"Why do we keep doing to ourselves?" Beca asked slumped in a chair staring at the tiled floor.
"I don't know." Aubrey was leaning her back against the kitchen counter with her arms crossed and her eyes trained on the linoleum flooring. The couple had a simple argument over what to have for dinner that had escalated into a screaming match. Both women let out their pent up frustration, reaming the other for past mistakes and insignificant annoyances.
Beca broke the silence with a sigh. "What are we doing here, Aubrey? I mean with us. We haven't been able to agree on anything lately."
"I know."
"We should just...stop for a while. Put all this on pause."
"You mean break up?" Aubrey looked up at her girlfriend with a worried expression.
"I don't want to, but I think we need it."
"I love you. I need you here."
"I love you too, that's why this is so hard. Loving each other isn't enough."
"How dare you! Loving each other isn't enough? Living in my apartment isn't enough? Mooching off of my income while you 'find your calling' isn't enough?"
"Oh, there it is! The notorious attitude!"
"Shut it, Beca. You just want to break up so you won't feel guilty about wanting to get in Chloe's pants!"
"That's not true!" Beca protested.
"Oh, then let me guess. You want to see if the love you feel for me is true by fucking our best friend!"
"No, this has nothing to do with Chloe." The brunette ran her fingers through her hair before continuing . "I want to see how we deal with being alone. Since I joined the Bellas we've been together. I've forgotten what's it's like to have some time to myself."
"So now I'm suffocating you? This is unbelievable."
Beca rubbed her hands over her face and stood up. "Babe, I love you and I want to be with you, but all I see in our future is us crashing and burning unless we do something about it. We've spent so much time together that we've started to get annoyed by every little thing the other person does. I don't want us to fall apart."
"Then don't leave me." Aubrey had tears in her eyes. She knew a talk like this was coming, but not this soon. She wasn't prepared for anything like this.
"I'm going to go stay with Chloe for a while." Beca grabbed her car keys off the table behind her.
"Beca..." Aubrey took a few steps toward the small woman.
"Aubrey, I need this. Please let me do this. I don't want to hurt you."
"You're hurting me right now!" the blonde cried out. A pained expression came to Beca's face; she had to turn away from Aubrey to keep herself from crying.
"I'll call you in a few days. Just...be careful, okay?" Beca looked into Aubrey's red and watery eyes. It pained her to see her love like this, but she knew it was necessary. Beca had felt herself drifting away from Aubrey after the brunette's graduation. The two were already living together, but something just seemed to change. Beca needed time alone to figure it out. "I'm sorry," Beca whispered before walking out the front door.