Chapter 2
Chloe crawlsinto her bed without bothering to get changed, her limbs heavy and unyielding. Physically, it wasn’t that hard of a day—but mentally? Mentally, she’s so drained that she can’t imagine doing anything but curling up under the covers and sleeping. Her half-eaten dinner is left behind on the bedside table, unevenly heated by the microwave and thoroughly unappetizing.
It takes less than a minute before she starts to drift off, only to be roused by her phone buzzing in her back pocket. Chloe grumbles to herself, shifting so she can dig the phone out and swipe away the notification. It’s a text from their group chat, the only notification that she would never ignore. She twists into a more comfortable position, opening the text chain and finally seeing the texts she’d received while at work, as well as the new ones she just received.
GROUPCHAT: JUST GALS BEIN’ PALS
8:23 PM
Elena
Devin just told me about the baby. You know I’m here for you, right?
Whatever you need.
I love you, CJ.
9:49 PM
Devin
YO girlies i need a drink and i think chloe jane needs some sparkling cider
yknow, because of the baby
i know both of you are off work and at home SOOO meet at the bees in twenty?
Chloe double-taps Elena’s earlier messages to show she’s read them and appreciates them, but sighs as Devin’s. She really doesn’t want to go out. It’s been a long, draining day, and honestly, the reminder that she can’t even drink after a hard day anymore isn’t making her feel better. And money-wise, it’s also not the best idea. But one glance at the quickly-congealing leftovers on her plate pushes her to agree.
Chloe
sounds like a plan!
i could kill for some chicken tacos
Elena
Devin, aren’t you working tonight?
Devin
irrelevant
see you bitches soon :p
Elena
Please don’t call me a bitch
Chloe
don’t call us bitches
ha same brain
Devin
you’re both laaaammmee
Elena
You’ve already been drinking, haven’t you?
Devin?
Applebee’s is fairly lively when Chloe pulls into the lot. Even for a Wednesday evening, which is kind of surprising. Chloe lets herself inside the restaurant, scanning through the room until she spots Devin leaning across the bar. She’s dressed in the all-black uniform for Applebee’s bartenders, her dyed-red hair looking extra bright in contrast. Her feet kick the air behind her, pressing her full weight on the bar as she clearly flirts with a male customer to boost her tip.
Chloe gives a small wave to the hostess, a girl whose name she doesn’t actually know, but she’s seen enough to recognize. She, Devin, and Elena hang out at Applebee’s often during Devin’s shifts, so she knows a lot of faces, if not many names. The hostess recognizes her as well; she doesn’t bother standing, just waves Chloe on to seat herself.
Chloe slides into one of the booths near the bar, dropping her purse onto the red vinyl seat next to her.
‘Chloe!’ Devin squeals, pushing past her customer to shimmy out of the bar and over to her friend. Chloe can’t help but smile as Devin slides next to her in the booth, enveloping her in a big hug.
If there’s one thing Devin’s good at, it’s putting a smile on Chloe’s face, even when she’s at her lowest.
‘I’ve been worrying about you all day,’ she murmurs into Chloe’s hair, squeezing tight.
‘You don’t need to worry about me,’ Chloe says, patting her arm. ‘I’m a big girl.’
Devin pulls back, pouting. ‘I love you and I’m always gonna worry ‘bout you, ‘kay?’ She leans forward and places a very wet kiss on Chloe’s cheek, surely smearing her dark lipstick all over Chloe’s skin.
Devin has always been a very affectionate drunk.
She’s actually the oldest of their little group, which often surprises people. Devin acts a lot younger than Chloe or Elena, though if you ask her she’ll insist it’s because Elena and Chloe “act like middle-aged women while I actually act my own age—thank you very much!”
‘How do you get away with drinking while you work?’ Elena asks as she approaches their table. Chloe brightens when she sees Elena—it’s one of those rare moments when she’s not overly well-dressed and put together. She’s wearing jeans—a feat in and of itself—and a loose blouse. Her dark, slightly curling bob is pulled back from her face in a sensible, if small, ponytail.
In Chloe’s utterly unbiased opinion, she looks adorable.
Elena works in a bank as a teller to put herself through graduate school. Where Devin is wild and Chloe is cautious, Elena is responsible. She’s thoughtful, smart, and the exact kind of friend Chloe thinks everyone should have.
‘My customers like when I drink with them,’ Devin replies sweetly. Elena rolls her eyes as she slides into the other side of the booth. Devin looks at the two of them, beaming. She slaps the table and stands. ‘I’ll go get us drinks! And, of course, something non-alcoholic for our mother-to-be.’
Chloe scrunches her nose, but doesn’t voice her discomfort at being called a future mom. Logically, she knows that choosing to keep the baby means she’s going to be a mom—hell, she’s thought of nothing else all day! But hearing it out loud sounds so fake. Like she’s a little kid playing Mommy with her baby dolls and stuffies.
‘How are you?’ Elena asks once Devin is behind the bar and safely out of hearing range. ‘Really?’
Sometimes, it’s hard to remember that Elena hasn’t been in Chloe’s life as long as Devin has. Elena knows Chloe like the back of her hand—knows when Chloe is hiding behind a smile. Chloe is basically incapable of lying to her. Sometimes, it’s annoying. But other times, like right now, it’s a relief.
‘I really don’t know,’ she admits, picking at her nails so she doesn’t have to look Elena in the eye. ‘I-I still can’t believe this is happening. It’s real. I’m pregnant, Elena. Me.’
Her eyes sting in the corners, fresh tears ready to fall. God, it’s barely been a full day since she found out she’s pregnant and she’s already so sick of crying! She rubs at her eye harshly, still resolutely looking anywhere that isn’t Elena’s face.
‘This could happen to anyone,’ Elena says gently. She reaches across the wood of the table, grabbing Chloe’s hands and squeezing them until Chloe finally looks her in the eye. There’s no judgment in her eyes. Just love. ‘Really.’
‘I still feel so stupid.’
‘You’re not stupid,’ Elena insists. Chloe drops her gaze to their hands. ‘Look at me. You are not stupid, Chloe Jane.’
She pauses, letting her words sink in.
‘Are you sure you want to keep it?’
Despite the cacophony of emotions swirling inside, Chloe nods. ‘I can’t imagine giving this baby up. I know it’s dumb—how am I even qualified to be a parent? But even when I think of it…I just can’t get rid of it.’
Elena nods resolutely. Her face is set, determined, like this was all she needed to hear. She lets go of Chloe’s hands and unzips her messenger bag. She pulls an ungodly large stack of papers, placing them on the paper placemat in front of her.
‘Alright, then,’ she says. ‘We should start budgeting as soon as possible. Babies are expensive and the costs will add up?—’
‘Oh my god,’ Devin whines, almost stumbling and dumping the tray of drinks in her hands. She distributes the drinks with surprising ease, given her inebriated state. A sparkling cider in a champagne flute for Chloe, gin and tonic for Elena, and a strawberry margarita for herself. ‘Can we not talk numbers? For one night—please?’
‘Planning isn’t the worst idea,’ Chloe says mildly. She sips at the cider, the bubbles fizzing pleasantly on her lips.
‘We can plan tomorrow,’ Devin insists, sliding back in next to Chloe. ‘Tonight is for friendship, okay? Us just hanging out together.’
Chloe blinks, surprised by the intensity in Devin’s voice. A glance at Elena tells her that she’s not the only one taken aback. Devin either doesn’t notice their surprise, or else chooses to ignore it, and takes a big swig of her margarita.
Somewhere nearby, a customer snaps at Devin. She waves him off, rolling her eyes.
‘Um, okay,’ Elena says after a moment. She carefully slips the papers back into her bag. ‘So, Dev, what’s new with you?’
Devin takes the invitation easily, launching into a story about a handsy customer she got kicked out of the restaurant earlier. After a few moments, Chloe finds herself falling into the story, laughing at all the right parts.
It’s fun. It’s normal which is refreshing after an incredibly abnormal day. Devin has to leave their table a couple times because she can’t ignore her customers for too long before her manager gets on her case, but it doesn’t stop the flow of her chatter. Pretty soon, the entire bar knows about Devin’s drama with her latest fling (a woman named Kitty, which really just opens up a whole host of jokes) and how she almost ran an old man off the road that morning.
For a little while, Chloe almost forgets. Forgets about the baby, her stress and the looming future. It all melts away.
But it can’t last. The night grows later, and soon there are no more sports games to air on the big TVs surrounding the bar. The manager switches to a highlight reel of some music award show—and, lo and behold, Reckless 3’s performance shows up on screen for all of them to see.
The chorus of Like Mine is loud and raucous, and the camera pans to a close-up of Luke Waters’ stupidly gorgeous face. Chloe’s heart leaps into her throat—he looks unfairly good with sweat dripping from his forehead to his fringe.
‘God, he’s so hot,’ Devin moans, saying what they’re all thinking. She chews on her straw, her eyes glued to the TV. ‘You are so lucky, Chlo.’
She’s right, of course. Chloe watches as Luke moves to the music, his bass clutched close to his body. Chloe takes a big sip of her cider, thinking back to how he looked that night.
When he was on top of her.
She finishes off her cider quickly and squeezes her eyes shut, trying to push the image out of her head. This is not the time or place to be thinking about Luke Waters fucking her.
It’s not an easy image to erase, though. Especially not while watching footage of him practically making out with the microphone and fingering the strings on his bass. It’s all too easy to imagine herself there instead as he sings the tagline of the song, “In the moonlight, you look like mine”.
Elena bites her lip. ‘Are you going to tell him?’
She’s talking about the baby, of course. What else would Chloe need to talk to Luke about? Chloe shifts uncomfortably, her shoulders hunching in an attempt to make herself smaller.
‘I don’t see how I can,’ she says uncertainly. ‘It’s not like I have his number or anything.’
‘Right,’ Elena agrees, sighing. The R3 performance finally ends and some new teen star takes the stage to announce the next record-changing winner. ‘It’s a shame, though, that he’ll never know he has a kid out there.’
‘If I could tell him, I would,’ Chloe says, twirling her champagne flute. ‘He deserves to know.’
Devin gasps, banging the table with her fist. ‘We should totally go on a road trip!’
Chloe and Elena share a look, eyebrows raised. Devin’s words are just a tad too slurred for either of their likings.
‘Uh, that sounds fun, Dev,’ Chloe says awkwardly. ‘But what does that have to do with?—’
‘We’ll be driving to R3’s next show, obviously,’ Devin cuts in, making a show of rolling her eyes. ‘We can hunt Luke down and tell him you’re preggo.’
Devin beams like this is the best idea she’s ever had. Elena and Chloe whip their heads at her.
‘What?’ Elena asks incredulously.
‘C’mon, it will be fun!’ Devin grabs Chloe’s arm and squeezes, holding out her other hand for Elena to take. She wiggles her fingers until Elena does so. ‘One last fun trip before the baby comes! Just us girls. Plus, Chloe can tell Luke about the baby, and she won’t have to feel, like, guilty or whatever about not telling him.’
Ah. Like a puzzle piece falling into place, Chloe finally understood Devin’s problem. Things were changing—including Devin’s life as one of the baby’s future caretakers—and like it or not, the baby was going to put an end to a lot of the girls’ normal hang-outs. No wonder she wanted a night without baby planning—who knew how many of them they had left?
Chloe meets Elena’s gaze, both of them silently coming to the same conclusion. They can spare one trip, if only to appease Devin and help her adjust to this new normal. Because even with a baby on the way, there’s nothing Chloe wouldn’t do for her friends.
‘It would make me feel better,’ Chloe admits, smiling a little. ‘And it’s not like I’m gonna expect anything from him.’
‘Of course not,’ Devin snorts. She nudges Chloe in the ribs. ‘Luke’s hot and all, but who needs him? You’ve got us.’
Chloe’s smile grows into something more genuine. If she knew anything in this world, it was that she would always have Devin and Elena.
‘Do we even know where the band is right now?’ Elena asks. ‘And for how long?’
Devin waves a careless hand, pushing on the table as she stands. ‘We’ll figure it out in the morning. Now, either you two gotta beat it or you can help me close up the bar for the night.’