Chloe grunts as she sets down the last box from the van. "There," she breaths, "that's the last of them." She then sighs as she looks at the rest of the boxes scattered around the living room floor of the apartment she is sharing with Aubrey and Stacie, knowing she'll have to unpack them all soon. With a huff, she settles down on the carpet with her back against one of the walls. She's wondering why they brought so much stuff in the first place if they were only going to be here for three short months.
"Hey, Chlo." She hears Aubrey call her from one of the rooms. Bree was here? She could have sworn she saw Aubrey leave ten minutes prior with Stacie to buy a tub of 'cool down' ice cream-as Stacie would put it- for after unloading. Getting up, she makes her way down the hall and into the last door to the right- which was decided to be Aubrey's room. The door across from the blonde's being the restroom that is to the left of Chloe's room, and the door to the left of Aubrey's being Stacie's room.
When she enters, she sees Aubrey on her stomach- sprawled out across her bed that's surrounded by boxes. She looks exhausted. "Hey, Bree. I thought you went with Stacie to get the ice cream?" Chloe asks as she takes a seat at the foot of the bed. She watches as the blonde turns over and sits up, her back resting against the bedframe now, then speaks.
"I was going to, but when I went to catch up with her, she was talking to some guy from down the hall. Knowing Stacie, I decided not to interrupt."
"Good call." Chloe smiles at how fast the leggy brunette works. "So, what did you need me for?"
"I wanted to talk to you about this." The blonde uses her hand to gesture to the boxes around her bed. Confused as to what she means, Chloe questions.
"The boxes?" Before Aubrey can answer, however, Stacie enters the room.
"Guys, guess what? I just got the number of a 'Dean' who lives in room 301 down the hall." Stacie says while holding up a small piece of paper with digits scribbled across it. For anyone else, the redhead might say it's impressive but she once witnessed the brunette enter a heated make-out session in under a minute.
"Nice." Chloe compliments with a wink.
"That was quick." Aubrey replies while Stacie shrugs with a smug smile. Before she can lose her train of thought, Aubrey turns back to Chloe. "But, as I was saying, I think we should hold off on unpacking. I think we got a good amount of work done for the day." Chloe is a bit surprised that Bree is the one to suggest resting. She pretends to ponder the idea, though she agreed in her head the moment the words left the blonde's mouth.
"Okay, sounds great," the redhead smiles, "and we'll just finish unpacking tomorrow, right?" She asks just to be sure. She trusts her best friend, but she knows how the blonde can get sometimes with wanting everything organized and perfect. She knows something as simple as not unpacking can get under Aubrey's skin and cause her to act on impulse of wanting everything where it belongs.
Aubrey gets off the bed, slipping on her shoes and putting on a thin coat. "Don't worry, Chlo, I won't unpack anything. I'll do whatever we plan- whether it's relaxing or going to a club. But let's not do that either, I'm too tired for it." She assures with a soft smile. Chloe is thankful for her friend trying to relax, but she is also confused as to why she looks like she is about to leave.
"Hey, maybe we can go explore some of the city with the rest of the Bellas- to get an idea of some things we can do." Stacie offers.
"Yeah, that's sounds like a good idea, Stace." Aubrey agrees while finishing up tying her shoelaces.
"Um, Bree? Where are you going?" Chloe finally asks. She watches as her friend walks towards the bedroom door, from which Stacie has been standing next to the whole time, and takes a hold of the doorknob.
"I'm going to get the ice cream," Aubrey tries to give an accusing glare to Stacie, but the small smile that breaks out shows she's not seriously mad, "that we all wanted."
Kicking her toes on the ground, the brunette shrugs and gives a shy smile, "Oops."
Aubrey is about to leave when she turns back around, "You guys are both good with vanilla, right?"
Chloe almost grimaces at the name of the ice cream. "Vanilla? Come on, Bree- live a little. Vanilla is so plain and simple."
"Yeah, Bree, vanilla is boring," Stacie agrees from the spot she moved to- next to Chloe, "You should get rocky road or something."
Chloe gasps at Stacie's choice. The brunette must have read her mind. "Yeah, rocky road sounds deliciously perfect right now." The redhead beams at Aubrey, already excited for the frozen food.
"Alright, rocky road it is." Aubrey says. "Don't either of you want anything else?" After receiving two head shakes, she sets off.
After the blonde leaves, Stacie turns to Chloe from her spot on the bed, criss-crossing her legs in the process. "So, have you talked to your hottie yet?"
Chloe gives her a bewildered look, "My hottie? Beca?" Stacie nods and looks at her expectantly. She finds it funny how Stacie refers to her old friend as a 'hottie', which she can completely agree with. She remembers how she always thought Beca was cute when they were kids, but after seeing her in the market... she noticed the small brunette now has a sexyness to her while simultaneously being adorable. It's pretty overwhelming- in the best way possible. "Uh, we've texted here and there since I last saw her, but that's it. I mean, it's only been...," she checks the time on her phone, "about two and a half hours since the market, and she was running late for work at the time. I don't want to call and get her in trouble just to catch up."
Stacie hums in agreement before growing a mischievous glint in her eyes. "So, when are you planning on bedding her?"
Chloe gasps with an amused smile on her face. She playfully pushes the brunette's shoulder, "Stace!" The taller girl laughs at the reaction she received. "I will be doing no such thing. Beca was and is an important friend to me and I don't want to ruin that just to sleep with her...even if she is, like, a real hottie now." They giggle as if they were teens talking about boys at a sleep over.
"She's free then?" Stacie asks with a hopeful look in her eyes.
Chloe's face grows sympathetic as she answers the question, "Sorry, Stace. As far as I know, she's only straight and she mentioned something about her boyfriend, Liam? Lucas? No, I think it's Luke."
Stacie visibly deflates. "Ugh, they're always straight or in a relationship." She then smirks, "It won't stop me from trying though. Maybe I'll have a chance if it flirt her up."
Chloe laughs at her friend's determination. "If I know Beca, that might actually work. I don't know if she still does, but she used to love to flirt. Like, with everyone, as long as she was comfortable around them. Whether she was actually interested in the person or not, I'm not so sure of though." She sees Stacie grow hopeful again.
"Perfect! Because that girl is seriously easy on the eyes. I bet even Bree can agree that the chick has some crazy good genes, and she's the straightest Bella from all of us."
"Bree? What about Emily?"
The brunette shakes her head. "Just before we came, I had seen her giving mouth to mouth on the school's football field bleachers with-" Stacie gropes her breast to imply it was a girl.
A look of realization comes across Chloe's face, "Oh." She had not expected to hear that. Stacie nods.
"I know. I was as surprised as you are. Not as innocent as we all thought."
"I guess not." Chloe hums, still thinking about it. She had originally thought Emily was into that one kid, Benji, from the Trebles. But maybe that was a one sided thing. "Anyways," she changes the subject, "we should call Bree to see if she made it to the store yet. I really want that ice cream."
Aubrey answers after the second ring, "Hello?"
"Hey, Bree. You're on speaker with me and Stace. We were just checking if you made it to the store yet?" Chloe informs.
"Yeah, I actually just got here. I'm getting out of the car as we speak."
"We also have a question," Stacie states, "do you agree that Beca was pretty hot?"
"Chloe's friend, Beca? I don't know, I've never seen her." Aubrey replies.
"What? Didn't you see her at the market?" Chloe asks.
"Yeah, when she was throwing around her looks?"
The blonde chuckles on the line, "No. I only saw the back of her, so I only got her height from a distance. But I'm sure you're both exaggerating." Before the girls can reply, Aubrey is speaking again. "I have to go guys, I think it's left my wallet in the car, so I have to walk back." Aubrey hangs up after the girls say goodbye.
Aubrey was just over half way through the parking lot when she realized she was missing her wallet. Now she has to walk all the way back to the car they are being loaned from one of Stacie's uncles who lives in LA. Sure, she encourages the Bellas to exercise, but that doesn't mean that she particularly likes nor hates to do it herself. But she knows it's important to keep your body in shape. Not to mention, she's exhausted from carrying all their boxes up the stairwell and into the apartment. When she puts her phone away, she double checks all her pockets for her wallet. Thanking the heavens, she sighs in relief when she finds it in her interior coat pocket. She smiles to herself as she turns around towards the store again. Before she can take a step however, she is hit by a force that sends her falling onto her bottom. She let's out a small yelp as she falls. Looking up, she sees that she was knocked down by a small brunette who seems to be in a daze looking at her. Aubrey extends her hand to the girl in an attempt of knocking her out of her daze, and for some help up. It seems to work as the brunette shakes her head, snapping out of it. She hurriedly puts away the phone she was holding along with dropping her two bags- that look to be full of junk food- down at her sides. This causes some of the items to fall out, but the brunette doesn't seem to care as she pulls Aubrey to her feet.
With genuine concern of her face, the brunette begins to apologize while helping the blonde up, "Shit, oh my gosh, I am so sorry. I was in a rush getting out of the store and texting a fellow intern at my job that I didn't see where it was going- then I bumped into you. And it's just, interning sucks, you know? You're always in a hurry and accidents like this one can become common. Or that may just be me, I don't know. Okay, I'm going to stop rambling now. But seriously, are you okay?" The brunette asks Aubrey with concern and guilt mixed on her features.
"Uh, yeah, I'm fine." Aubrey answers honestly. "It's partly my fault too. I shouldn't have had went in the opposite direction of all this oncoming traffic." The blonde jokes about the humanless row of the parking lot, aside from the two girls.
The brunette looks around the empty lot, confused at first. "Oh! You're joking, right." She laughs. Aubrey nods with a fond and amused smile growing on her face. She finds the girl's slight awkwardness quite endearing- not to mention, she has a beautiful smile. "I really have to get these snacks back to my bosses," the shorter girl picks up her bags, "But I really am sorry." She takes something out of one of the bags and hands it to Aubrey. "Forgive me? Please, take this, as a former of apology. It's not much, but, yeah."
The blonde looks at her hand and sees a Twix bar. But before she can protest, the brunette is gone. She smiles as the situation replays in her mind. She couldn't help but think the girl was kind of adorable when panicked. Wait, adorable? Was that the right word? Oh well, she doesn't ponder the thought. Instead, she continues towards the store. Huh, the brunette managed to get her favorite candy
"I'm back!" Aubrey shouts upon entering her shared apartment. She quickly makes her way into the kitchen to put away the three buckets of ice cream she bought. Chloe had text her that the rest of the Bellas were coming over and she should buy extra, therefore, she purchased two big buckets of rocky road and a smaller tub of vanilla for herself and Jessica- who apparently doesn't like rocky road. God, she hopes all of this fits in the freezer.
"In here!" Chloe shouts back from the living room. She can hear the murmurs of the talking Bellas in the background too. Aubrey Posen, never being one to ask for help, attempts to fit the buckets in the freezer by herself. Just when she thinks she has it, all three buckets secure and being held in place by one of her hands while the other reaches for the door, her hand slips on the sweaty exterior of the bucket. Aubrey shuts her eyes and flinches as she waits for the crash of the buckets hitting tiled floor. Instead, she's met with silence, so she opens her eyes. When she does, she discovers a smirking Stacie standing before her- having rescued the buckets threatening to fall.
"Does the great Aubrey Posen need help?" She teases.
Aubrey does her best to avoid eye contact and gives a nervous chuckle while muttering, "Of course not." She tries to sell but Stacie just squinting her eyes. She sighs, knowing she'll have to admit it. "Okay. Maybe just this once." The blonde is grateful once they manage to close the freezer. Thanking Stacie, they make their way to the living room to join the others.
Upon entering the crowded space, she sees Chloe in the center, clapping and trying to gather everyone's attention. She notes that everyone is either standing against a wall or sitting on the carpet due to the lack of furniture. "Alright, ladies." The redhead raises her voice. When the noise dies down and everyone is focused on her, she continues. "Bree and I have decided-," Stacie purposely clears her throat, "along with Stacie, of course, that we'll all go out today- as a group. We can explore some of the city and just have a good time to get a quick feel of the place. And, it's up to you when you do it, but we're going to unpack tomorrow." Murmurs begin again as the Bellas talk about the proposition.
After giving the girls a minute to discuss, Aubrey asks, "Is everybody in?" They all do their own small cheer of confirmation.
"Great! So you guys can all go get ready and we'll meet back here at eight." Chloe informs.
Everyone nods. When Stacie mentions the ice cream in the freezer, they all race towards the kitchen. Chloe and Aubrey laugh as they see the girls push and shove for the cold treat. They even hear Amy say something about the 'Fat power', but Aubrey isn't sure of what she means. Once they're out of sight, Chloe turns to Aubrey. "Have you talked to your dad, yet?"
"No, but he should be calling within the next two hours or so."
"Oh. You nervous?"
The blonde sighs, "I don't expect him to say anything I want to hear. I just- all I'm hoping for is to not hear disappointment in his voice. I want him to at least pretend to care about me instead of what I do for once."
"I know, Bree." The redhead says soothingly, rubbing circles in the small of Aubrey's back in a comforting manner. "Don't let him get to you. This is your life, not his."
"Thanks, Chlo." The blonde gives her friend a hug. She doesn't know what she would do without the peppy girl, and hopefully she'll never have to find out. She knows Chloe is right, that this is her life and she shouldn't care what her dad thinks, but there is a part of her that is always wishing for his approval. Now she just has to find a way of getting rid of that part of her.
I want to thank everyone who favorited and followed my story, it means a lot. I also got some amazing reviews from people who's stories I've read and loved, so I thought that was pretty awesome. Thank you guys for reviewing and giving me some good feedback. I can't even express in words how much I appreciate it. I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and if not, please don't hesitate to tell me why.
-Nessa
