In the evening, Chloe was pacing in her room, thinking about who she was going to take to the club that night. I should call Aubrey, she'll know what to do. She thought to herself as she stopped pacing to walk over to her phone on the nightstand. The redhead dialled her best friend's number and held her phone to her ear.

"Hey Chlo." Aubrey said through the phone.

"Hi Bree, how are you?" Chloe sat down on her bed, putting a pillow on her lap to fidget on the corners of it.

"Alive. How are you?"

The redhead noticed the sadness in her best friend's voice and stopped fidgeting at the corners of her pillow to sit up straight. "Hey, what's wrong?"

She heard the blonde sigh before she spoke. "It's Ashley."

"What about her?" Chloe asked curiously.

Aubrey took a deep breath before she started. "When I got back home after dinner yesterday night, she called me. She said she had a rough day and wanted to spend the night with me. I couldn't say no, so she came over. We talked and watched a movie together, ate cupcakes and drank wine. It was nice."

"So, what's wrong then?"

The blonde took a few seconds to reply. "Later that night I realized I liked the little time we spent together so much, even though it was way too soon, I started to question myself if she would really stick around. And you know what I do when I'm not sure if people will stick around."

Chloe knew very well what her best friend had done. The blonde seemed to be like a magnet to jerks who want her for her money, so she would tell them that she didn't want her parent's help and leave the company to make her life on her own.

"She bolted?!" Chloe shot out.

"She said she suddenly remembered something she had to do and she left. She hasn't replied to any of my texts ever since. I didn't see her at work today either."

"I'm so sorry, Bree. It's good it happened so soon though, it would've been worse if it happened in the future, or after you took the next step."

The blonde didn't respond this time. All she could get herself to say was 'Uhm.."

Chloe jumped up from her bed with her eyes widened. "Oh no, did you…? When..? Why w….." She couldn't finish any of the sentences she tried to form.

"After the movie." Aubrey explained. "I know it was stupid Chlo, I should've told her before we slept together. Everything went just so fast. I can blame it on the wine, but that would be really weak."

The redhead didn't feel the need to tell her best friend how very stupid it was to sleep with someone after seeing them twice, because she knew the blonde had made a mistake she was aware of and didn't need any lecture at the moment because she already regretted it.

"Crap, Aubrey. Do you want me to come over? Are you okay?" Chloe said worriedly.

"No, I'll be fine. I think I just need to go out to clear my head.

Chloe suddenly remembered why she called her best friend in the first place and sat back down on the edge of her bed. "Now that you mention it, I totally forgot to tell you! We're going out tonight. And I somehow managed to tell Beca I had a boyfriend named Tom and she's expecting me with him at the club tonight. It's a long story, I will tell you later. You can join us too by the way, it will help clearing your head, but I really need your help right now."

"Whoa, slow down. Why did you lie to her?" The blonde asked non-accusatory.

"Because she tells me things like I'm not normal, I don't know how to smile and don't value my life."

Aubrey sighed. "Chlo, we all know that's true."

"I know, but I don't need her telling me that!" Chloe took a deep breath before she continued. "I just need to find a guy named Tom to pretend like my boyfriend, or someone else who can pretend to be Tom and my boyfriend."

"Uhm, Let me think.. How about Donald from our MBA class? He's got a huge crush on you, he would practically do anything you'd ask." Aubrey suggested.

"He does?" Chloe frowned.

"Yeah, I can't believe you've never noticed it. His coner is pretty distracting when he's around you." Aubrey explained.

"What the hell is a coner?"

She heard the blonde laugh lightly through the phone. "It's just some word I use for people who have a crush on their classmates."

"Huh. Well, I don't think that's a good idea though. I wouldn't want to ask someone to pretend like my boyfriend while he's got feelings for me. It would be really disrespectful, Bre." Chloe sighed.

"You're right, sorry.." They were both silent for a moment, thinking about other options till Aubrey broke the silence again. "Oh! How about Tommy? I mean, he's not the most handsome guy but the name is practically the same and he's a good person, he would help a friend out." The blonde suggested.

Tommy was skinny and had a funny way of speaking as if his tongue was always in the way. His short brown hair was always filled with too much hair gel to hold his tuft up, but he was a smart and kind person.

"That's brilliant, how did I not think of that! I don't have his number though. Do you?" Chloe asked hopefully.

"I do, we exchanged numbers when I needed his help with our last project. Hold on." Chloe got up and moved to her nightstand to get a pen and ripped a piece out of a newspaper as she waited for her friend to give her the number.

"Okay, got it. Are you listening?"

"Yes, shoot." Chloe responded.

"718-779-3646."

"Let's see. 718-779-4646. Correct?" Chloe asked for confirmation.

"No, it's 3646 at the end, not 4646." Aubrey corrected.

"Okay thank you! I'm going to call him now. I will text you the details about tonight, you're coming right?"

"Who else is coming besides Beca?" The blonde asked.

"This Luke guy that Amy's crushing on is a DJ there, he invited us over actually. So it's going to be him, Amy, Beca, you, me and hopefully Tommy." The redhead explained.

"Sounds like fun, I'm definitely coming. Wouldn't wanna miss you going out."

"Thank you Aubrey, you're the best! That foul loathsome evil little cockroach of an Ashley doesn't know what she's missing. Her loss!"

"That's sweet, Chlo. Thank you. And have you been watching Harry Potter again, or do you remember those curse words from last time?"

"I remember from last time." Chloe chuckled. "I just love to say it."

Aubrey laughed lightly. "You make it sound so cute, it's almost impossible to get insulted by that."

The redhead smiled to herself. "Anyway, I will see you tonight then! Thanks again."

"Thank you. I'll be waiting for your text. See you tonight!"

Chloe ended the call and took the piece of paper off the nightstand as she walked over to her bed to sit down and dial the number. She held the phone back to her ear as she waited for Tommy to answer.

"Hello?"

"Hey Tommy, it's Chloe. Chloe Beale."

"Oh hey, what's up?"

She explained everything to her classmate. Starting with the annoying new neighbour, to the insults, and eventually her imaginary boyfriend. The guy was amused by the situation the redhead had gotten herself into. They discussed the details and he ended up agreeing to lend a hand.

"Thank you, Tommy. You can pick me up at eleven."

"Eleven it is. See you tonight." The guy said before hanging up.

Chloe felt relieved that Tommy agreed on cooperating as she texted the details to Aubrey.

…

"Mom, I'm going out tonight." Chloe informed her mother when she got downstairs. The woman was watching TV, appreciating the silence while the children and her monster-in-law were asleep.

"With who?" Jennifer dropped her head over the back of the couch to face her daughter upside down.

"Aubrey, Amy, Tommy and.." Chloe hesitated for a second. "…and Beca." She added.

"Oh, Beca! Did she convince you to go out? You never go out." Jennifer lifted her head as her daughter moved over to sit on the couch beside her.

The redhead sighed. "Really, mom? Is Beca the only name you've heard? You didn't even ask who Tommy is." Her gaze dropped to the ground. "And no, I wanted to go myself." Chloe lied. She didn't really want to go. It was just to proof Beca that she wasn't some boring, lifeless, anti-smiling loner who never had a date since her father's death, which has been 6 years already.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Since you're not interested in men, I figured it would be one of the other girls' date. So, who's Tommy?" Jennifer asked curiously.

Chloe threw her hands in the air as a frown found its way to her face. "Why does everybody keep saying that?! Why would you think I'm not interested in men?"

"Simply because you never show interest." Jennifer stated. "Now who's Tommy?"

Chloe wanted to tell her the truth, but after hearing her mother's prejudices, she decided not to. "It's actually my date for tonight." She blurted out, hoping she wouldn't regret it later.

"I am so happy for you! It's been so long since you've had a male figure in your life. I think it was about time." Jennifer smiled, pulling her daughter in for a hug.

Yup. She already regretted lying to her mother. Chloe couldn't bear the fact that her mother was happy about a lie.

She pulled away from her mother's hug. "Mom.. It's actually not really my date.." Chloe admitted.

Jennifer furrowed her eyebrows at her daughters concession. "What do you mean?"

"Anger got the best of me when you judged me, so it just slipped out of my mouth. Tommy is just a friend who's gonna pick me up at eleven . He's in our MBA class." She sighed. "And I don't need a male figure in my life. I've got the most amazing friends, a strong, loving mother and memories of my father. I don't need anything else."

Despite the confidence in her voice, she knew it wasn't completely true. She always had a feeling that something was missing. A feeling that her father couldn't give her anymore. The feeling to be home.

A smile played on Jennifer's lips. "I'm so lucky to have a daughter like you. And I'm sorry, I shouldn't have made any prejudices about you. I hope you will have fun tonight." She pulled Chloe back in for another hug . "Now go get dressed, your date will be here in two hours."

….

"Are you sure you're not coming?" Beca asked Jesse as she put her black shoes on that matched her black tank top underneath her auburn coloured blouse.

"No, I don't feel like partying." Jesse deadpanned from the couch. "You shouldn't either."

Beca let out a sigh. "What do you expect me to do, Jesse? Lock myself up inside, and grumble about what Stacie said?"

Jesse looked down at his hands to think for a moment before he looked back up at his best friend who was now standing in front of him with her arms folded. "No, I just… I don't know Becs. Just don't do anything stupid."

Beca dropped her arms. "Don't worry. I won't even drink."

Jesse nodded quietly as Beca leaned over to hug her best friend before she turned back to walk over to the door. "Good night, Jess. You'll probably be sleeping when I get back."

"Good night and make good choices!" He yelled after Beca as she left.

…

The bell rang and Jennifer got up from the couch to open the door. When her eyes met a skinny guy in tight jeans and a blue checkered blouse, she couldn't help but feel relieved that it wasn't her daughter's real date. "You must be Tommy. Come in, Chloe will be down in a minute." She stepped aside to let the him in.

Not much longer they heard footsteps on the stairs. They both turned around to see Chloe walk down the stairs in a tight blue, strapless, short dress that hugged her body perfectly. Her hair was let down on one side and the way her makeup was done, made her eyes pop out even more than usual. Her heels were shiny dark blue, with a black layer on the bottom matching her black purse. Tommy's jaw dropped at her appearance as he had never seen the redhead outside of school. But even Jennifer had never seen her daughter dressed up like that.

Chloe frowned at the gazes she was getting. "Is it too much?"

"No, not at all. You just look gorgeous honey." Jennifer said with wide eyes.

"Definitely, gorgeous." Tommy added.

"Thanks." Chloe felt a blush creep up her cheeks as she walked over to Tommy. "Let's go."

….

"Hello girls!" Aubrey squealed happily as she entered Club Nirvana and made her way over to Beca and Amy who were standing at the bar. "Where's Chloe?"

"We haven't seen her yet." Amy shrugged.

"She'll probably be here soon." Aubrey guessed. "So, who's this Luke guy?" She moved her eyebrows up and down mischievously.

Amy opened her mouth to speak, but stopped when she saw Luke coming their way. "He's coming!" she said happily.

Luke threw an arm around Amy. "Hey sweetheart. I'm going to the DJ cabin, would you like to join me?"

Aubrey cringed at the sight of a guy with sunglasses, black jeans and nothing but an unbuttoned purple sleeveless jacket.

"Of course!" Amy said, clapping her hands excitedly. "I'll join you in a minute."

"Cool." Luke replied as he turned around to walk over to the cabin.

Amy turned to face Beca. "He called me sweetheart!" she hugged the brunette and kissed her on the cheek. "I love you!"

"Good, now go and love him." Beca smiled after Amy as the blonde ran towards the cabin.

"Oh look, Chloe and Tommy.. I mean.. Tom are coming." Aubrey gestured towards the entrance.

Beca turned her head around to look at the point Aubrey was gesturing at as her eyes met Chloe's. She admired the gorgeous woman for a moment. She closed her eyes to snap out of her own little world. When she opened her eyes, Chloe and Tommy were standing beside them.

Chloe made a face of defiance as she introduced Tommy to Beca. "Beca, this is Tom." She gestured to Tommy. "Tom, this is Beca."

Beca shook his hand. "Nice to meet you!" She smiled.

"Nice to meet you too." Tommy smiled back.

"Let's get a drink!" Aubrey proposed.

"Yeah, it's on me!" Beca spat out. "What would you guys like to drink?"

"That's really nice, Beca. Thank you!." Aubrey said. "I think we can all agree to tequila shots."

Beca tapped the bar to get the barman's attention. "10 tequila shots please."

"Coming!" the barman replied.

She turned back to Tommy. "So, how did you two meet?"

Tommy and Chloe looked at each other for a moment, not expecting that question.

"In the park." Tommy rushed out just at the same time that Chloe said "MBA classes."

"Sorry? I didn't catch that." Beca frowned at the two as Chloe squeezed the guy in the arm.

In the meantime, the barman put the tequila shots in front of them.

"We study together in the MBA classes, but we met in the park before." Chloe finally said.

"Okay, and what were you doing in the park?" Beca asked curiously.

"Very good question." Tommy pointed out, using that time to think. "I had taken my dog for a walk, and she had taken hers for a walk!" He said confidently.

Beca laughed lightly. "That's strange. Chloe doesn't have a dog."

"I had taken my neighbour's dog for a walk!" Chloe shot out.

Aubrey shook her head at how stupid that sounded.

"That's even stranger, because Amy and I are your neighbours and we don't have dogs either." Beca grinned.

"Chloe, you silly girl. Did you forget? You took your friend's dog!" Tommy commented.

"Okay, what's your friend's name?" Beca asked amused.

"Jessica!" Tommy spat out with a shock on his face.

The redhead raised an eyebrow. "Jessica?" she questioned.

A woman with long, curly brown hair, green eyes and a shiny golden dress interrupted them. "Tommy?!"

"Jessica." Tommy repeated.

"What are you doing here? You told me you were going to visit your family?"

Tommy opened his mouth to speak, but Beca cut him off. "Did Chloe take your dog out?" she smirked. "Is that how these love birds met each other?"

Jessica furrowed her eyebrows and glared at Tommy. "Love birds? I didn't know you had a girlfriend!"

"She is not my girlfriend!" Tommy divulged.

The woman raised her hand. "I don't even care. I'm out of here." She said as she walked away.

Tommy slammed his palm against his forehead. "That was the girl I asked out 3 days ago!" he mused.

Beca conjured an innocent look on her face. "I am very confused, Chloe." She said, trying to fight a laugh, but failed.

Chloe pointed her finger at the brunette. "You, just shut up." She said, sternly. "You knew all along that I didn't have a boyfriend, so why did you act?"

Beca smirked. "Was I acting, or you? I was just amusing myself."

"She's right, Chlo. It was all you." Aubrey pointed out.

"Oh please, both of you just keep quiet." Chloe implored. "What do you think? Coming here, dancing, singing and drinking means living life? Well.. anyone can do it, but I don't want to do it!" She grumbled hotly, folding her arms.

"That's because you're boring." Beca stated, turning to face Tommy as she continued. "So tell me about Jessica, she's hot!"

Chloe's eyes widened, watching the two speak.

"She's very hot!" Tommy replied.

"You should go after her. If she doesn't want you anymore, you can give her my number." Beca winked.

Chloe pushed the two aside, taking one tequila shot after another till she finally had 5. Beca, Aubrey and Tommy looked at her with wide eyes.

"I'll show you how to party!" Chloe yelled, grabbing Aubrey's hand and dragging her to the dance floor. Beca watched the redhead dance with her best friend, fully amused by this new side of the woman.

A few moments later, the redhead noticed a few women practically throwing themselves at the brunette. Beca seemed to enjoy the company. Chloe couldn't help but feel jealous, pulling Aubrey closer to her as she turned around to grind her ass to the blonde's front. It didn't help to get the brunette's attention though. Aubrey on the other hand, didn't think of anything else anymore, she was enjoying every second of it.

After Tommy left the club, Beca guided one of the women to the dance floor, making Chloe more jealous. The redhead stopped dancing and furiously walked back to the bar as Aubrey followed her.

"I need a drink." The blonde said, as she took the other 5 shots. "Daamn, I didn't know you were…." Chloe didn't pay attention to her best friend. Her eyes were constantly looking for the brunette. I'm gonna walk over and drag that woman out of this club by her hair! Who does she think she is? Chloe thought to herself.

"Chloe, are you listening?" Aubrey said, waving her hand in front of the woman's face. The redhead snapped out of her thoughts. She turned her head to face her best friend, but was caught off guard by how close they were. Chloe couldn't stop herself from getting closer. They could feel each other's breath brush against their lips. Just a little bit closer and…..

"Am I interrupting something?" Beca cut in.

The two women jumped at the interruption.

"I think we should go home." Chloe said, looking around for Tommy. "Where's Tom?"

"He left." Beca explained. "He went after Jessica."

"Oh, then I guess I'm gonna have to grab a taxi." Chloe picked up her purse and grabbed Aubrey's hand as they tried to walk towards the exit, stumbling. Beca shook her head with a smile on her face and handed some money to the barman before she walked over to the drunk women to link her arms with theirs. With Chloe on her right and Aubrey on her left side they walked out of the club, trying to find a cab.

As they walked, Beca heard a sob coming from her right. "What's wrong?" She asked worriedly.

"My father used to take me to school like this." Chloe said, wiping the tears that had escaped from her eyes. "I miss him."

Beca opened her mouth to speak, but got cut off by the blonde. "May I?" Aubrey said, gesturing between herself and Chloe.

"Sure, of course." Beca replied, unlinking their arms.

Aubrey walked over to Chloe and brushed a strand of hair from her face. "Don't cry, Chlo. You don't look nice when you cry." Aubrey said. "You look nice when you are angry at me. So, whenever you miss your father, just think about how stupid I've been about Ashley. You'll get angry." She wiped the remaining tears from Chloe's cheeks. "I really like you, Chloe. My day is not complete till I see you again."

Beca closed her eyes for a moment to stop the tears that were trying to escape, forcing a smile on her face as she watched the two women.

Chloe looked into the blonde's eyes as a smile found its way to her face. "You are so sweet, Aubrey."

"A smile looks even nicer." Aubrey grinned. "Now let's go find a cab." She linked her arm with Chloe's and they walked together as Beca followed them, with her hand pressed against her chest again, fighting the tears from running down her face.