Chapter 7

"Chloe, I swear if you don't let go of me now I'm going to die!" Aubrey was just as happy to see her best friend, but suffocating in Chloe's embrace was not how she pictured her own death.

Aubrey was still in charge at the Lodge at Fallen Leaves. Her being in Georgia and Chloe being in New York meant that they rarely had the chance to see each other face to face. But given Chloe's recent situation, Aubrey felt like this trip was mandatory.

"So, tell me, how have you been doing? You holding up okay?"

It was another chilly New York night and they were sitting in a little cafe. Chloe looked bubbly as usual, but Aubrey knew how well her friend could pretend.

"Yes, Bree. I'm alright."

Yet Aubrey had a feeling Chloe was trying to evade eye contact. "Okay, in that case, I'm not going to beat around the bush - what are your plans for the baby and Beca?"

"Right. Okay." Chloe knew Aubrey had always been direct with her closest friends; she just wasn't expecting the interrogation to begin on the second question of the night. "I've found a place that is close to work and also the hospital, and I'm planning to move soon. And Bree, there is no plan with regards to Beca. The fact that I went back to her for help is already something I could not fathom. I'm not proud of what I did - back then and now - and I am grateful she has been a good friend all along; but she really has done enough, and it's time for me to move on. I made this choice myself and I plan to follow through alone."

Aubrey was still in the process of analysing what Chloe just said. "Okay… So have you told Beca you've found a place? Because from the looks of what she said to me, she wasn't expecting you to be leaving any soon."

Chloe looked at Aubrey, confused. "You two talked?"

Aubrey nodded. "Whether Beca and I talked is not the important thing here; what's more important is whether you and Beca talked. Or whether you were planning on talking to her."

"I am going to tell her. Soon." As Chloe sipped her camomile tea, she prayed that Aubrey would just let go of the topic.

They both sat there in silence for a while; it was Aubrey who spoke first. "Okay, again, I'm just going to cut to the chase. Did you catch the "running away from people" thing from Beca? 'Cause it sure seems more like her trait than yours."

"You are real subtle Aubrey." Chloe deadpanned. "But this is not running away; this is leaving when I never should have come back."

"Okay, so this is about the fact that you left her 4 years ago, isn't it?" Aubrey asked.

Chloe closed her eyes; nobody had successfully escaped the Aubrey Posen inquisition, ever. It sure looked like she wasn't going to tonight either. "Bree, please. I have a good job that pays well. I know it's not going to be easy but I'm a tough chick too. I can do this."

"Chloe, your pivoting skill is a joke, do you know that?" Aubrey knew none of their friends would ever confront Chloe; and because of that both Chloe and Beca have just been running around in circles for years. They thought it was frustrating enough back in college; they sure weren't expecting themselves to be doing the same thing 10 years on. "You broke Beca's heart 4 years ago, that was a fact."

"Yes I know and can we please just move on? Please, Bree." Chloe begged.

"No, because you need to listen to what I'm going to say - you're going to listen because nobody else is going to tell you this but me." Aubrey turned her voice up a notch. She took a deep breath and continued. "What you did broke Beca's heart, there was no doubt about that. But I'm going to say this not because you are my best friend, but because this is what I think. What a lot of us think -" Aubrey knew she had to inflict old wounds, but it was necessary. "When we were in college, Beca knew the way you felt about her. She knew you guys had a connection but she chose Jesse. She chose Jesse because she thought he was the safe choice. She chose him because he was the "supposedly normal"."

"Aubrey, you couldn't equate what she did back then to what I did 4 years ago. We weren't in a relationship. She had the right to choose whoever she wanted to be with." Chloe was desperate; she really didn't want to discuss this any further.

"But for 4 years, you were hurt too. Here's the thing - I am not trying to make you look like a better person, or Beca, worse. At some point in time, you both were hurt by each other. And I believe no one act was more justifiable than the other. None of us said anything; not when Beca was with Jesse, nor when you broke up with her. That was not because we were taking sides Chloe, but because we knew you two had to figure things out yourselves." Aubrey paused. "You both got scared. Beca was scared because she didn't know what it meant to be falling for you. You got scared when you didn't understand how something that wasn't what you were expecting in life felt so right. Did you two make stupid decisions? Maybe. But the only thing I could see as a friend, was that being apart did not make either of you happier. And that really sucked."

Chloe kept on looking at her cup of tea; because she would fail to contain any of the tears that were building up in her eyes with the slightest of head movement.

"Some people think a good relationship meant that nobody did anything to hurt another; that would be great, of course. But shit happens; they just do. Does that mean what was once a great relationship won't work again? I don't think so. No relationship would be as simple as meeting the prince at a ball and then you two live happily ever after." Aubrey chuckled. "It's just that in your case, it's a princess instead of a prince."

And that comment made Chloe smile too. "Did you get a second degree in therapy or something Bree? 'Cause you sure sound smooth and confident."

Aubrey shrugged. "Camp counsellor. Therapist. Aren't they the same thing?"