A/N: I own absolutely nothing. If you've read this before, you'll see that this is not what I originally had for chapter five. I decided that I liked that idea too much to leave it as a one-shot and will now be turning it into a small series. This is the new chapter five. The title from this chapter comes from the song from the fantastic Civil Wars. Enjoy!

I am not scared of the elements
I am underprepared, but I am willing
And even better
I get to be the other half of you

I Choose You- Sara Bareilles

Theme Five: Birthday

Title: I've Got This Friend

"So, my friend Bailey told me about this girl that her brother went to high school with and she totally said it. No one ever saw her again and her parents moved away because they were so upset. It's totes true."

Those were the words that were whispered from Chloe's cousin Tina's mouth as the girls huddled around a flashlight in her bedroom. It was after midnight and they really should have been sleeping, but this was a sleepover and everyone knows that you don't go to sleep at a sleepover. They had just celebrated Chloe's birthday and while Chloe hated to have a sleepover, because honestly Tina was a slob and snored like a chainsaw, her mother had insisted. Tina was coming the whole way from Savannah to Winder to celebrate with the family and it wasn't fair to expect her to travel four hours back home just because Chloe didn't want to be inconvenienced.

And so, this was how Chloe found her bedroom full of teenage girls and her stupid, annoying cousin Tina. It hadn't been all that bad, Chloe must admit; because Bethany from her chemistry class had snuck a bottle of peach schnapps from her mother's liquor cabinet into her sleeping bag and it had been kind of fun to pass it around while her mother had thought they were sleeping. And while it hadn't tasted great and it burnt the back of her mouth, it was cool to pretend to be grown up.

The bottle was half gone and after Chloe had pled with the girls to not make them play truth or dare, because she knew Tina was a perve and remembered that Christina from down the street had made her streak the last time they played, they had settled on telling scary stories. And while Chloe was still on the heady high of turning sixteen and getting amazing presents and the promise of maybe getting her learner's permit, she hated the idea. Not because she got scared, which was something that she would never admit, but because she just wanted to go to bed. That was her story and she was sticking to it. Because honestly, who was afraid of stupid old urban legends that got passed down and changed and became more and more ridiculous with each generation?

So no, she wasn't scared. The goosebumps on the tops of her arms and the way that her eyes were darting from the windows to the door and back were just a side effect of the alcohol. And the way that she had inched closer to Aubrey, who had scoffed with each story and simply rolled her eyes, was just being friendly. She was definitely not scared. Not when she was sixteen and at her birthday party. That wouldn't have been fair.

"It's just not logical, Tina", Aubrey replied while rolling her eyes and smirking at Chloe. "Honestly, how can a person fit into your mirror and then be magically summoned just by saying their name? And don't you think that if someone was really killed by her, it would have ended up on the news? It's so stupid."

"You're stupid", Tina shot back while elbowing Christina and laughing. "Anyone who thinks that a telescope is a good birthday present is stupid. What do you even know about Bloody Mary? I bet this was your first slumber party."

Aubrey's face fell at Tina's words and Chloe decided that enough was enough. Aubrey was her best friend and while she didn't doubt that Tina's words were true, she wouldn't stand for her upsetting the nicest person that she knew.

"Guys, can we just stop talking about this? I'm tired and I think it's time that we went to bed. And Tina, I loved the telescope. So, leave Aubrey alone and turn the light out before my mom comes up here and kills us."

"Oh, come on Chloe! You think it's true, right?" Bethany asked while raising her eyebrow and daring her to say no. "If not…maybe you should try it."

"W-what?"

"You heard her", Tina jumped in while pointing at the floor length mirror that was in the corner of Chloe's bedroom. "If you don't believe me and you think that Aubrey is right, why don't you stand up and walk over to it and say it?"

"You guys…", Chloe trailed off as her face grew red and her anxiety built up. She wiped her sweaty hands off on her sleeping bag and looked at all of their waiting faces before turning to Aubrey and biting her lip. This was not how her birthday was supposed to go. "I just don't think that it's a good idea. Let's just go to bed."

"She's afraid!" Christina cackled while giving Bethany a high-five and smirking at Chloe. "Really, Chloe? You're acting like a baby. Just do it!"

"I…", Chloe couldn't force the words out of her mouth and grew wide-eyed for a moment before sinking down a little further in her sleeping bag and trying to block out the laughter.

"You guys are such jerks!"

Chloe looked up from her sleeping bag and felt her mouth drop open as Aubrey climbed out of her own and stomped over to the mirror. Tina smirked at Chloe before looking up at Aubrey and arching an eyebrow, daring her to say the words.

"Bloody Mary."

Chloe felt her heart beat a little faster and she tried to tear her eyes away from Aubrey as she stood her ground in front of the mirror. If she was even the tiniest bit afraid of what might happen, she wasn't letting on and Chloe couldn't help but feel pride that this was who she had chosen as her best friend.

"Bloody Mary."

The other girls had stopped laughing now and were watching Aubrey intently as her mouth readied itself to say the final words. Chloe couldn't take much more of this. At this rate, they were all going to have nightmares and she just wanted Aubrey to sit down so they could all sleep easily and get this whole stupid thing over with. It wasn't fair. This wasn't how her birthday was supposed to be.

"Bree, you don't have to", Chloe pled as Aubrey simply nodded in agreement, but didn't back down. No one was picking on her best friend on her birthday and getting away with it.

"Bloody Ma-"

Before Aubrey could complete the sentence, the room suddenly went pitch black and in a house in perfect little subdivision in suburban Georgia, four teenage girls screamed so loudly that they woke up the neighbors on either side of them.

And needless to say, Chloe's mom was pissed.

"Tina, what possessed you to turn off the lights?" Mrs. Beale asked as the other girls sat silently in their sleeping bags and tried to avoid her wrath. "Do you know that Mrs. Martino next door has a heart condition? And that I had to apologize to her seven times for nearly setting off her pacemaker? What if something would have happened, girls?"

"I'm sorry Aunt Victoria, it won't happen again."

"It's okay and thank you for the apology. Now, it's almost one in the morning and you girls should be asleep. I'm turning out the light for real this time."

"Thanks, mom", Chloe murmured from behind the pillow that her face was tucked into. She just wanted to sleep and forget about all of this. She couldn't believe what Tina had done and how fast her mother had run up the stairs, her face pale with worry and her hands shaking when she saw Chloe lying on the floor, covering her face with her hands as she quaked with fear.

She was never having another sleepover again.

She really needed to get a brighter nightlight. The one that was plugged underneath her desk was not doing her any good and while it was nice to have something to focus on in the darkened room, it wasn't stopping her from jumping with each noise that she heard. A bark from her golden retriever Bilbo, the scratch of a branch of the sycamore tree against the siding of the house as the wind blew, the shift of a girl in a sleeping bag, and even her own panted breaths when she caught herself falling asleep.

She was going to kill Tina in the morning.

But first, she had to actually fall asleep and that was beginning to become a problem. Her eyes were aching and her head was pounding, but every time she shut her eyes her brain went crazy. She couldn't close them without imaging someone climbing through the mirror and ripping her eyes out and maybe it was just better to stay awake for a little while longer. It was the summer and she was sure that she would be okay. In fact, maybe it would be a nice test to see how long she could stay up. Yeah, maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all.

Who the hell was she kidding? Happy Birthday to me…

"Chloe, why are you still awake?" Aubrey whispered from her place on the floor a foot away from her.

"Why are you still awake?" Chloe countered, trying her hardest to keep her voice low to avoid waking up the rest of the girls.

"I can't sleep because you're not asleep. You keep flipping over every two minutes and it's distracting. Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"You don't sound fine", Aubrey replied before sitting up in her sleeping bag and scooching on the floor until she was up against Chloe. Once she was close enough, she laid back down and poked Chloe's shoulder, smiling when she flipped over and stared into her eyes. "Is this about the whole mirror thing? I said it and nothing happened. It's just a dumb story and it's nothing to be afraid of."

"Tell that to Tina's friend's brother's classmate."

And as the words slipped from her lips, Chloe couldn't help but laugh at how ridiculous the whole thing was. There were no monsters under the bed or insane women hiding out in her mirror. They were just stories and she felt like an idiot for even believing it for a second. She was okay.

Or at least she was until the loose shutter that hung next to her window creaked in the wind and she yelped before diving into her sleeping bag again.

This was the worst night of her life.

Aubrey wanted so badly to smile and laugh at how childish Chloe was acting, but this was her best friend and she could never hurt her. Chloe had been the only girl at their high school that ever gave her a chance and even if it meant admitting that Tina was right, this had been her first sleepover ever. And it wasn't like she could just let Chloe suffer as the night slipped away at a snail's pace. And so, she did the only thing that she could think of, even if it made her feel terribly anxious and like she was going to break apart. This was what friends did and really, she was just happy to have one.

"What are you doing?" Chloe whispered as Aubrey unzipped the side of her sleeping bag and opened it up a little. "I'm pretty sure that these are only supposed to fit one person."

"I'm not stupid, Chlo. Just…let me hold your hand. You can squeeze mine whenever you get scared and maybe it will help you calm down."

Chloe bit her bottom lip at first, a little anxious of the prospect of holding her best friend's hand, but couldn't think of anything better to calm herself down and wiggled her arm out from underneath her body. She inched it across the tiny distance between the two of them and Aubrey gave her a small smile before taking Chloe's hand in hers and squeezing it reassuringly.

And for the first time since they left the presents and cake downstairs, Chloe actually felt okay.

"Do you feel better now?" Aubrey murmured as the sleep crept over her body and threatened to take her away. Chloe was still clutching her hand though and as long as she was holding on, there was no way that Aubrey was letting go. "Less afraid of the mirror?"

"Stop it!" Chloe giggled while shoving her a little and trying not to burst into full on laughter. "You know, Tina is a very convincing storyteller."

"Oh, sure", Aubrey agreed while smirking and holding back her own smile. "Especially when every other word was 'like' and she changed up the ending to the story like three times. She's pretty good."

"I hate you sometimes."

"You know, I could let go of your hand whenever I want. I don't have to hold it, Chlo."

"Don't let go."

And as the words spilt from Chloe's lips in a whisper and Aubrey smiled while squeezing her hand a little harder, Chloe felt it. She was sixteen and had never been kissed, but in a room that smelt like pizza and lip gloss, she couldn't help herself from surging forward and pressing her lips to Aubrey's.

Aubrey might have been more surprised at Chloe's forwardness than even Chloe was, but there was no way that she was going to pull herself away. She had just never expected to get kissed and it was really happening and she didn't want to pull away. It was happening with someone that she genuinely liked and it was perfect. And she knew that it would sound like a cliché, but she just wanted to remember every detail. From Chloe's hand that was still clutched in her own to the way that her mouth tasted like peaches and icing.

The way that it felt like forever.

But eventually it ended, like all perfect moments did, and the two girls stared at each other in the darkened room for a few quiet moments as it all settled in. They both knew that they could never go back to the way they were before, but maybe it was better that way. From the way that Chloe's heart was beating a wild cadence against her chest and how Aubrey's hands were trembling, it had meant something to both of them that could never be vocalized. But all Aubrey knew was that maybe they didn't need words for everything and that maybe it was better to just define something by the way that she felt and remembered that moment. But of course, thinking just wasn't enough sometimes and she blushed as she took her foot and inserted it into her mouth.

"Thank you."

Who the hell thanked someone for kissing them?

Chloe couldn't help herself from smiling as Aubrey's eyes widened in shock of the words that somehow slipped out, but she didn't dare laugh. Instead, she squeezed Aubrey's hand a little tighter before moving closer to her and snuggling against her sleeping bag. She yawned heavily as her head found comfort against the warm fabric of the sleeping bag and her eyes nearly closed from the exhaustion that had been nipping at her heels all night, but she managed to stop herself before slipping away completely.

"I want to talk about us in the morning."

And when Aubrey simply smiled and nodded gently, Chloe knew that it would be a good conversation and closed her eyes as warmth swept over her body. It started in her chest and crept up to her head and down to her toes, enveloping her with a comfort that she had never felt before. It felt good and she knew that she never wanted to lose it. She never wanted to let go.

And so, she kept squeezing that hand as Aubrey's breathing steadied and her own eyes slowly drifted shut. And in the blur of her racing thoughts, one stood out in particular as she slipped away.

This birthday was her best one yet.