The car parked in front of Steph's building was very familiar. Chloe stared in disbelief for a few minutes, mouth ajar. Steph had been the one to invite her over, which wasn't unusual, but that car was unexpected and not necessarily a good sign. She left her own car cautiously, nervously heading towards the stairs.

As she made the trek upwards and approached the apartment door, she could hear the definite sound of laughter trickling out of Steph's apartment. Well, it's better than yelling and screaming, I guess. She took a deep breath before opening the door, inhaling a whiff of baked goods as she did so. If the apartment smelled this welcoming, maybe it wasn't a dumpster fire inside.

Sure enough, she saw Victoria Chase as soon as she opened the door, sitting at the passthrough overlooking the apartment's kitchen. In the kitchen itself, Paige was holding a baking sheet like a shield towards Steph's raised spatula. Steph's head jerked up at the sound of the door opening, still grinning from her battle. "Hey, I was wondering when you'd get here."

"Seattle traffic, what can I say?" She tossed her keys onto the kitchen table as she walked past on the way to the other guest. Vic's eyes darted towards her nervously as the smile on her face faltered for a moment. "Well, here's a surprise," Chloe commented, looking back at Steph for an explanation.

Steph shrugged dramatically, smacking her spatula against the baking sheet once with a satisfying bang. "Thought it'd be nice to all hang out together," Steph replied, waving the spatula at Victoria as the hidden smirk grew on her face. "Besides, an opportunity to fuck with Victoria Chase is too good to pass up."

"Like you'd stand a chance," Victoria shot back immediately, although the corners of her mouth were lifting as well. Her brief discomfort had melted away, seemingly comfortable with the situation.

Chloe looked between the two of them quickly, brows raised, before shrugging. The world was a crazy place - maybe there didn't need to be an otherworldly explanation for current events. "Hey, cuts down on my drive time if I don't have to track down both of you all the time."

"Always has to be about you, huh?" Steph snickered, waving the utensil around absentmindedly.

Paige made a little frustrated noise as she wrestled the spatula away from Steph. "Seriously, Steph, unless you want hockey pucks instead of cookies, I need this."

"So you are making the world-famous Mitchell peanut butter cookies?" Chloe nearly yelled, leaning over the counter to search for further evidence. She had been so wrapped up in Victoria being there that she had completely forgotten about the telltale smell of baking peanut butter.

"Yes, and I can do it myself, thank you very much," Paige muttered while grabbing an oven mitt and waving her girlfriend away from the oven.

Steph was laughing as she started putting the ingredients away. "Babe, last time I left you unattended in the kitchen, you set off the fire alarm."

Paige was shaking her head as she carefully pulled the hot pan out of the oven and onto the stovetop. "I don't know why those mini churros started smoking, okay? But I know how to make these cookies."

Chloe finally sat down at the other chair at the counter, turning to look at Victoria as the duo continued their lighthearted bickering. Those green eyes were suddenly avoiding her again, intent on studying the lighting fixture directly above them. "Seriously, it's weird seeing you here. Not that I don't like that you're here," she added quickly.

Victoria shrugged, fingers tapping on the countertop absentmindedly. "It's not as bad as I'd thought it would be. Don't let that go to your head, Gingrich," she said loudly, eyes narrowing in Steph's direction.

Steph was nodding absentmindedly, entirely focused on Paige as the cookies were moved to a wire rack to cool. The smell was deliciously overwhelming, and Chloe wondered how long it would take before she started drooling.

"They just need a few minutes, then we can indulge," Paige said pointedly, turning to stare at Steph in particular.

Steph had started rolling her eyes before the sentence had finished. "Yeah, yeah." She leaned against the neighboring fridge, sighing before pointing at Victoria. "I'll have you know, she texted me, not the other way around."

"It was Kate's idea, actually," Victoria admitted, shifting in the chair to cross her ankles. "Her dad's in town. She didn't want me to feel obligated to follow them around again."

Chloe frowned, scratching the back of her neck in confusion. "He's in town again? Wasn't he just here earlier this week?"

Victoria nodded, lips pressed tightly together. "He was bringing some things up from the house that Kate didn't have a chance to grab."

"Her mom's the crazy nut job of the family, right? We like her dad?" Steph asked, looking between the two of them.

There was a little laugh from Victoria as she nodded, folding her hands neatly in her lap. "That's a nice way to say it, yes."

"At least he's trying," Chloe commented, forearms resting against the edge of the passthrough. "And Kate seems pretty happy about it."

Vic started smiling earnestly as she thought about it. Chloe had to fight from smiling herself at how quickly her expression had changed. "Oh, she's ecstatic. She won't admit how much she missed her dad. Or her sisters - they might come up next time he visits."

Steph raised an eyebrow, glancing at Chloe for a moment before returning her attention to Victoria. "The Wicked Witch is going to allow that?"

"She's apparently been on her 'best behavior'," Victoria said dryly, lifting her hands from her lap for her air quotes. "Think she knows he'd kick her to the curb if it's between her and Kate now."

Steph made a disapproving noise, pushing herself off of the fridge and opening it. "Probably safer to take the trash out now rather than wait for it to smell," she said as she started rummaging around.

"It's his sanity," Victoria muttered, observing the rack of cookies on the stove as Paige walked back to them, spatula and fresh plate in hand. "I'm just happy that Kate's happy."

Steph had pulled out a carton of milk from the fridge before reaching into one of the cabinets for glasses. "Who wants milk to go with their cookies?"

"As long as it's not that almond milk crap, sure," Chloe responded. She had blindly tried the almond milk that Steph kept in the apartment for Paige once, and was not eager to repeat the experience.

Paige was making indignant noises, but was far more focused on transferring the cooled cookies onto a plate before bringing them to the passthrough. "Guests first," she declared, swatting at Chloe's hand as she reached for the plate. "You don't count today."

Chloe scowled, grabbing an offered glass of milk from Steph instead, who was looking very smug. "Only because it's her first time," Chloe grumbled as Victoria cautiously took one, shooting daggers at all of their watching eyes.

"This better be the best damn cookie I've had in my life, the way you've been talking about it." She took a tentative bite, and it took mere seconds for her doubtful expression to shift to revering disbelief. "Holy shit," Victoria muttered, staring at her cookie with wide eyes.

Steph was nodding, a satisfied smile on her face as she finally grabbed her own, fighting off Chloe's attempts to steal the whole plate. "I know, right? They don't last a day when she makes them."

"They're best warm, anyways," Paige added, shrugging as she took a bite. She had a content look on her face, not immune from the cookie's charm.

"And they're vegan, can you believe it?" Steph exclaimed, already finished with her first one and moving onto another.

Paige sighed dramatically, shaking her head as she started cleaning up the remaining dishes. "You say that like it should be a bad thing."

Chloe snorted as she grabbed her second cookie, well aware that Victoria had somehow already made it through three of them. "Did I mention how bad the almond milk was?"

"Chloe, you tried plain, unsweetened almond milk. No one in their right mind drinks that plain," Paige shot back. "You should try it again, sweetened and with vanilla. You might be surprised."

She shrugged, drinking loudly from her glance. "Maybe, maybe not." She turned to look at Steph, who's eyes were closed in satisfaction. "Anything on the docket besides eating our weight in cookies?"

"God I wish we had that many," Steph lamented before a smug look began growing on her face. "I do, however, have some high quality brownies if you're interested."

Chloe chuckled, watching Steph waggle her eyebrows with a grin. "What, smoking not fun for you anymore?" she teased.

"No, I'd just like my deposit back at some point." Steph looked over at Paige, who was putting the last utensil in the dishwasher. "Do you want in, or…"

Paige sighed, shaking her head as she ducked over to give Steph a peck on the cheek and grab one more cookie. "You kids have fun. Some of us are taking summer classes, and need to get to work."

"You know where to find us if you want in," Steph called back, face slightly pink as she watched her walk down the hallway before pulling a tin out from the cabinet she was standing in front of.

Chloe could feel her brows furrowing as she watched Paige as well. "Wait, is she not going home?" Steph's face flushed slightly as she focused intently on walking to the living room, setting the tin on the coffee table. "Steph, you useless U-Haul lesbian."

Steph scoffed, twirling the lid of the tin between her hands as Chloe and Victoria laughed their way into the living room. "Hey, no one in this room has the right to make comments about it."

"What does that mean?" Victoria said through her laughter, brows furrowed slightly.

Steph shook her head a few times before grabbing her a brownie and sitting down on one of the armchairs. "Seriously? Both of you spent god knows how many hours pining after someone under the same roof as you. At least we're acting like adults."

Chloe snickered, reaching into the tin for her own brownie. "Who the hell wants to act like an adult?" she asked as she threw herself onto the couch across from Steph.

Steph giggled quietly, taking a small bite. "Touché."

"So wait, did you plan this? Moving in together?" Victoria asked, taking a seat on the other end of the couch as she examined the tin thoughtfully before grabbing one.

She was shaking her head as she swallowed. "No, I did not. She was coming over almost every day, her parents were joking about her just moving in, and, well, here we are."

"Anything you miss about living alone?" Chloe asked before taking a bite.

"Peace and quiet. I'm just kidding," she added quickly, eyes flitting to the hallway as if afraid Paige had snuck up on them. "She didn't bring her drum set from her parents' place, so I guess I have that going for me. Then it would be loud."

Chloe raised an eyebrow, waving her brownie towards the hallway. "Like you wouldn't enjoy watching her play?"

Steph rolled her eyes as another blush began appearing on her face. "Shut up, Chloe."

Chloe popped the last bit of the brownie into her mouth before clapping her hands as she quickly swallowed. "Okay, so, Steph: the campaign. What is happening?"

There was a loud groan as Steph slumped against the back of the armchair. "I'd call it a one shot at best right now," she muttered, rubbing her forehead. "I should have it done by the time you're back from visiting your uncle, if you want to plan something then."

"Fuck yeah, I do!" Chloe tapped the back of her hand to Victoria's shoulder excitedly a few times, despite her companion trying to lean away from her. "Vic, you in?"

Victoria's expression was, at best, confused as she looked between the two of them. "What's a 'one shot'?" she asked, pronouncing both words carefully.

"It's not booze, it's Dungeons & Dragons," Steph clarified, an eyebrow lifting as she studied the blonde's smirk. There was a long pause before Steph sighed and waved a hand towards Victoria. "Go ahead, just say it."

Victoria's shoulders jerked in what might have been a poorly concealed laugh. "You're both nerds."

"That sounds like a 'no' to me," Chloe sighed. It might be for the best, though - if Steph ended up crafting a campaign, it would be much harder to pin down a schedule with more people in the party. She'd learned that the hard way, trying to work around Steph and Mikey's schoolwork while they were still playing together.

"Well, my table's always open if you want to give it a try," Steph mentioned, finishing her own brownie.

She snorted, shaking her head dismissively. "Pass."

"Seriously, you'd like it. I bet Kate would have a ton of fun, too," Chloe pressed, only sighing once she got hit with a stern glare. "Or just keep living in denial, and miss out on quality time with your friends."

Victoria glanced over at Steph for a moment, chewing on the inside of her lip. "I mean, 'friends' might be a bit…"

Steph stared back at her for a long moment before shrugging, crossing her legs in her chair. "I mean, we're eating weed brownies together. I certainly don't do that with my enemies."

There was a long, oddly heartwarming pause before Chloe coughed dramatically. "Aww, Steph, that's so sweet."

"Price, you're ruining the moment."

The aforementioned peanut butter cookies are based off Chocolate Covered Katie's vegan peanut butter cookies (they were my favorite dessert to make in college, and I finally managed to track it down again two weeks ago).