been talking to her.

"I had a wonderful time with you Chloe, I hope you know that."

"Aww Charlie that's so sweet."

"Would you maybe like to do this again sometime?"

Their night didn't end with a kiss, but it did result in another date. The pair went on a string of dates over the next few weeks, which Chloe enjoyed immensely as they served their purpose as a distraction perfectly. Eventually Charles initiated a kiss, which was awkward but sweet. He wasn't a bad kisser, but Chloe just didn't feel a spark between them. She knew that she didn't like him anywhere near as much as he likes her, but she thought that maybe she could learn to be attracted to him over time once she get to know him better. So she continued to date him, and the makeout sessions became more frequent and started to gain more urgency each time. He was very good looking and Chloe could easily recognise that: Charlie was attractive but she just wasn't attracted to him. Although she felt terrible for giving the young man false hope by leading him on, she knew that she needed the distraction; their dates were the only time when Chloe stopped thinking about Beca, at least for part of them.

Chloe decided to do the only thing she could think of to make herself feel better, she skyped Aubrey. Just seeing the blonde on the screen was enough to make Chloe break down, she started sobbing uncontrollably and suddenly realised how much she had missed the girl she considered a sister. Her support system was thousands of miles away and seeing her again reminded Chloe of how nice it was to have such a wonderful friend. They had been catching up for the better part of an hour when the topic of romance, which Chloe had been doing her best to avoid, became prevalent.

"Have you made any friends out there Chlo?"

"Yeah I made friends with one of the English teachers, Charlie - he's a grad too."

"And? What's he like? Is he nice? I will make sure wolves get involved if he does anything that upsets you."

"Aww Bree that won't be necessary, Charlie is great. He's really gentle and kind, and kinda handsome too which helps."

"So does that mean you might be ready to move on from the hobbit?"

Silence.

"Okay I'll take that as a no... But maybe consider him? Being with someone new could really help you forget"

"Forget about being rejected by the only person I've been in love with? Yeah something tells me I won't be getting over that for a while Bree, you know that."

"Chlo, you never told her how you felt. I mean she is an idiot for not seeing it as literally all of the bellas and everyone else who's seen you two interact know how you felt. But she didn't reject you."

"So you're saying if I had told her she would have magically said she liked me back and everything would have been okay?"

"Chloe Elizabeth Beale."

"I know. I'm sorry Bree, you were just trying to help and I'm being awful to you. I just, I'm hurting all the time, and I still miss her so much. I don't think I realised how much time we spent together until we… stopped."

"Are you saying you regret going to Zambia?"

"No, it sounds horrible but I needed to get some space away from her and this enabled me to do that. It's just hard you know?"

"You know you could always talk to her Chlo. Maybe ignoring her completely is the reason you can't let go of her. And there's nothing wrong with staying friends, if anything, and this pains me to say, I think you need the hobbit in your life."

"Ughhhhh Breeeee. Fine. I'll put the SIM card back in my phone. And maybe I'll text her, maybe I won't. But at least then if she reaches out to me, which I doubt she will, then I'll see what she has to say."

The pair continued chatting until Aubrey had to go and prepare for a big presentation at her internship (at one of the biggest law firms in New York). Chloe was still crying but she was starting to feel better, she knew what she had to do, even though it would inevitably make her hurt more. She puts her American SIM back in her phone and restarted it.