Stacie was an open person, in every aspect of her life. She knew this, and she knew others knew it, and she knew it meant around her high school, she had definitely had a reputation for opening her legs. It wasn't like she opened them for anyone, though. Only if they passed her test. She didn't have a string of one night stands, but she did have a string of guys that lasted for a few weeks before either she got tired of their snide comments or they got tired of her.
College was going to be no different. A larger selection of males to weed through. She expected that. What she didn't expect, however, was the Bellas. She had always liked to sing, so trying out for something where that was all she got to do? That worked out. The initiation rules were stupid, but she wanted this. She wanted to be included. She could still find guys, just not the Treblemakers. Easy enough. This was a college campus. It was crawling with horny boys looking for sex.
Then there was Cynthia Rose.
She was everything Stacie had never had.
Caring.
Thoughtful.
Female.
She couldn't make it a one-night stand even if she tried.
Sure, they were drunk, and she had seen the look of lust whenever she caught the other woman looking at her chest, but she could tell there was more. Cynthia Rose actually talked to her. She could talk to her and look her in the eyes while doing so. It felt natural bringing her back to her dorm, thankful that her roommate was out. For someone who loved sex so much, she nervously fumbled her way through the night, apologizing in the morning for the scratch marks that covered the womans back. The laugh that escaped her mouth when Cynthia Rose called it the badge of a job well done was true, not an ounce of fake to it.
She was the first person that Stacie wanted to see again, even if there wouldn't be sex.
They showed up to rehearsals the following day together, Stacie ignoring the smirk sent her way by Fat Amy. The oath about the Trebles had apparently been serious business, because now they had lost two members in less than twelve hours because of it. She would just have to learn to control her hunter, despite the fact that now the only thing it wanted was the person sitting directly to her left.
Stacie was happy, putting it mildly, to get it that night.
If her roommate was going out for the night, Cynthia Rose came over. Sometimes, there was sex. More often than not, they were curled up on the twin size bed, wrapped in each others arms and talking about anything and everything. It was a new experience. Cynthia Rose told her how she had developed a gambling problem when she broke up with her girlfriend two years previously, and how she had been shocked to see that said ex, Denise, was a Barden Bella.
She wanted to be the reason Cynthia Rose could get over a problem. She wanted to be there for her. She hadn't meant for the woman to start spending money on her instead of cards, but the thought that went into each present and each date was something she had never experienced. She was falling in love, and she had the feeling that she was a few months behind Cynthia Rose on that one.
It only took two hours after yelling at Cynthia Rose about gambling again - despite all of the Bellas falling apart in some form or another since they were no longer going to the finals - for her to regret telling the woman to get out of her life. Stacie was hard headed, or so she had been told, so she went to calmly talk things out before she decided whether or not to crack and apologize. It was late, and she hadn't been invited over, but she went to Cynthia Roses dorm anyways. She had let herself in, dropping the box of Cynthia Rose's things she had in her arms upon viewing the sight that greeted her.
Cynthia Rose. Denise. On the bed. Both looking like deer caught in the headlights.
She hadn't spoken. She had just run. She ran, and she ran, and she ran. She found parties. She found guys. She found alcohol. Anything to make the pain go away.
She managed to avoid her until Aubrey let them know they were back in.
That's when things got fun. And awkward.
She had never inteded to actually use the rape whistle, but the last thing she had wanted was Cynthia Rose anywhere near her, much less touching her, so it just happened. When Denise - in that stupid pink hoodie - had whispered that she still loved Cynthia Rose, Stacie felt like she could have easily added to the mess Aubrey had made.
She had planned on staying as far from the woman as she could, but when they were in the pool, Cynthia Rose followed her. Sure, she didn't miss the glance Denise had given the woman, but it did spark some triumphant feeling in the pit of her stomach - a sense that she had won.
Cynthia Rose walked her back to her dorm after the long, exhausting rehearsals, never taking anything more than a small wave as a thank you. Stacie knew she was keeping her distance, and it was getting harder and harder to not let Cynthia Rose back in.
It wasn't really her fault that every single time she thought about it, the image from that night would show up in her brain, telling her how stupid she had been for thinking something special could have actually happened. She was a freshman in college. No one found their soulmate that early on - only in movies.
When Cynthia Rose grabbed her hands, pulling her to darkened corner of the hotel room the Bellas were currently occupying with their celebration, she didn't fight it. It might have been the alcohol, or maybe her letting go, but when the other woman kissed her, she kissed back. It wasn't a sex kiss. It wasn't a lets make out kiss. It was Cynthia Rose apologizing - and there was no way in hell that Stacie was going to say no.
Sure, she might not be her soulmate, but she was the first person to care about her. The first person to take a chance on her instead of just crawling into her bed.
Stacie needed that in her life, and with Cynthia Rose's arms around her waist, their foreheads pressed together, she smiled and whispered, "I love you."