A/N: This story starts early in the Fall semester during Beca and Stacie's third year at Barden (the year before PP2). I'm assuming the girls already have the Bella house at this point and Flo is a part of the group (although I don't even know if she'll show up in the story or not at this point, just making sure she's available if needed). It's a little short for a first chapter, but I've been having writer's block lately (I've started 3 stories/chapters and have gotten stuck in the middle of them) and wanted to get something out.

Summary: Stacie has been hiding something from the Bella's and Beca accidentally finds out. Beca agrees to keep Stacie's secret and it brings the two girls closer than ever. Through their now shared secret, Beca finds out about Stacie's past and reveals some of her own hurts.

Rating: T (for now – may change to M at a later date)

Disclaimer: Nope, Pitch Perfect and PP2 are still not mine.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

It was Thursday evening and Beca was starting to panic a little. She had an English Comp II paper due in the morning that she had barely even started. She had tried sitting in the coffee shop to work, but that just wasn't working. There were too many people and the free internet wasn't helping her much either. So she had packed up her stuff and was now leaning against a tree in the quad trying to write something, anything really. She was gazing off into the distance, trying to think but her mind kept wandering, when a familiar figure caught her eye. She watched Stacie walking across campus on the other side of the quad, which was odd because Beca thought she had said she had a date tonight. Beca smiled when she turned into the Science building, thinking some geek was going to get lucky tonight. Her mind tried to return to the task at hand, and she had actually gotten a couple of sentences out, when she saw Stacie come back out of the Science building, backpack in hand. Now Beca really thought that was odd, because she didn't have any kind of bag with her when she went into the building.

Beca watched Stacie walking away, then down at her assignment, then back up at Stacie. It was no contest, Beca hurriedly put her things into her bag and then followed Stacie. They didn't have to go too far before Stacie turned into another building. Beca watched through the window as she stopped at the front counter and got what appeared to be a key. As Stacie turned away, Beca panicked slightly, how was she going to follow her without being noticed in the building? Then she got a brilliant idea and waited until her friend had walked into the stairwell. Beca ran through the door, pretending she had run a ways to get here. She stood at the counter panting as the lady behind it came up. Beca held up her finger to ask the lady to hold on a second while she caught her breath. She put a hand on the counter, leaning on it as she breathily told the lady, "I was trying to catch my friend, she just walked in here. We were supposed to meet to study but I forgot what room she said we were going to work in."

The lady looked at her with a surprised look before she smiled, "Oh, Stacie doesn't normally study with anyone. I'm glad to see that she is working with some friends now. She's up in room 312."

Beca thanked the lady and then headed deeper into the building. As she walked towards the elevator, she looked around at the shelves of books and thought to herself, "Wow, this is what our library looks like. I might have to come here more often." When Beca reached the third floor, she wandered around for a few minutes until she found the room she was looking for. There was a narrow window on the door, so Beca decided to peek in. She saw Stacie sitting alone at the table in the room with a number of open books spread out around her. Beca watched as Stacie's finger skimmed along a sentence in one book, getting an excited look in her eyes she grabbed another book and read a few sentences (at least her eyes moved back and forth a couple of times) before she smiled and wrote something down on the paper in front of her.

Beca knocked lightly on the door, startling Stacie. When Stacie got over her scare, her eyebrows furrowed when she saw Beca through the window. She got up and walked over to the door, opening it with a sheepish look on her face and standing aside to let Beca in.

Beca set her bag on the corner of the table as she watched Stacie go back to her chair and sit down. Beca waited for Stacie to say something, but it looked like she wasn't going to start this conversation. Beca started with, "I thought you had a date tonight?"

Stacey smirked, "I didn't lie, I do have a date tonight, with this homework set."

Beca laughed, "Oh, that's good. So, how long have you been coming here for dates? The librarian downstairs implied that you are a regular around here."

Stacie shrugged, "I've been coming here to study since our freshman year. I've pretty much got a lock on this room Monday and Thursday evenings."

Beca looked surprised, "Oh, I didn't know you had to study that much. Which science are you majoring in?"

Stacey's look of surprise matched Beca's, "Chemistry, but how did you know I was majoring in science?"

Beca laughed, "Well besides the sciencey books on the table, I saw you walk into the science building empty handed and walk out with your backpack. I figured you'd have your stuff in a building that your major was located."

Stacie laughed back, "Impressive Mitchell, are you sure you don't want to switch to a science major?"

Beca smirked, "No thanks, I'll stick with something I can handle, like music and management."

Stacie quickly looked down at her paper and then back up to Beca, her forehead creasing just the slightest bit. Beca suddenly looked shocked, "Oh shoot, I'm sorry. I'll stop bothering you and let you get back to your assignment." She turned to leave. As her hand rested on the doorknob, she shyly turned to Stacie, "Ummm, Stacie?"

Stacie looked up from her homework, "Yes Beca?"

Beca looked down at her shoes, "Would you mind if I worked in here with you? I can't seem to get anywhere on my English assignment and maybe working in here would help."

Stacie smiled and grabbed one of her books from her side, making room for Beca on the table, "On one condition." Beca nodded for her to continue, "That this stays between you and me. I mean it, I don't want anyone knowing about this. Please."

Beca shrugged, "Whatever you say, Legs." She sat down across the table from Stacie, a few seats down from directly across from her, so Stacie still had enough room for all of her books. Beca quietly got out her laptop and sat back to think. It was slow going, but eventually she started to type. Once she got started, the words just seemed to flow out of her. She'd hit small blocks, and then she'd lean back in her chair and look at the ceiling, or she'd look over at Stacie, who looked kind of cute with her nose scrunched as she thought hard about something right before her pencil would move frantically across the paper. As her mind would relax, the words she was looking for would find their way into her brain and she would continue on her assignment.

When Beca finally finished her assignment, she looked down at her phone. It was just after 10:30 p.m. Not bad, a little over three hours to finish her assignment. She leaned back and stretched, looking over at Stacie, "How's it going over there, Stace?"

Stacie sat up, mirroring the smaller girl's stretch, "Not too bad. I think I'm over two thirds done. I shouldn't have waited until the night before it was due. I'm usually more on top of my homework than this."

Beca stood as she started packing her things up, "Well, you need a break. Studying for long periods of time without a break is counterproductive." As Stacie looked at her with furrowed brows Beca continued, "Seriously, it is. A science geek like yourself should know that."

Something crossed Stacie's face when Beca said science geek, but it quickly disappeared behind a smirk, "Oh course I know that, I'm just surprised that you do. I didn't even know you studied."

Beca gave a play scowl, "Oh ha ha. Come on, I'll buy you a coffee or soda or something. You need to get out of this room for ten or fifteen minutes and then you can come back and finish."

Stacie shrugged, getting up and stretching again, "Fine, you can buy me some juice. I'll never sleep tonight if I have coffee this late." Beca smiled at her friend and held the door open for her as they walked out into the library.

After Beca got herself a coffee and Stacie her juice with a muffin (Beca insisted she eat something), they sat and talked for a few minutes about various Bella items, the new set, some ideas on choreography, the new girl Flo. When Stacie finished her muffin, she stood up and smiled at Beca, "Thanks for the break, I really did need that."

Beca smiled back, "No problem, thanks for letting me study with you. I haven't been that productive on an assignment," she paused thinking, "well in ever."

Stacie chuckled, "Well I'm glad it helped you out." She started to head for the door and then suddenly stopped and turned back to Beca, an almost pleading look on her face, "And please don't tell the other Bellas about this."

Beca grabbed her backpack and walked towards the taller girl, squeezing her hand as she passed by, "Don't worry Stace, I promised you I wouldn't. So I won't, trust me."