A/N: Sorry for the long wait guys! I'm really trying, but life is getting in the way. Thanks for everyone who followed/reviewed. It means a lot ! Keep them coming :)

Chloe was standing by the railing in Central Park, watching over the canal. The sky was dark blue mixed with a little bit of red and light orange as a result of the setting sun. She closed her eyes and let the wind brush through her hair as she listened to the sound of the waves. Thoughts were running inside her head like cars during the rush hour traffic. Her father's unexpected death, her grandmother's unwavering hatred, her best friend's feelings for her, her own feelings for Beca... well, she mostly thought about Beca.

Why is everything in my life against my own happiness? She sighed in frustration. Her eyes flushed open when she felt a gentle hand on her shoulder. She turned around and saw her mother standing behind her with a concerned expression. She looked down, refusing to make any eye contact with her so she wouldn't see the redness in her eyes that were caused by tears.

"I knew I would find you here." Jennifer said softly.

Chloe glanced at the water then at her hands as she started to rub her fingers. "I'm sorry if I made you worry. It's getting late, we should go home." She wanted to take a step forward, but her mother wouldn't budge. Instead, she kept staring at her daughter, waiting for her to spill everything that had made her cry.

When she realized that Chloe wasn't going to talk, she let out a hollow sigh and opened her mouth to speak. "I want to say something to you, will you please listen?"

The redhead finally looked up into her mother's eyes, knowing exactly what she was going to say. "No, let's just go home." Her voice sounded husky as if she had been screaming all day.

"No." Jennifer simply stated. "I want to talk, and you will listen."

Chloe's eyes grew wide at her mother's statement. Jennifer never really pushed her when she didn't want to talk. Normally, she would just agree and walk back home with her.

"You love Beca, right?" Jennifer asked rhetorically.

"This again, mom?" Chloe sighed and turned around to watch the canal.

The older woman ignored her and continued talking. "You've tried to follow your heart, but she doesn't love you back. She couldn't, because she's married."

"Thanks for reminding me." Chloe rolled her eyes.

"Just let me finish." Jennifer held up her hand. "You shouldn't let yourself get hurt over and over again. You're stronger than this, Chloe. You'll find someone else. Someone who will see your worth, someone who will be there for you, someone who will love you more than anything."

Chloe smiled lopsidedly. "I've already found someone like that." The words escaped her mouth without thinking causing her eyes to widen in surprise as she realized what she just said.

Jennifer was prepared to argue at whatever her daughter had to say about Beca, but she didn't expect an answer like that. She stood still, speechless for a moment with eyes full of questions she didn't know how to put into words. "What?" was the only response she managed to say.

The redhead took a deep breath and slowly turned her head to face her mother. "There already is someone like that." She repeated. "Beca helped her out to make me fall in love with her, but I accidentally found out about their stupid plan. She knew about my feelings for Beca, and yet she went to her asking for help in order to trick me into falling in love with her instead." She shook her head, irritated by the idea.

"Who is she?" Jennifer interrupted.

Chloe paused and looked down at her hands. "Aubrey." She mumbled, just loud enough for her mother to hear. When the older woman didn't respond, she looked up to her face, searching for any signs on what her mother might be thinking. Jennifer remained silent, looking at her daughter with eyes telling her to continue. Chloe ran a hand through her hair and continued speaking. "It went on for a few weeks. She started to change and treated me differently. I never really searched for any meaning behind her behaviour, but of course, deep down, I knew why she was acting that way. I just denied it, I don't really want to accept it." She let out a sigh. "I don't want to lose my best friend."

Jennifer smiled lightly and brushed a strand of hair from her daughter's face. "You won't lose her, honey." She assured her daughter. "She will only have a new place in your life. If she really does love you, she deserves a chance like that."

"I know, I thought about that, too." Chloe glanced down. "But I can't. I don't feel that way about her." She paused, "I love Beca." Jennifer opened her mouth to speak, but before she could say anything, Chloe continued. "And maybe she doesn't even love me that much. She needed Beca's help to discover and confess her feelings for me. Isn't that weak, mom?"

Jennifer placed her fingers under Chloe's chin and raised her head gently to look at her eyes. "Your father loved us a lot." She began. "But he was weak. He didn't think about us when he left." she quickly wiped a tear off her cheek. "Aubrey is not weak, darling. She just needed help to express her feelings, there's nothing wrong with that." She smiled briefly. "She's willing to accept you, even after knowing that you love someone else. That is strength, Chloe. I believe, that is love." Jennifer slowly brought her hands to the younger woman's face and cupped her cheeks. "Listen... if you don't want it now, it will be a girl's decision. But if one day you wake up 10 years later, and you find nobody by your side, it will be a woman's regret."

Chloe took a deep breath and turned around as she closed her eyes for a long moment, letting all the words sink in. Maybe her mother was right. Maybe it would help her to get over Beca and move on. There is no harm in trying.

Jennifer moved closer to her daughter and rested her head on her shoulder. Both women stood there in silence and watched the canal together as they thought about everything that was going on in their lives.

Suddenly, Chloe's eyes widened at a realization. "Oh my God." she blurted out.

Jennifer lifted her head from the younger woman's shoulder. "What's wrong?" she frowned.

"Grams.. Grams doesn't even know that I'm into women."

The older woman relaxed and laughed lightly. "She knows. I talked to her before coming here."

Chloe raised an eyebrow in disbelief. "You talked? Like.. a real conversation?"

Jennifer shook her head with a smile on her face. "Okay, we argued would be more like it." She admitted.

"What did she say?" Chloe was slightly nervous about the answer. Her grandmother was pretty religious after all.

"She blamed me, of course." Jennifer started. "She said that it's my fault you chose the "wrong path", because I'm the reason that you're left without a father."

"That is so not true." Chloe scoffed.

"I know." Jennifer rolled her eyes. "Try telling that to my monster-in-law."

….

Aubrey was never a fan of cotton candy. She likes to have things under her control, making sure that they are there to stay. You can't do that with cotton candy. It's just a useless heap of air to her. It looks all fluffy and tasty, but as soon as you put it in your mouth, just when you think you can enjoy the delicious taste, it vanishes. You try it over and over again, craving for more, hoping to control it this time by keeping it in your mouth, but it doesn't work. It ends up leaving an annoying vestige of stickiness on your fingers and you're left with nothing but a stick.

Her love for Chloe could be compared to that. It felt good and warm in the beginning. She thought she had everything under control as she got closer to her, blurring the line that separates her from being a friend to a lover. Just when she expected she had reached the point where she could finally get what she had desired, she ended up breaking her heart, leaving herself a trace of guilt and sadness. Just like a freakin' cotton candy, she absolutely has no control over the other woman's heart.

The blonde was sitting in her office, tapping a pen on her desk as she stared into empty space. Her mind kept repeating everything that happened the other day. It was the first time she had seen her best friend get hurt like that. It was even worse to know that she was a big part of the reason. When the phone in her office rang, she didn't even bother to force a smile on her face. It was morning and she didn't feel like smiling. Instead, she sighed and answered the phone lazily with a simple and weak 'Hello'. When a familiar voice spoke on the other end, she stopped tapping her pen and sat up straight. "Chloe, hi." She said with a little bit more life in her voice. Just a little bit.

"What are you doing?" Chloe asked softly.

Aubrey bit the inside of her lower lip before answering. "I – just working. "

"I wanted to talk to you about something."

"Tell me." Aubrey responded quickly.

"It's kind of private actually…"

….

"Private and confidential?" Amy frowned as her eyes glanced down at an envelope in her hands. She didn't pay much attention to the name it was addressed to. Her eyes moved over the envelope quickly as she was sure she read 'Beele'.

She started to bounce up and down happily when she realized who could've sent it to her. When she was about to open the envelope, the doorbell distracted her and she went to open the door.

"Hey, you are just in time. I got a letter from Luke!" Amy squealed excitedly.

"That's nice." Beca smiled as she stepped inside. "Listen, Aubrey just told me that Chloe wants to speak to her.. privately." She remarked the last word emphatically.

"Wonderful." The blonde responded curtly. "Did I mention that Luke has sent me a letter?"

"Yes, I heard you." The short woman stated, a little impatiently. "And I'm telling you that Chloe is meeting Aubrey. To talk about whether or not they are going to try to take their relationship a step further."

"That's not important, Luke sent me a letter!" Amy repeated with a wide grin on her face.

Beca let out a frustrated sigh. "Will you stop saying that? I heard you the first time!"

The blonde's smile faded as she took in the other woman's glare. She turned around and slowly walked away, plumping down on the couch.

Beca felt guilty for ruining Amy's mood as she watched the woman rip the envelope to take the letter out. She approached her and pulled the letter out of her hands.

"No! Beca, give it back!" The bigger woman jumped from her seat to take back the letter. Beca held out her hand to keep the blonde at a distance as she scanned her eyes over the letter.

Amy stopped her attempts at grabbing the letter from the brunette's hands when she saw that Beca's mischievous smirk turned into a serious frown. "What's wrong?" she asked curiously.

"This is not a letter from Luke." Beca responded with a sign of shock in her eyes as she continued tracing them over the piece of paper in her hand.

Amy raised an eyebrow as she glanced down at the envelope again. Her eyes stopped at the name 'J. Beale' as a soft 'oh' escaped her lips. She felt slightly angry and sad at the realization that Luke hadn't sent her anything.

…..

"Mom, I'm going to take a walk. I need some fresh air. " Chloe yelled from the corridor as she put her shoes on.

"Okay, honey." Jennifer responded from the kitchen. "Don't take too long, I'm making lunch." she heard her daughter yell something back before the door slammed close. The older redhead walked over to the fridge and took a can of feta cheese out before putting it on the counter. Not long after that, she heard the doorbell ring. "Chloe must have forgotten something." She mumbled to herself.

Jennifer quickly dried her hands and walked towards the door to open it. She was surprised to see Beca standing there with an envelope in her hand. "Beca, what are you doing here?" she asked out of curiosity. When the brunette handed her the letter without saying a word, she held out her hand to take it with a frown on her face. The frown was soon taken over by a pair of wide eyes as they traced over the words 'Private and Confidential.'

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to read it.." the brunette explained. "Amy thought it was.."

"It's okay." the redhead cut her off. "I trust you."

Beca nodded understandingly. "So your husband..?"

"Yes." Jennifer cut her off again. She was desperately trying to fight back the tears, but couldn't manage to do so. She wiped her tears and took a deep breath as she felt the tiny woman stroking her arms around her, pulling her in for a hug. The redhead relaxed into the other woman's embrace. Jennifer pulled back after a while, quickly wiping her tears away. "Thanks for that." She sniffed.

"Anytime." Beca responded with a small reassuring smile. "Want to talk about it?"

Jennifer looked at her as she realized they were still standing by the door. "You already know the biggest part, so I might as well tell you everything." She commented. "Please, come in." she stepped aside to let the tiny woman in.

….

Later that day, Beca found herself at Aubrey's place. They were making plans for the evening. The blonde promised herself that she was going to take this chance to tell Chloe everything about her feelings... her real feelings this time.

"Are you sure you don't need my help?" Beca asked.

"You've done enough, Becs." Aubrey pointed out. "And I'm very grateful for that, but I need to do this on my own."

The younger woman nodded. "Alright, just don't screw this up. This is your last chance." She nudged the other woman playfully with a wink.

"Don't worry." Aubrey smirked. "I will send a cab to pick her up and then it will take her somewhere wonderful where I'll be waiting. I've got everything ready." She nodded briefly in satisfaction. "Everything will be perfect."

Beca sighed in relief. She's happy that Chloe decided to take a chance on Aubrey and if everything goes well tonight, she can be satisfied that Chloe won't be alone once she's gone. She will be with someone who cares about her, adores her, and loves her above anything else. Although, somehow, there's a part of her that wishes for something else.

"Becs, do me one last favour." Aubrey requested snapping Beca back to reality, "Could you go to Chloe's house to make sure she's getting ready?"

.….

"She's ready!" Amy squealed, running down the stairs.

Everyone was waiting there as if someone was getting ready for a prom or something. Chloe walked down slowly after Amy, with all expectant eyes on her, except for Iris'.

As soon as Chloe set foot on the stairs, the old woman turned her back with a disapproving expression on her face. However, nobody could care less about her opinion.

Beca couldn't help but admire the stunning woman before her eyes. Chloe was wearing the red dress again.

"Are you ready?" Jennifer interrupted the silence. "The cab is waiting."

"I think so." Chloe cocked an eyebrow. "You guys are making me nervous. We're just going to talk."

"Uh-huh." Beca drew her attention. The redhead's heart skipped a beat so she quickly looked away and continued walking towards the front door.

"Wait." Beca exclaimed just before the woman could walk out of the door. Chloe turned around and was caught off guard at their sudden proximity. She felt her stomach twist as Beca moved her arms around her neck to take out the hair clip that was holding her red locks together.

Beca pulled back and looked into her baby blue eyes with a nervous smile. "Much better," she smirked upon seeing how lovely the redhead was with her hair down. Chloe let out a breath she didn't know she was holding. She stared into the shorter woman's steel blue eyes for a while. Her heart started to ache upon seeing so much pain in them. Why is she in pain? If only she didn't belong to someone else, I'll do whatever it takes to take her pain away, she thought as she helplessly continued looking at the tiny brunette. But then, she thought that maybe it was just her imagination. Maybe it was just a reflection of her own pain that she was seeing. Both women stood there gazing into each other's eyes, drowning in each other's stare, as if nobody else was around.

It wasn't until the outdoor breeze slammed the door behind Chloe that made her snap out of it. She quickly turned around and opened the door to leave, while Beca kept staring at her vanishing figure until the cab drove off.