"Let's do it tonight!" The Bellas all sang in unison, striking their final poses. They held their poses, smiling, before leaving the stage. Beca broke away from the group slightly, walking to her seat, which was coincidentally right behind Jesse's.
"Told you. Endings are the best part." Jesse smirked, hands in pockets.
"You're such a weirdo." Beca laughed, hitting him on he back of the head lightly.
"Hey! Careful, or else I may never speak to you again." Jesse joked.
"Dude, you're my best friend." Beca whined. "Who else is gonna be my wingman? And I literally just sung your favourite song, for the love of god! I watched the Breakfast Club!"
"I want you to call me your lesbro." Jesse deadpanned.
Beca sighed, rolling her eyes. "Fine. Friends?"
"Better than that. Lesbros." Jesse grinned.
"You do know that you're not a lesbian, right?" Beca frowned.
"Why? Why would you say that to me?" Jesse asked, adopting an expression resembling a kicked puppy.
"You're a dude."
"And that stops me liking girls?" Jesse asked.
"No it stops you being a-" Beca paused, aware of how ridiculous this was becoming. "Look, I'm done with this conversation."
"I want a second opinion."
"Ask Aubrey. You can tell her about your crush on her while you're at it."
"That reminds me. We made a pact."
"I have no idea what you're talking about."
"Your thing for a certain sexy soprano. Dude, I'm telling you, she likes you. I kid you not, young skywalker."
"I learnt the hard way that even if people like you then it still might not end well."
"You must unlearn what you have learned." Jesse said doing his best Yoda impression. "The Dark Side clouds everything."
Beca sighed and rolled her eyes one final time before attempting to dramatically collapse on her chair. Unfortunately, she fell on the floor and hit her head on the chair as she hadn't put the seat down. She heard the announcer introducing the next group and breathed a sigh of relief that no one had seen her fall.
"Need a hand there, Becs?" She heard a voice above her head say. Her face rapidly turned the colour of Jesse's blazer. She grabbed the hand extended to her, trying to ignore the jolt of electricity that ran up her arm at the contact.
"Thanks, Stace." Beca replied. With the help of Stacie she swiftly got to her feet and lowered the chair before sitting down.
"Made it this time?" Stacie giggled, sliding gracefully onto her own seat, smiling.
"Shut up." Beca muttered. On stage the next group began their set.
It's not killing me yet
It'll kill me somehow
"So, who is this, Becs?" Stacie asked, turning to look at the shorter girl.
Beca rifled through her program, trying to match the performers to the pictures on the paper. "Says here that they're called Friend Zone."
"Seriously? Any particular reason?"
Notice me,
Push the rain, set me free,
Notice me,
I'm your number, I'm your key,
Notice me
"It's meant to be like, and I'm paraphrasing, a generic name for a boy band who aren't that hot." Beca told her.
Stacie laughed. "What does the program say?"
"No, that's what is says, look." Beca smiled, handing the leaflet to her friend, shivering when their fingers made contact. As she did, the group on stage became suddenly still, before they transitioned into a new song.
Can't you see that I'm the one who understands you?
Been here all along so why can't you see?
You belong with me
"Great. Taylor freaking Swift." Beca groaned, putting her head in her hands.
"What? I like it." Stacie told her.
"But it shouldn't even count as Taylor Swift. If anything, it's Saving Jane." Beca replied.
"Not this again." Stacie muttered, banging her head against her chair.
Standing by and waiting at your back door,
All this time how could you not know baby
You belong with me
Beca lowered her voice when the group on stage fell silent again. "These are, like, the worst transitions ever." She whispered to Stacie.
I want to tell you
My head is filled with things to say
When you're here
All those words they seem to slip away
"I know, right? I swear, if they beat us..." Stacie trailed off.
"What?" Beca asked.
"Don't worry. I'll make sure we win somehow." Stacie grinned. The group became silent once again.
Cause I'm fallin madly in love
With you, with you
And I wish that you were going crazy for me too
"Stace, please don't do that." Beca said, knowing full well what Stacie's last comment meant.
"What? Are you saying I can't?" Stacie frowned.
"No. I'm saying I don't want you to." Beca replied, looking her friend in the eye. Stacie didn't look away.
"Then I won't." Stacie answered, placing a hand on Beca's thigh and turning to face her fully. She lifted up the divider between the seats, so there was nothing between them. Beca's hand automatically covered Stacie's and she turned in her seat to face the taller brunette.
"Thank you. I couldn't stand the thought of you doing that." Beca whispered, but it suddenly felt like shouting, and the rest of the room had long since faded away. They could still hear the noise all around them, but it sounded like they were underwater. Their own little bubble that consisted of just them. They were both maintaining eye contact, neither of them so much as blinking, as they gradually leaned in, their faces getting closer and closer together.
They were only vaguely aware as a man stepped to the front of the stage to sing what looked to be the last few lines of the set solo.
And I sit alone in the darkest night
My heart is pounding and I wonder why
Why am I invisible, why can't you see?
I'm in love with you, are you in lo-
"Ew!" Someone near the front of the stage yelled.
"Oh, my god!" Someone else shouted.
The bubble burst. The two of them turned to face the stage where the soloist was dashing off, covering the back of his white turning brown pants with his hands as best he could.
"Did that guy just crap his pants?" Jesse gasped, turning to Beca.
Beca shook herself out of her daze to reply. "I think so." She turned back to face Stacie.
She was greeted with an empty chair.
Beca turned to Aubrey, who was seated on Stacie's other side.
"Where is she?" Beca asked.
"She went that way." Aubrey pointed towards the bathroom. Beca rushed out of the auditorium after her friend. She peeked into the bathrooms.
"Stace? Stacie?" She whispered. She could hear Stacie breathe. She was breathing louder and shakier than usual. Beca had only heard her breathe like that once before. "Stacie, are you okay? You sound like you're crying."
"No I'm not." A squeak came from the cubicle on the far end, closest to the wall.
She walked over and stood outside the door. "Stacie, let me in. Please." She heard the lock slide over and the door swung open. "Stacie." She approached the crying girl, and pulled her up and into her arms. They stood there in perfect silence, feeling the comfort of the other's body. "Please don't cry, Stace." Beca whispered, pulling back slightly so she could look up into Stacie's eyes. "No one as pretty as you should cry." She used the pads of her thumbs to wipe the tears from Stacie's face.
"Beca, stop." Stacie whispered. Beca frowned, pulling her hands away. Stacie grabbed her before she could walk out. "Look, I... I don't know how to love very well."
"I don't either." Beca responded.
Stacie ran her hands down Beca's arms and their fingers locked. "No, look. My entire life, everyone I love has left me. My dad ran out on me and my mom when I was like, five. Never saw him again. My mom remarried, and when the douche she married turned out to be an abusing asshole, she left, and I had to stay with him. You... you know what he did to me. I went to a foster home when I was fifteen. And no one wanted a relationship with the foster kid. They left, Everyone did. And I've never really... loved. Until you. Now. I swear, when I look into your eyes, I can see your soul, and whenever I see you with Jesse, I have to go punch something. No, really. I like that we laugh at the same things, and I love how passionate you are. Whenever you're talking about music, you get this certain... sparkle. This gleam in your eye, and it shows that you really care. And I've never felt like this before. When I'm with you, I feel like I'm ... home."
"My dad left, too. When I was ten. I lived with my mom, who had to work three jobs to support us, and my dad remarried. I didn't hear from him until my mom died a few years back. I had to go live with him and the Stepmonster. And her son. Jesse." At Stacie's questioning look she added, "yes, that Jesse. After I told him who I was, he stopped hitting on me, thank god. But while mom drank herself to death and dad was away I learned not to let anyone in, so they couldn't hurt me. But you... You stopped me from doing that. Something about you made keeping my distance impossible. And I get these crazy feelings when I'm around you. Like, when you touch me, I swear I can feel sparks shooting up and down my body and my heart starts racing. I get jealous when I hear about you being with anyone else. And I swear all I can think about when I'm around you is kissing you, and holding you, and never letting you go. And I love you, too."
"So we're both fucked up, both not sure what love is, but both in love with the other." Stacie smiled.
"Yup. That's pretty much it." Beca laughed, despite the situation.
They were silent for a few more seconds, content to just be.
"We can learn, right?" Stacie asked.
"Yeah. It's never too late." Beca replied.
"Shall we start?" Stacie grinned, leaning down towards Beca, her tears long gone.
Stacie's hands went to Beca's waist. Beca's hands came to rest on Stacie's shoulders. The gap between their lips lessened, getting smaller and smaller by the second. Their lips made contact and moved against each other, Stacie ran her tongue over Beca's bottom lip, begging for entrance.
"Bec- whoa."
The girls abruptly pulled away.
"Hey, Chloe."
"'Sup, Chlo."
"Oh, my god! Are you two a couple?" The redhead screeched.
Beca looked up at Stacie for confirmation. Stacie squeezed her hand slightly and nodded.
"Yeah. Yeah, we are."
Chloe clapped her hands excitedly. "I was totally waiting for you two to get together. I called it. Aubrey owes me five bucks!" Chloe exclaimed, going into a miniature victory dance. "Anyway, they're announcing the winner in, like, five minutes."
"Chlo." Beca said quickly. "Please don't tell anyone. Not yet, anyway."
Chloe nodded. "You have my word." She left in a blur of red hair.
"Why did you do that?" Stacie asked in a small voice. "Are you ashamed of me?"
"Nope." Beca smirked, sliding an arm around Stacie's waist and resting her head on the taller girl's shoulder. "I thought we'd let them figure it out for themselves."
"Oh, this is gonna be fun." Stacie laughed.
"Yeah it is." Beca said.
"Do you think Aubrey's head will explode?"
"You're horrible." Stacie chuckled, hitting Beca on the arm. "And yes I do. It's gonna be awesome."
Laughing, they walked over to the group.
"There you are. They're about to announce the winners. Where were you two?" Aubrey fumed.
"Bathroom. Talking." Beca replied.
"Right, sorry. Nervous." Aubrey apologised
"Just don't puke on me." Stacie teased.
"Shut up. You're turning into Beca."
The brunettes rolled their eyes simultaneously before sitting back down in their seats. Stacie hooked an arm around Beca and pulled her closer. Their seats, with the divider gone, formed a love seat. Beca wrapped an arm around Stacie's midsection, and rested her head on the other girl's shoulder.
"What are you two doing?" Fat Amy asked, leaning forward in her seat to get a better view of the two girls.
"Nothing." Beca replied, snuggling further into Stacie. Stacie kissed the crown of Beca's head and rested her head on top of her girlfriend's.
"Oh my aca-gods!" Aubrey exclaimed. "Are you guys dating?"
"Yeah, we are."
"About time!" Jesse grunted, turning in his seat. He said to Stacie, "you know, Beca has been talking non stop about you all year. She really likes you. She drools over you the way any other lesbian or straight man drools over, like... Megan Fox. She thinks you're Megan Fox level hot."
"The same level you think Aubrey's at, you mean?" Beca smirked, despite her blush.
"Dude!" Jesse shouted.
"You like Aubrey?" Chloe asked. Jesse turned the colour of his blazer. Aubrey looked at him expectantly.
"Maybe." He muttered.
"Well, that won't do." Aubrey muttered. Jesse looked up at her, crushed. "I don't go into things half assed." She continued. "If you like me, just say so. If you don't, then I don't care. Nothing lost, nothing gained. If you do like me and won't admit it, then you're not worth my time."
"I really like you, Aubrey." Jesse said.
"Sorry, a little louder..."
"I really, really like you, Aubrey, will you go out with me!?" Jesse shouted at the top of his lungs.
Aubrey laughed. "Bit extreme."
"Do I get an answer, though?" He asked.
"Pick me up at seven thirty tomorrow." She said, turning to face the stage, where the announcers were climbing on stage. "It's time, ladies."
"In third place, it's the Hullabahoos!" John announced. "In second... The Treblemakers!" He shouted. The two groups cheered and ran onto the stage to collect their awards.
"And in first place..." Gail began, "The Barden Bellas!" She yelled. The girls jumped up screaming as they charged towards the stage to collect their trophy.
"We won." Aubrey repeated continuously. like she couldn't believe it. She was elated as she strode up the steps, grabbed Jesse by the blazer, and pulled him into a kiss.
"We won, Stace. We did it." Beca grinned.
"It was all down to you." Stacie told her.
Beca cheered with her group as they received their trophy to thunderous applause. She leaned over to kiss her girlfriend, but they were suddenly yanked apart when Fat Amy hoisted Beca onto her shoulders. A few seconds later, Stacie joined her on the group's shoulders and the newly formed couple held hands and didn't let go even when they were on the bus.
"Yup." Beca said, leaning against Stacie as the bus drove off. "This feels like home."