And I am done with high school! Well, I still have to actually graduate, but that's not important. To celebrate, I decided to write something. So this is just something I thought of before but never really had the opportunity to write down. This isn't going to be very many chapters long and it's going to seem really weird. And yes, the characters are probably going to be OOC.

Disclaimer: I do not own The Darkest Powers

Background: AU/AH. Chloe is 26 years old. She is living in an apartment in New York City.

"You're only 26," Emily said, spooning another scoop of chocolate ice cream directly from the carton into her mouth. "Why in the world do you want a baby?"

"I don't know," I said, frustrated by her continuing line of questions. "I just do. And I know I'm just being dumb and that I have my whole life ahead of me and blah, blah, blah. I just really want a baby."

"So, what? Are you gonna go down to the bar and find the first guy you see?" Emily asked. She paused to lick a drop of melted ice cream sliding down the side of her hand into her mouth. "Cause your dating life is zilch."

"You don't think I know that?" I asked. I set my own carton down on the coffee table and leaned back into my over-comfortable couch. "And, no. I'm not putting my life in danger to get pregnant."

"You could adopt," she suggested. "Then, if you don't like it, you can always return it."

"A baby's not an it, Em," I said. "And adoption was the first thing I thought of, but I can't afford it."

"What about a sperm bank?" she asked. She scraped the bottom of the carton with her spoon and then looked inside with a frown. Sighing, she set the now empty carton next to mine and licked her fingers clean.

"You think I can afford that?" I asked. "On my salary?"

"Then I think you're out of options," she said. "Unless you want me to set you up with someone. I know some great guys."

"I'm not looking for a relationship," I said. "I just want a baby."

"I'm not saying you have to marry the guy," she said, "Just sleep with him."

"I fear you," I said, standing up and collecting out garbage.

"And with your figure, what guy would say no?" she said.

I looked down at myself, confused. What figure? My lack-of is the reason I've never held a guy's interest. It's the reason I'm 26 and still single.

"You're nuts," I replied, walking around the counter into my kitchen.

"Come on," she said, "You slim, small, and you fit easily into any guy's mouth."

"You're disgusting," I said, laughing.

"It's so the truth," she said. She turned around and leaned over the back of the couch so that she could see me. "I know all guys claim to love a woman with boobs, but what guy doesn't love when he can fit the entire thing into his mouth? It's like a woman being impressed that she can fit a guy's-"

"And we're moving on," I said, smiling. "And to correct you, I'm skinny, short, and femininely uninteresting."

"You are not!" she said.

"I am to," I said. "Why do you think I'm still single? I'm fine for the once or twice, but no guy wants to be stuck with someone who's barely in a B cup."

"Now you're making me feel depressed," she said, standing up.

"It's the truth," I said.

"No, it sounds like the truth to you because you're in denial," she said, her hands on her hips.

"I'm in denial?" I asked.

"Yes. You've stopped looking for a guy," she accused, "because you don't want to end up with your parent's marriage. Not every married couple gets divorced, Clo."

"I know that," I said. "But being in the middle of one tends to shake up someone's opinion."

"Alright," she said. "Let's get back to why I'm here in the first place. A baby."

"Yes, the baby that I have absolutely no idea how I'm getting," I said.

"You don't know any guys that would be will-"she gasped and her face lit up. "What about your hot neighbor? I'm sure he would love to!"

"No!" I said. "I barely know that guy and I doubt he even knows my name."

"Which is why you introduce yourself," she said.

"Oh yeah, that'll go well," I said. "Hi, I'm Chloe. I live across the hall. Can I have your sperm?"

"Subtle," she said sarcastically. "Real subtle."

I looked up at the clock and sighed. "Come on. We're going to be late for work."

"I'm just saying," she said as we pulled on our coats, "you don't want a relationship or even contact with the guy afterwards, so what's the big deal? Just explain your situation to him and then, bam!"

"Bam?" I asked, grabbing my keys of the small table by my door.

"Well, I was going to say bang, but that sounded a little too… punny," she said.

I rolled my eyes and opened my door. I went out backwards and bumped into somebody behind me. Gasping I turned around to apologize and came face to…well, back, with the guy we'd just been talking about. He turned around and looked down at me.

"I'm so sorry," I said. "I wasn't watching where I was going."

"It's fine," he said with his deep voice. He finished locking his door and turned to leave.

"Wait," Emily burst out.

Before she could get another word out, I covered her mouth with my hands. He looked back and gave us a wierded out look.

"Sorry," I said. "Have a nice day."

He stared at us a little longer before awkwardly nodding and walking down the hall to stairwell. I watched him go and couldn't help myself as my eyes traveled down him. Starting from his thick, black hair down his muscular back past his squeezable ass…is it hot in here?

"If you don't ask him, I call dibs," Emily said. "I just want to bite his ass."

"Emily!" I said.

"Like you weren't thinking that same thing," she accused.

Not denying it, I locked my own door and we started down the hall.

"What's his name anyway?" she asked.

"Derek," I answered.

…,,,…

"You're late," Hailey said.

"I know, I know," I said, hanging up my coat and grabbing an apron.

"We were busy talking about Chloe's baby," Emily said.

All activity stopped and everybody looked over at me. Sighing in frustration, I glared at Emily.

"You're pregnant?" Hailey asked.

"No," I said, firmly.

"She's trying to get pregnant," Emily explained.

"Who's the guy?" Hailey asked.

"That's the problem," I said. I finished tying the apron. "I don't have one."

"Well, there is Derek," Emily said.

"Who's Derek?" Hailey asked.

"Chloe's hot neighbor," Emily said.

I ignored the rest of their conversation. I was late and that meant I was behind. Tying my hair up in a tight bun, I walked over to the sink and scrubbed my hands until they turned red. I worked at Mama's Pastries, the busiest bakery in all of New York City. I had started here to make money to pursue a career in film, but once I had enough money for college, I didn't want to leave. Instead, I upgraded my apartment and stayed.

"I think you'd be a great mom," Mike said from over by the ovens.

Smiling, I said, "Thanks. That means a lot."

"And if you ever need a babysitter, Neil and I are great with kids," he said. "Just call anytime."

"Thanks, Mike," I said.

If only he wasn't gay, I would have asked him first thing. I loved the guy, I really did. Not romantically, but enough so that it wouldn't have been awkward to ask him to be the father. But if he wasn't gay, he wouldn't be with Neil and we wouldn't get free pizza after work. Sighing, I got back to work. Grabbing the tray of mini cakes, I started decorating. It was December and that was our busiest month of the year. Not only did we have Christmas orders, weddings were up there, too. Apparently a snowy wedding was romantic.

"Penny for your thoughts," Emily said, coming up behind me with a fresh batch of cakes.

"Just thinking about snowy weddings," I said.

"I thought you weren't looking for a relationship," she asked, grabbing the unused icing tube next to me.

"I'm not," I said. "But apparently a lot of people are."

"I don't see the appeal of large weddings," Emily said. "When I get married, I'm doing it in Vegas."

I laughed. It was just like her, too. And whatever guy ended up snagging her was a lucky one. Emily's been my best friend since high school. We've been through everything together. I was there after she lost her virginity, celebrating with a party and she was there when I lost mine, sitting with me while I cried upon learning he was cheating on me. She even broke his nose for me. That was her gift to me. She even applied for this job with me so that I wouldn't have to work the worst hours in history by myself. I was a little jealous of her, but not enough to get in the way of anything. She had what I had always wanted. While my strawberry blond hair was flat and useless, her rich brown hair flowed in waves. She was at least three inches taller than me, even after I finally hit puberty, and she wasn't embarrassed to walk around in a bikini.

"We've got six more orders by Friday," Dan called from the counter.

I groaned and looked down at the three cakes I had managed to get down in the last half hour.

"We're going to be here all night," Emily complained.

I looked over at her. I knew that she had a big date planned for tonight.

"You go," I said. "I'll stay and finish."

"You sure?" she asked.

"Yeah," I said. "Go on. I'll be fine."

"Oh! Thank you!" she said, hugging me tightly before shedding her apron and throwing it over a hook. I watched her grab her coat and run out the door. My smile faded when I saw all the unfinished cakes in front me. Sighing, I grabbed a new icing tube and started on the next one. Once closing time came, I'd barely put a dent in it. Everybody left and I was alone with my cakes.

At one in the morning, I finally finished the last cake and cleaned up the place before discarding my apron and replacing it with my coat. I stepped out into the bitter wind and locked up shop. Shoving my hands into my pockets, I walked down the empty street to my apartment. I only lived a few blocks away, which was handy on nights like this. Once I was at my apartment building, I let myself in and headed for the stairs. My head was still tucked into the collar of my coat when I found my floor and I wasn't watching where I was going, again. This time I collided with his back head on. Bouncing back, I fell back and hit my butt. Looking up in surprise, I saw him look down at me.

"You okay?" he asked.

"Yeah," I sighed, too tired to stutter apologies.

I pushed myself up and brushed off the dirt and snow from my shoes. He had his door open, but he stalled at going in until I was safely in my apartment. I looked through the peephole on my door. He looked at my door for a second longer before walking into his own apartment and shutting the door. I locked my door and headed for my bedroom. I shed my clothes and crawled into bed without bothering to put anything else on. Once my head hit the pillow, I sighed in pleasure and curled up in a ball.

Once I was in just the right position, my thoughts turned to my earlier conversation with Emily. I needed a guy. Derek did seem single. I never saw any women going in or out of his apartment. Of course, that could just mean he never brought them back to his place. He probably preferred their place. Groaning, I pressed farther into my pillow. Why am I even thinking about this? I don't even know the guy. He's hot, sure, but what do I actually know about him? He could be a criminal for all I know? Probably not a criminal, but same concept. I rolled over onto my back and stared up at the ceiling. This is going to be a long night.

This isn't going to be very long, but it was on my mind. And I know I still have to update Title Pending and I will do that. I just got done with finals and now I have more time on my hands.