I GUESS I DO

Chapter 1

When Aubrey pushed open the door of the dorm room she'd shared with Chloe for the past three and a half years she found herself almost floored by the red head. Not that this was uncommon, though usually it only happened if one of them had been away for a weekend. Therefore the out of the blue embrace caught Aubrey off guard a little more than usual, seeing as she'd only been gone for the morning.

"Chlo' we've talked about this tackle hugging…" Aubrey chuckled, gently prying the red head off her. "Need I remind you of the time I ended up with a concussion?" She added, quirking her brow.

"I didn't know the door was that close…" Chloe muttered, still guilty over the incident that had occurred in their second year. "Though this time it was a hug of desperation." She added with a drawn out sigh as if to validate her actions.

"Uh oh…" Aubrey frowned, for the first time noticing how deject her best friend looked. "I'll put the kettle on."

The kettle was one they bought in Ikea and left sitting on the floor alongside some tea bags and bottles of water, but college life was college life, so they made do. Aubrey filled two cups they'd gotten along with their dollar meal deals the night before (it was no secret they couldn't wait to have real jobs and a real apartment) and walked over to Chloe's bed.

The red head had curled herself into a cocoon, but extended an arm eagerly and blindly to accept her coke cup of tea when Aubrey offered it to her. Sighing, Chloe finally poked her head out from between her knees when she felt the bed to her right dip with Aubrey's weight.

"Spill…" Aubrey prompted simply, blowing on the steaming liquid before taking a sip, wincing when it burned her tongue anyway.

"… Rachel's getting married in two weeks." Chloe groaned, throwing her head back and bashing it against the wall behind her, with a dramatic flair that Aubrey usually demanded exclusive rights to. "And she asked me to be a bridesmaid." She added, sounding more like she'd been asked to swallow arsenic.

"Which one's she again?" Aubrey queried, the sheer volume of Chloe's family still confusing her to this day (as if the red hair wasn't enough of a give-away that Chloe was part Irish).

"My mom's eldest sister's youngest daughter." Chloe rattled off. "The one that insists her name's pronounced Raquel even though it's fucking Rachel." She added as if this were the one defining feature her cousin held, rolling her eyes to the heavens.

"Oh… the bitch I met two years ago then." Aubrey nodded, suddenly understanding Chloe's pained expressions.

"That'd be her." Chloe sighed, taking a long soothing mouthful of tea before continuing. "I mean having to go's bad enough, but she's gone and made me a bridesmaid. I swear the lord is testing me."

"It won't be that bad." Aubrey tried to reason with her. "Adam and Daniel will be there won't they?" She questioned, referring to Chloe's older brother and younger cousin who (aside from the blonde obviously) were the red head's two best friends.

"Yea but it's my family…" Chloe groaned. "Finding people to talk to is only half the battle with them." She needlessly reminded her best friend. "You know they've been trying to set me up for three years now. This wedding's just going to be a perfect storm for it! Rachel's in laws and my mother will be there."

"Bring someone with you and say you're going out with them." Aubrey shrugged as if it were the most obvious solution in the world. "I mean your parents know you're bi, so you're not even limited on who you could bring." She added, as if this sweetened the deal.

"Bring someone with me…" Chloe allowed the words to toy about in her head, considering all her options.

"My god this room has an echo." Aubrey smirked, taking another sip of her tea as Chloe nudged her forcefully in the side. "Hey watch it! I'm giving you options here, don't try and scald me with my own tea." Aubrey warned with wide eyes, arms having gone ridged in an attempt to control the shock waves in her cup.

She didn't get an immediate response from her best friend (sarcastic or otherwise), and once Aubrey got her beverage under control she chanced a glance at the red head to figure out why. Chloe had that glint in her eye. That "I have a plan and it involves you" kind of glint that Aubrey never liked the look of.

In their second year at Barden that glint had cumulated in them on a road trip with the Art History professor (who was as old as he was dull). Basically the moral of the story had been to never trust that look in Chloe's eye, and never, ever, allow yourself to get talked into a road trip to Arizona with an elderly man (though the latter was probably uncontrollable as she, to this day, wasn't sure how it had come about).

"What…" Aubrey inquired; her eyebrow quirking as Chloe's look quickly turned innocent.

"You know how you're my best friend in the entire world?" Chloe reminded the blonde, butter wouldn't melt expression matched with an innocent flutter of her eyelids.

"A fact I'm only ever reminded of when that friendship's about to be tested." Aubrey snorted, knowing all the sweet talk would lead to the same nasty question anyway. "Now out with it."

"… Wanna maybe pose as my girlfriend for a weekend?" Another quick bat of her eyelids when the question was asked.

It took Aubrey a moment to regain composure enough to talk. Chloe's question was… absurd to say the least. There were so many flaws Aubrey wasn't quite sure where to begin, but she decided to put forward her case using the two most solid pieces of defence she had.

"As much as I'd love to pose as your girlfriend for the week…" She began, trying her hardest not to scoff at the absurdity of the notion. "There're two key flaws I've found to your logic."

"Trust you…" Chloe sighed, grimacing as Aubrey continued.

"Well first of all, I've met your family about a million times now, and I'm practically like a second daughter to your mom, so it'd be uncomfortable and weird. Also, you said it was in two weeks." She stated, waiting for Chloe to nod before continuing. "Two weeks is the start of April Chloe…"

"Shit." Chloe muttered under her breath. "Trust my family to throw a wedding the same week your family does that mountain retreat bonding thing."

"Compulsory mountain retreat bonding thing." Aubrey corrected her with an apologetic smile. "So as much as I'd love to accompany you as your friend, and only as your friend, I'm afraid I couldn't anyway." She sighed and shrugged.

"Now what am I supposed to do?" Chloe groaned; her head once more falling back to clunk off the wall.

"Refrain from giving yourself brain damage for a start." Aubrey scolded lightly. "Then find someone else to ask…" She pointed out the obvious, shrugging as she done so and taking another mouthful of tea.

"Like all the other millions of people who'd have nothing better to do in the middle of a college year than go on a break to Florida with me." Chloe retorted, sarcasm lacing every word.

"As much as I resent the insinuation that I'd have nothing better to do at this time of year…" Aubrey shot her best friend a threatening look. "I'm still willing to help, and I think I could have just the person in mind…"