The sun shone down on one side of the huge ship, the shade covering the line of people with suitcases already heading up a small ramp and onto the lower deck, all dressed in variations of bright colors. She could see groups of people off to the sides, waiting for the line to get shorter or for the rest of their party, grabbing stuff from car trunks and zig zagging around the dock.
The cab stopped as close as it could get to the loading area and Aubrey got out, tipping the driver after he'd retrieved her bag from the back. She looked around as she made her way down to the ship, looking for a flash of red hair or someone she recognized.
Aubrey had been a little hesitant to come on this trip, but Chloe had insisted and she finally relented when she assured her that the free, all expenses paid, seven day a capela themed cruise to Alaska wouldn't be a dork fest, even though the Barden Bellas were the main attraction as the latest A Capella World Championship winners. Also, it was a free cruise to Alaska so there was that.
"Oh. My. God. You're Aubrey Posen."
Aubrey arched an eyebrow at the guy who had stopped her, looking down at him through her sunglasses. He was wearing a shirt with the logo of the cruise line and caqui pants, holding a clipboard against his chest as he gaped at her. "Yes." She removed her sunglasses. "And you are?"
"Eliot Coldwater Jr." He lowered his clipboard and held out his hand. "Welcome to the Aural Wave, I'm your cruise liaison."
Aubrey shook his hand. "Are the other girls here yet?"
"Most of them, yes." He motioned at Aubrey to follow him, leading her to the end of the dock where a tent was set up. He kept glancing at Aubrey with a shy smile. "I can't believe I'm with the person who led the Bellas to their first national championship. I'm a huge fan."
Aubrey preened. "Thank you, Eliot."
"I know the Bellas have only gotten bigger since you left, with the mash-ups and the stunts, but-" He looked around and leaned close to Aubrey. "-the vocal quality hasn't been as good as when you were in charge."
Aubrey shighed sympathetically. "I tried to drill the fundamentals into their subconscious, but there's only so much you can do in a year."
"You must have worked with them before Worlds, I could hear the difference."
Aubrey smiled and winked. "I didn't go to Copenhagen for the food."
Eliot laughed loudly, looking at Aubrey in wonder. "I never thought you'd be this nice. You really are the best."
"Oh, stop." Aubrey chuckled, shaking her head.
They were almost at the tent and Aubrey could see Chloe and some of the other Bellas gathered next to a refreshments table.
Eliot stopped short of their destination. "I'm gonna go wait for the rest of the Bellas, but please won't hesitate to ask if you need anything at any point during the week. I'll be back to show you to your cabins."
"Thanks." Aubrey waved, turning when she heard Chloe squeal her name and bracing for the unavoidable group hug that was headed her way.
After they let her go, Chloe came back for a solo hug, squeezing her tightly. "I missed you so much!"
Aubrey chuckled, squeezing Chloe back. "You saw me a couple months ago."
"In a different country, it doesn't count." Aubrey frowned but knew it was better not to argue with Chloe's logic. "You didn't even fly back with us."
"My trip wasn't paid for by the Barden Bellas alumni, I had to get a flight with layovers."
Chloe finally let go of Aubrey but pulled her away from the rest of the group. "So you know how I said we'd get single cabins?" Aubrey nodded, already knowing something happened judging by Chloe's tone. "Apparently when they announced we were gonna be here, the demand for the cruise went up, who'd have thought we were such a big deal, huh?" Aubrey arched an eyebrow, waiting for the bad news. "Right, so, they said they could only spare five cabins which means, we're gonna have to double up."
"There's eleven of us." Aubrey pointed out.
"There were, but Flo is still working out her visa so she couldn't leave the country and the cruise stops in Canada." Aubrey pouted. She wasn't looking forward to sharing a room with Chloe. "But don't worry, you're gonna share a room with Stacie so it'll be fine."
"What?" Aubrey shook her head.
Chloe continued, unaware of Aubrey's refusal. "And don't worry, they promised it wouldn't be tiny bunk beds, we're getting full sized twins."
"I'm- I'm gonna share a bed with Stacie?" Aubrey stammered.
"Well, Jessica and Ashley are kind of a package deal, CR is the only one who doesn't mind sleeping with Lilly, Beca is used to Amy's mess, and I couldn't let Stacie corrupt Emily, and I figured you wouldn't want to room with the new girl, so I'm staying with her and you're with Stacie." Chloe looked over Aubrey's shoulder. "Stacie's here! I'll go tell her."
Chloe skipped away before Aubrey could protest, watching as Chloe practically tackled Stacie when she was close enough. She moved towards the other Bellas, still keeping an eye on the other two as Chloe stepped back and explained the whole thing to Stacie.
Stacie didn't react to the news as Aubrey had expected. She barely reacted at all for the first few seconds, and then looked over at the tent, spotting her in the distance and smiling.
She walked over, her eyes roaming over her and her smile widening. "So we're roommates, huh?"
"Looks like it." Aubrey tried to smile back but she could feel her stomach churning nervously.
"Alright, Barden Bellas, gather around." Eliot called from outside the tent, giving Aubrey a welcome distraction. "I will take you to your cabins and we'll meet again in an hour so I can show you your rehearsal room." He approached Aubrey. "I can help you with your bag, Miss Posen."
"Aubrey please, Eliot." She handed him her roller bag, rolling her eyes when Beca mimicked her and smiling smugly when Eliot glared at her.
Emily skipped next to her, bubbling with excitement. "This is gonna be the best trip ever."
Aubrey looked over her shoulder at Stacie, who had fallen back and was talking to CR and Amy. "It's certainly gonna be something."
Stacie stepped inside and leaned on the closed door, looking around the empty room. She could see a light coming from under the bathroom door and heard a faint humming from inside.
She smiled. She hadn't had much time to be with Aubrey in Denmark, having spent most of the time at sponsored events. She hadn't really had any chances to spend alone time with Aubrey since she'd graduated. Not since Nationals freshman year.
The door opened and Aubrey paused when she noticed Stacie standing by the door. She smiled, but Stacie could tell she was nervous, and even though she wanted to reassure her, she didn't really know what she was reassuring her about.
Nothing had ever happened between them, at least not in the traditional, tangible sense. But they had been friends once, during Stacie's freshman year - friends who flirted. And there'd been a moment right after their finals performance where Stacie had looked at Aubrey and all she could think about was how much she wanted to kiss her. Aubrey had looked down at her mouth and licked her lips and Stacie had taken a step closer, but then Beca had pulled Aubrey into a hug and the moment was gone. Stacie had tried to get Aubrey alone again that night but one of the other Bellas was always close by, so all they could do was share longing glances from across the room.
Things were pretty much the same now after three years. Stacie still harbored her crush, the few moments she'd seen Aubrey since then reaffirming the idea that she was the most complex and amazing person she'd ever met.
"Have fun?" Aubrey asked, going to her suitcase and grabbing her phone charger and a book.
Stacie had gone to one of the bars on the ship with some of the girls but Aubrey and Chloe opted for going up to the deck after dinner.
"It was okay." Stacie shrugged. "Apparently we're famous, we got free drinks from a group of guys."
Aubrey chuckled. "We got stopped for a few selfies."
"Weird."
"Yeah."
An awkward silence followed, they'd already caught up during dinner and with all the polite small talk out of the way, the only thing left to talk about was them, but neither had ever even come close to acknowledging there was anything to talk about.
Aubrey looked at the bed and then back at Stacie. She had already changed into pajama shorts and a top and looked like she was ready for bed. She pointed at the left side. "Do you mind if I take this side?"
"Go ahead." Stacie smiled, turning to get her own sleeping clothes and making her way to the bathroom. "I'm gonna-" She pointed at the door with her clothes and hurried inside when Aubrey nodded.
She exhaled heavily. It wasn't supposed to be this awkward, it had never been like this. Maybe Aubrey was seeing someone and was afraid of telling Stacie or she was just not into her anymore and she didn't want to let her down.
Stacie shook her head. Whatever it was, she had to do something to make things better. Even if nothing ever happened between them, Stacie still wanted to be friends with Aubrey. At the very least she wanted to have a good time this week and their stilted relationship could ruin that.
She changed quickly, brushing her teeth and pulling her hair back before rejoining Aubrey in the room. She looked up from her book, smiling quickly at Stacie before looking back down. Stacie walked around to her bag, grabbing her own book from the top and slipping into bed next to Aubrey.
She ventured a glance at Aubrey. She seemed to be completely engrossed by her book. Stacie tried to take a peek at the cover but she could only see the first letter of the title, a large, red F, and the author's initials.
She opened her own book and started reading, trying really hard to stay focused on the page but her mind wandered off after a few sentences. She remembered the few times she'd run into Aubrey at the library and they'd studied together. She'd sit next to her, each with their own book or notebook on the table and barely speaking. Sometimes they'd walk to rehearsal together afterwards, or Aubrey would walk Stacie to her dorm building on her way to her apartment.
She started the paragraph again but her mind drifted once more. She was keenly aware of Aubrey's closeness, the fact that the size of the bed barely allowed any space between their legs, she could feel the heat from Aubrey's flexed arm next to hers, feel her move every time she took a breath.
Top of the page again. She barely got through the first few words this time before she took a breath and Aubrey's scent made her completely give up. She closed the book, louder than she realized, making Aubrey turn to look at her with an arched eyebrow.
"I'm just tired." Stacie smiled cautiously, putting her book on the small bedside table and sliding down to lie down on her back.
She stared at the ceiling for a few seconds, drumming her fingers on the sheets over her stomach.
"Does the light bother you?"
Stacie looked at Aubrey, seeing she was looking at her with an amused smile. "No, it's fine."
Aubrey closed her book and placed it on her side table. "I'm gonna sleep too."
Stacie leaned up on her elbow and turned. "You really don't have to, I'm fine."
Aubrey had moved down on the bed and looked over her shoulder at Stacie. "It's fine, Stace. It's been a long day."
Aubrey turned the light off and settled herself with her back to Stacie, who stayed on her elbow looking down at her for a few seconds before dropping down onto her back again. She listened to Aubrey's breaths for a while, the even pace lulling her slowly to sleep, when Aubrey broke the silence.
"Stace," Aubrey whispered. Stacie opened her eyes, rolling over to face Aubrey and smiling when she noticed she'd turned too. "I'm glad you're here, that we're here. I missed you."
Stacie's smile widened. "Me, too."
"That was… fine." Beca called out from the front of the room. "Let's try again."
They didn't have time to work on a new set so they reworked their Worlds performance so Aubrey could be in it from the beginning, reshuffling some of it to make up for the lack of Flo. It had been easier than they had thought since Aubrey had been there for most of the rehearsals for their original set, but muscle memory made some of the girls move to their original spots which weren't right, especially since Aubrey was way taller than Flo and a lot of the choreography was arranged by height for maximum visibility. Aubrey kept bumping into Chloe and Ashley before they remembered they were supposed to be somewhere else.
She'd ended up right next to Stacie at the end and she took a step towards her, slumping against her front. Stacie chuckled and wrapped her arms around her waist to hold her up. "You going soft on me, Posen?"
"No." Aubrey bristled before relaxing against her again. "I just need to rest a little and you looked comfy."
Stacie hummed and rested her chin on her shoulder. "Maybe you need to do more cardio."
Aubrey gasped, straightening up. She turned, not able to get too far since Stacie's arms were still around her waist. "If I remember correctly, you could barely make it through the obstacle course at the Lodge."
Stacie rolled her eyes. Aubrey knew she'd fallen on purpose in the mud pit, everyone else was doing it and she needed to be inside to pull her in, but she'd taken longer than expected climbing a rope, which Aubrey wouldn't let her live down. "I made it through fine."
"Right." Aubrey smiled smugly.
"I've been working on my core." Stacie whispered in her ear before walking back and sliding her shirt up slowly to show her abs.
Aubrey could feel her face getting hotter, her throat drying up. She had to fight the urge to lick her lips or to reach out and touch Stacie. Instead, she turned around, ignoring Stacie's laugh behind her back.
"Eliot!" The boy stood up from the chair he'd been occupying at the front of the room, watching their rehearsal with wide eyed excitement. "Do you think we could get some water."
"Of course, right away." He practically ran out of the room, the rest of the Bellas watching in awe.
"Where do I get one of those?" Beca asked.
"Maybe if you weren't such a pain in the ass, he'd be nicer to you."
Beca stuck her tongue out at her. "I'm plenty nice."
"He's nice to me." Stacie shrugged.
"Yeah, because you're Aubrey's-" Beca stopped, looking at Aubrey with trepidation.
"Arm candy." Amy finished for her.
Aubrey frowned but Stacie slipped her arm over her shoulders. "I am pretty sweet."
Aubrey rolled her eyes. She knew they were joking, and the teasing would only get worse if she protested, so she didn't comment on it. She merely moved away from Stacie and went over to Eliot, who had returned carrying more water bottles than he could hold.
She just then realized she had favored spending time with Stacie, but it hadn't seemed like conscious decision at the time. After their rehearsal the first day, most of the girls had opted to go to one of the indoor pools, but Chloe had suggested going to the spa instead and Aubrey, Stacie, and Jessica had tagged along.
When they mentioned the spa, Eliot told them that the couples package was the best one so they'd paired up and it seemed natural that Aubrey had ended up with Stacie.
After the spa, Stacie and Aubrey took a walk around the top deck, checking out what else the cruise had to offer and making plans to go mini golfing the next day. They met the rest of the Bellas for dinner and joined them for drinks afterward, stumbling into their room after midnight.
Sharing a bed with Stacie a second time had been easier, probably because they were both slightly tipsy and Aubrey fell asleep almost as soon as her head hit the pillow. She'd woken up to find Stacie's arm over her waist and she hadn't wanted to wake her up by pulling away so she left it there.
"Need help?" Stacie grabbed a couple of bottles from Eliot and arched an eyebrow at her. "You okay?" She looked at Aubrey with a pout. "They didn't mean-"
"I know." Aubrey squeezed Stacie's forearm.
She wasn't upset about the comment. She was a little upset about the fact that she did sort of want Stacie to be her… something.
Aubrey handed Beca a water bottle. "Are we gonna do this again, or what?"
"Three holes to go and Aubrey Posen, the hope of the south, is down by a stroke," Stacie said in a low voice behind Aubrey, watching as she prepared to strike the ball.
Aubrey straightened up and glared at Stacie. "What are you doing?"
"I'm providing commentary for the viewers at home," Stacie deadpanned, dropping her imaginary mic. She loved how competitive Aubrey was about everything, even mini golf, and she loved beating her.
"You're trying to distract me." Aubrey pouted.
Stacie chuckled and walked over, licking her lips as she thought about kissing that pout away. "If I was trying to distract you, I'd offer to help you with your swing."
Stacie stood behind Aubrey and ran her hands down her arms, taking her hands and resetting them on the putter.
"I don't need help with my swing." Aubrey muttered but didn't pull away.
"If that were true," Stacie let go of her hands and moved them to Aubrey's hips, adjusting her stance. "You wouldn't be losing."
She smiled when Aubrey settled against her, throwing her a smug look over her shoulder. Stacie knew she thought she was going to win this even with the added distraction.
When she saw her move the club back to hit the ball, she moved her fingers up a couple of inches, slipping them under her shirt and brushing her skin. Aubrey hit the ball and it rolled to the right, missing the ramp that led to the hole by a lot.
"Stacie!" Aubrey pulled away with a glare and stomped to where her ball ended up.
Stacie laughed and skipped behind her. "I'm sorry!" She gave her a sheepish look. "You can do that one again." Aubrey huffed. "I wanna beat you fairly, come on."
"Fine!" Aubrey grabbed the ball and placed it back where she started. She pointed her putter at Stacie menacingly. "No distractions."
Stacie raised her hands innocently and took a step back. She could tell Aubrey wasn't really mad at her, but she would've grumbled about her cheating for the rest of the evening. This way she wouldn't have an excuse when she lost.
"You're still distracting me." Aubrey muttered.
"How? I'm not doing anything!"
"Stand behind me."
Stacie grinned, making her way around to where Aubrey couldn't see her. "Sorry."
Aubrey made the shot, the ball going up the ramp and sailing easily into the hole. "There."
She walked away, swinging her hips with her putter over her shoulder.
Even with that hole-in-one, Stacie won by two strokes. She'd refrained from distracting Aubrey on the last two holes but she'd ended up in a sand pit on the last one and Stacie pulled ahead.
Even though she could have, and knew Aubrey would have, Stacie didn't rub it in too much, and even offered to return the putters. She was trying to come up with something she could get from Aubrey as a prize as she walked back, but found her with Chloe and Eliot. The boy had brought a tray of drinks with him and Stacie grabbed one, sitting next to Aubrey.
"Hey, guys, what's up?"
"Eliot was telling us about this waterfall we have to see when we stop in Juneau tomorrow."
"Oh, cool!" Stacie had hated the fact that they'd had to stay on the ship on yesterday's stop because they had to start rehearsing. This would be their only foray outside the ship.
"And there's a glacier close by that you can visit too," Eliot said, sliding a brochure across the table for Aubrey to see. "There's a shuttle from the ship that drops you off at the lake here."
"Eliot told me about these canoes you can rent to go out into the lake," Chloe added.
Aubrey nodded, studying the brochure in her hand for a few more seconds. "You wanna go?"
"Yeah, sounds nice." She leaned closer to Aubrey to look at the map.
"Great, it's a date!" Chloe exclaimed, standing up suddenly. "We should go have dinner and rest, we have to get up early for this."
"Okay…" Aubrey exchanged a look with Stacie and let Chloe half drag her out of her seat.
Stacie followed them confused until they reached one of the restaurants where, surprisingly, most of the girls were already waiting. Apparently Chloe had already told them about what they were doing the next day and everyone was excited. So much so that they barely protested when Chloe hurried them all to their rooms right after dinner.
"Was Chloe acting weird?" Stacie asked from her spot on the bed while Aubrey finished up in the bathroom.
She looked at Stacie through the mirror, shrugging and rinsing her mouth. "It's Chloe, weird is normal for her."
Stacie nodded, conceding that point. "She seemed a little too eager about tomorrow."
"She's always too eager about things." Aubrey finished up in the bathroom and crawled into bed, the whole thing feeling a little domestic and making Stacie's stomach flip.
Stacie turned off the light and rolled over to face Aubrey. She walked her fingers across the space between them, hooking her index finger with Aubrey's and pulling her hand closer. She smiled when Aubrey turned her hand over and laced their fingers.
"I'm eager about not having rehearsal, today was hell."
Aubrey squeezed her hand. "Just two more rehearsals and you're done with that for good."
"I'm gonna miss being a Bella." Stacie pouted and scooted closer to Aubrey. "How'd you do it?"
"It gets easier." Aubrey turned away and pulled Stacie against her back. "And I kept in touch."
Stacie tucked her arm under Aubrey's and pressed herself against her back. "Are you gonna keep in touch now that I'm out of school?"
"You have my number."
Stacie chuckled. "I'll call you."
To Aubrey's surprise, Chloe had managed to instill a little of the fear she had made the Bellas feel and everyone was off the boat and ready for the first bus up to the lake. Eliot, who was acting as their guide during the excursion, had been waiting for them at the dock with coffee and pastries, and ushered them on their way. They would go to the waterfall first, followed by a canoe trip in the lake that would take them to see the glacier.
The bus stopped at a large parking lot in front of a sign directing them to the Mendenhall Glacier Visitor Center. The Bellas started dispersing as soon as they got off the bus and Aubrey took control when she noticed the panic stricken look on Eliot's face.
"Guys, stay close," she yelled, effectively stopping Amy and Lilly from running off further.
Eliot mouthed thanks and walked ahead to the group. "Okay, so we have around an hour to walk to the falls and back so we can meet the bus that's gonna take us to the canoes."
Aubrey's eyes lit up. "Brisk walk? We're skipping rehearsal today."
Most of the girls groaned, but Chloe started rounding them up and took the rear while Aubrey lead the way up the trail.
"Is this revenge for saying you need more cardio?" Stacie huffed next to her.
"And for cheating on mini golf."
"I didn't cheat!" She narrowed her eyes at Aubrey.
Aubrey's plan didn't exactly work out when they were forced to slow down when they reached a small wooden bridge. The wooden slats were wet and a few of the girls stopped to take pictures. The trail then continued down to a rocky beach, the waterfall finally visible as they made their way down to the edge of the lake.
Aubrey stopped where she could feel the mist on her face and looked up at the wall of water, listening to it falling on the rocks bellow. She felt someone take her hand and, knowing it was Stacie, she laced their fingers.
"It's beautiful, isn't it?" Stacie asked.
"Yeah." Aubrey turned to look at her. She was staring up at the waterfall, her hair sprinkled with tiny dew drops.
She looked away, knowing she might do something stupid like try to kiss her if she didn't, and decided to get closer to the falls. She tugged Stacie behind her as they tried to reach the place where the falls met the lake, the noise getting louder as they got closer and obscuring everything else.
Stacie reached inside her windbreaker and took out her phone. "Selfie?"
Aubrey pressed herself to Stacie's side, smiling at the phone in Stacie's hand. Stacie wrapped her arm around her waist and turned her slightly so the waterfall was in the shot.
"Guys!" A faint voice reached them over the noise.
Aubrey looked away from Stacie's phone to where the rest of the girls, spotting Chloe waving frantically. When she saw they were looking at her, she lifted her phone to take a picture of her own.
Aubrey rolled her eyes, pulling away from Stacie and walking back down the beach. "Whatcha doin, Chlo?"
Chloe shrugged, swiping through the pictures she'd taken and showing Aubrey, stopping at one she'd taken before they'd turned where they were looking at each other. "Just taking some pictures of the scenery."
Aubrey glared at her. "Funny."
Chloe leaned closer, whispering so only Aubrey could hear. "You do look pretty cute together, don't you think?"
Aubrey smiled despite herself. "I guess." She looked up at Stacie who was now taking more pictures with Amy and Emily. "We should start heading back."
It took some time to gather all the girls again and start heading back and, despite Aubrey's attempts to avoid her, Chloe ended up walking beside her. She hooked her arm around Aubrey's, making her stop until the rest of their party was further ahead and then started walking again.
"So," she started after a brief pause. "What's going on between you and Stacie?"
"Nothing." Chloe gave her a look that told Aubrey she knew she was lying. "I don't know." Chloe's face hadn't changed but Aubrey didn't know what else to say. "I really don't know. Nothing's actually happened we just- well I feel something, I guess."
"Uhuh, and have you told her yet?"
"No." Aubrey knew the next question was why so she thought about it. It wasn't because she didn't want to ruin their friendship. Yes, she had a great time with Stacie but it wasn't like they actually hung out much. "I don't know if she feels the same way."
"She does." Chloe answered way too fast.
"How do you know?" Chloe shrugged. "Has she said something?"
"No, but you're not the only one looking at her like she's made of chocolate."
"I don't-" Aubrey blushed and shook her head. "That doesn't mean anything."
"Right, because you look at her like that because you're just thinking about what a great friend she is." Chloe rolled her eyes. "Just kiss her already."
"I can't just kiss her!" Aubrey hissed. "What if she pulls away? Or what if-"
"What if she kisses you back and you have gorgeous aca-babies?" Chloe shook her arm excitedly.
"No one's having aca-babies yet."
Chloe groaned. "Fine! Just promise me you'll think about talking to her."
"Okay." Chloe gave her a look and Aubrey chuckled. "I promise."
"Great!"
The bus took them to the other side of the lake where they boarded a long boat, sitting in pairs along its length. Aubrey had ended up next to Stacie all the way at the back of the boat, which had been Chloe's doing judging from the way she'd mouthed at Aubrey to kiss Stacie. After they were seated, the guide handed them life vests and oars so they could row into the lake and up to the glacier across.
"This is pretty cool." Stacie said, looking around the lake.
"Yeah," Aubrey replied with a smile, looking up and noticing Amy wasn't rowing. She lifted her oar and hit the side of the boat. "Why aren't you rowing?"
"I already did my cardio for the day."
Aubrey rolled her eyes but let it go, instead she took out her phone and took some pictures of the approaching glacier. The huge white mass poking over the bright blue water of the lake.
The boat approached it from the side, close enough to touch it which is what Stacie stood up to do.
"Stace, sit down," Aubrey warned.
"It's fine, we're not moving." The guide had turned to point at the ice layers that were visible on the side and hadn't noticed Stacie had stood up.
She held out her hand to Aubrey but she shook her head. "Just touch it, it's cool."
"Ice generally is."
Stacie rolled her eyes. "Come on, smart ass."
Aubrey acquiesced, taking Stacie's hand and standing up on the boat. She traced one of the ice veins, her glove sticking to the ice.
Stacie leaned towards Aubrey just as she decided to sit back down, somehow losing her balance and falling over the side of the boat into freezing cold water.
"Stacie!" Aubrey peered over the side of the boat as she bobbed out next to it, her vest making her float.
The guide had made his way across the boat and helped Aubrey pull Stacie up and dropped her shivering on the bench next to her.
Aubrey looked on as they started moving back to the dock so Stacie could change, biting her lip worriedly as Stacie's teeth chattered and her lips turned pale first and then a light shade of blue.
"I'm f-f-f-ine." Stacie stuttered out, managing a smile for Aubrey.
"Like shit you are." Aubrey shook her head, wondering how much good it would do if she gave Stacie her jacket, but she'd still have to do something about the rest of her wet clothes.
She started rowing faster, even Amy was rowing now. She could see the small cabin where the tour office was getting closer and she turned to take Stacie's hand. "We're almost there."
They helped her off the boat and rushed her in to change, leaving Aubrey watching helplessly near the shore.
Chloe joined her, squeezing her hand in an attempt to comfort her. "She's fine. She was barely in the water."
Aubrey nodded, staring at the door where Stacie disappeared into until the door opened again some time later. Stacie came out, her hair was still wet but she was wearing a pair of sweats and a hoodie with the tour company logo on the back.
She smiled at Aubrey who rushed at her, hugging her tightly. "You're an idiot."
Stacie chuckled. "Thanks."
She felt the rest of the girls join the hug, all expressing their relief that Stacie was okay.
"Alright, let go. I'm fine." Stacie pushed them all back except for Aubrey. "You ready to go back again?"
Aubrey glared at her. "We're going back to the ship so you can warm up." Stacie looked like she wanted to protest but thought better of it. "Eliot?"
"Yes, I already called the bus back," Eliot responded right away.
She didn't let go of Stacie's hand during the bus ride, or as they made their way back to their room.
Once they were inside, she handed her her pajamas, pushing her into the bathroom and waiting by the door until she came out.
"Bed," She ordered.
Stacie smiled. "Hot."
Aubrey rolled her eyes, tucking her in and pressing her hand to her cheek to feel how warm it was. "Do you need anything else?" Stacie shook her head. "Another blanket?"
"I'm fine."
Aubrey frowned as she studied her, she still looked a little pale and her hands were still freezing. "Are you sure?"
"You know what usually helps with the cold?" The side of Stacie's mouth quirked up. "Cuddling."
Aubrey shook her head but pulled the covers back, slipping into bed with Stacie and pulling her close. Stacie sighed contentedly closing her eyes, Aubrey's warmth enveloping her immediately.
"Skin to skin contact works better." She opened one eye to find Aubrey staring at her unamused.
"Nice try." She rubbed her palms up and down her back trying to help speed up the heating process. She felt Stacie's hands travel down her back and she stiffened. "Don't you dare, ice fingers."
Stacie chuckled and her hands slid back up.
"Are we gonna talk about this?" Stacie whispered.
"About what." Aubrey suspected what Stacie wanted to talk about but didn't want to guess wrong and ruin everything.
"About us? About how good this feels." Aubrey pulled back a little so she could look at Stacie. "About the fact that I've been wanting to kiss you since our first night here?"
"Why haven't you?
Stacie smirked. "You pushed me into a lake when I tried."
"I didn't push you!" Aubrey protested, leaning down again and resting her head on Stacie's chest. "Wait, is that what you were trying to do?"
"Well, yes, but you sat down."
"I didn't know what you were doing!" Aubrey shook her head. "It was kind of a weird moment for that."
"I obviously didn't think it through."
"You could have died!"
Stacie shrugged. "I was wearing a life vest."
"It was freezing."
"It wasn't that bad." Aubrey glared at her and Stacie squeezed her tight, kissing the top of her head. "I'm sorry."
"Well, it was sort of my fault." Aubrey sighed.
Stacie toyed with Aubrey's hair for a while, warming up in comfortable silence before speaking again. "Do you think we could try that kiss again without risking bodily harm?"
Aubrey huffed. "Shut up." She tilted her head back rubbing her nose against Stacie's before pecking her lips a few times before deepening the kiss. "Did you survive that?"
Stacie chuckled. "Barely."