It wasn't a relationship. At least that's what Stacie told herself to justify not telling anyone. It was just sex... with cuddling sometimes. Well most times, unless one of them had to leave for some reason. And they talked, they didn't just jump each other whenever they were alone. After all, they'd been friends first. But this was different, it was sex. Just sex. And friendship, separately. But it really wasn't a relationship.
They weren't even super close friends before they started sleeping together. Yes, Stacie was closer to Aubrey than every other Bella not named Chloe, but that was only because they shared the same kind of sarcastic, judgy sense of humor, and she really couldn't complain about the rest of the girls with anyone else, which kind of became a necessity once they moved into the Bella house. So they did talk and text fairly regularly, but she didn't really see her except for when she attended their performances and the few times she visited Chloe at Barden.
And it wasn't that she'd always wanted to have sex with Aubrey, but she wasn't entirely surprised when they drifted away from the other Bellas at their third Nationals victory party and made out all the way to Aubrey's hotel room. With the adrenaline from the win fading, and out of sheer physical exhaustion, Stacie had fallen asleep still in postcoital haze. The next morning, they had woken up to a message from Chloe demanding they all had breakfast together, hangovers be damned, which didn't leave them much time for an actual talk about what happened. Aubrey looked up at Stacie from her side of the bed, asked if they were good, to which Stacie responded with a nod and a grin, and hopped into the shower.
And they were good. They were great, actually. Stacie left for the Bellas summer tour, and no one thought it strange when Aubrey joined them in more stops than usual that year. No one really cared about Stacie not sleeping in her room, they all found someone else to sleep with at some point of the tour, and no one seemed to make the connection that it only happened when Aubrey was there too.
And semi-regular sex did not make it a relationship. A relationship came with rules and commitment and things that had to be agreed upon, and neither of them seemed to be in a rush to discuss any of that. They were just having fun.
Surprisingly, the first one to find out had been the most oblivious of the lot.
Stacie had worried that, now that they were back at Barden and she shared a house with nine other girls, meeting up with Aubrey wouldn't be as easy; so the first week back, Stacie excused herself from the Trebles' beginning of the semester party and called Aubrey.
"Hey, whatcha doin?" Stacie asked casually.
"Nothing much, I just got home," Aubrey replied and Stacie deflated, thinking she'd be reluctant to go out if she'd just gotten back from work. "Is this a booty call?"
"What?" Stacie's voice went up an octave. "No, I just wanted to see how you were."
"It's fine, I've never actually been booty called."
Stacie smiled. Aubrey had agreed to let her introduce her to new things once in awhile, last month it had been Philly cheese steaks, but booty calls worked as well. "So, you wanna come over?"
Aubrey laughed. "What about the rest of the girls?"
"Trebles party." Stacie could practically hear the grimace on Aubrey's face at the mention of the other a capella group "They won't be back until way later."
There was a short pause at the other end of the line before Aubrey replied. "I'll be there in half an hour."
Stacie went to her closet to find something more appropriate for the evening and went around the other girl's rooms to steal their candles, scattering them around her room and lighting them. She was just about done when the doorbell rang and she hurried downstairs to open it, leaning on the open door and smiling widely as Aubrey's eyes took in her outfit.
"Hey," Stacie said with a smirk.
Aubrey, who had remained frozen just outside the door, seemed to recover and swallowed thickly. "Hey." Her voice was hoarse and low. She took a step forward, closing the door behind herself and ran her hand down the front of the silk camisole Stacie was wearing. The fabric was cold and smooth, but she could feel the warmth radiating from Stacie's body and the slight bumps as her fingers went over her abs.
"Bedroom?" Stacie asked and all Aubrey could do was bite her lip and nod.
She followed Stacie up the stairs and pushed her onto the bed, looking at her hungrily for a few seconds before jumping after her and capturing her lips. She tugged on the hem of the camisole, her fingers tracing Stacie's skin up to her breast.
Stacie moaned and broke the kiss for a second. "This isn't my bed."
"Why are you talking?" Aubrey protested and pulled Stacie's top over her head before reconnecting their lips.
Stacie shrugged, moving her hands to unbutton Aubrey's jeans and pushing them down with her underwear, letting go when Aubrey started to kick them off on her own. She sat up, reaching inside Aubrey's shirt and unlatching her bra, but she didn't want to break the kiss so she waited to pull it off.
Aubrey ground down against Stacie's lap and moaned into her mouth, framing Stacie's face and pulling away, but staying close enough that their breaths still mingled with each other. "You lit candles."
Stacie took this opportunity to divest her of her shirt and bra and pulled her flush against her front. "I figured I should make the extra effort since it's your first booty call."
Aubrey moved to straddle Stacie's thigh and started rocking against her, holding on to Stacie's shoulders for support. "So I won't get candles next time?"
"How do you feel about using the candles for something more than just mood lighting?"
Aubrey smirked and turned to crash her lips against Stacie's. Stacie's hands traveled down Aubrey's back, guiding her forward against her thigh, Aubrey's knee pushing between her legs.
"Hey, Stace, how are you- holy shit!"
The door slammed closed and Aubrey turned, grabbing her discarded shirt and covering her chest. "Beca, what the fuck?"
"Dude, can you knock?" Stacie yelled, lying back in bed defeatedly when Aubrey got up and started pulling her clothes on.
"Are you fucking kidding right now?" Beca yelled through the door.
Aubrey tossed Stacie her top and opened the door angrily. "Did you need something?" Beca was covering her eyes with both hands but Aubrey could tell she was blushing. "We're dressed, idiot, you can look."
"Speak for yourself." Stacie was still topless. Aubrey glared at her over her shoulder and she got dressed with a resigned pout.
Aubrey pulled Beca inside and closed the door behind her. "Is anyone else here?"
Beca shook her head and reluctantly lowered her hands. "I was running late for the party and Chloe told me Stacie'd stayed home sick. I had to drop off my laptop so I figured I'd check on her." She looked at the brunette. "You look like you're feeling better."
"I'd be feeling a lot better right now if you hadn't interrupted." Aubrey gave her a look again and Stacie shrugged. "Just saying."
"Beca, you can't tell Chloe. Or the rest of the girls," Aubrey pleaded.
"What, that you were having sex or that you were doing it on her bed? Because, gross." Beca grimaced.
Aubrey gave Stacie an outraged look and she lifted her hands defensively. "I tried to tell you but you were too focused on taking my clothes off."
Beca whimpered. "Why are you doing this to me?"
Aubrey pulled her towards the bed, hesitated and then turned her around so she could sit on Stacie's bed. "It's just sex, we don't want it to be a thing." Stacie nodded behind Aubrey. "And if Chloe finds out she's gonna make it a thing."
"And it's kinda hot to sneak around." Stacie winked at Aubrey when she turned to look at her and Aubrey smiled.
Beca looked at the exchange and tried to figure out how long this had been going on. She knew Stacie and Aubrey were friendly, and Stacie flirted with practically everyone so that didn't really tell her anything. Also, she didn't really think of Aubrey as a normal human who went out with people and had just sex and… She rubbed her eyes to try to erase the image of Aubrey naked on top of Stacie.
"Just promise you won't say anything, Becs, please?" Stacie pouted when she opened her eyes again.
"I don't like lying to Chloe," Beca grumbled.
"You won't be lying to her, it's not like she's gonna ask if we're sleeping together," Aubrey said. "You're just not telling her everything you know. Do you tell her absolutely everything?"
Beca shrugged. "I guess not."
"See, it's the same." Aubrey nodded.
Beca looked at Aubrey's and Stacie's pleading looks and sighed. "Fine, I won't tell Chloe or the other girls."
Aubrey looked down at the rehearsal from the upper level of the theater. She smiled proudly at the group of girls - her girls, except for Flo and Emily. She knew it was a little conceited to think that she was partly responsible for where the Bellas were now, but she had put in a lot of work that first year. And yes, part of their success had been because of Beca and her mashups, but she wanted to think it wouldn't have worked as well if she hadn't grilled them with the fundamentals of a capella. Still, she knew that most of them - Beca - would die if they knew she secretly thought of them as her Bellas, except for Chloe and maybe Stacie.
She looked at Stacie. Since this wasn't part of a competition, it was a performance Chloe had agreed to do to get back on the good graces of the school, they had been a little more liberal with the costumes. She would definitely remember if Stacie's shorts had ever been that short and tight before, and her shirt clinged to all the right places. And even though she felt a tiny pang of jealousy at the thought of all the idiot college kids who would be drooling at the sight, she had already texted Stacie to ask her if she wanted to go home with her after the performance.
Stacie looked up and winked at her, pushing her breasts up and twirling away. Aubrey rolled her eyes and waved at her when she turned back around. While no one understood better how good it felt to touch Stacie, she still didn't get why she had to do it onstage.
She sat back on her seat on the first row of the balcony when they finished the set. She knew they'd run through it a few more times before they took a break so she took out her phone to check her email.
A short time passed before she felt someone tap on her shoulder, holding back a laugh when she turned and found Stacie crouching behind her seat. "What are you doing?"
"I said I needed to make a call, I don't want them to see me here," she whispered and peeked over Aubrey's shoulder quickly. "We need to move back a few rows."
"For what?" Aubrey lowered her voice too even though she was sure the other girls couldn't hear them.
"To make out." Stacie rolled her eyes like it was obvious and moved up to the back of the theater, staying low so she wouldn't be seen from the stage.
Aubrey huffed, knowing it was futile to try to resist, first because Stacie was very insistent when she wanted something, and second because she couldn't come up with a reason why they shouldn't make out whenever possible. She put her phone down on the seat next to her and joined Stacie at the back.
Stacie stretched out and took her hand when she was close enough, pulling her down to sit on her lap and capturing her lips immediately. Aubrey smiled and responded to the kiss, her hand tracing patterns on her neck under the collar of her shirt and down her chest.
"What do you think about the set?" Stacie asked when she broke the kiss.
Aubrey rested her forehead on Stacie, still tugging on her shirt. "It looks good."
"Do I look good?"
Aubrey smiled, leaning closer and pecking Stacie's lips. "You look amazing." She turned her head and caught Stacie's earlobe with her teeth, tugging it lightly. "I can't wait to take those shorts off later."
Stacie smiled, running her hand up Aubrey's thigh and under her skirt. "You don't think they're too tight?"
Aubrey chuckled against Stacie's neck. "They might be a little tight for a public performance."
"We could leave before the performance."
"Chloe would kill you." Aubrey pulled back and looked at Stacie seriously. "And I don't know who you think you're talking to, suggesting skipping a performance."
"Someone who really wants to get into my shorts?" Stacie tried, smiling sweetly.
Aubrey rolled her eyes and pecked her lips. "I can wait, babe." Stacie arched an eyebrow. "What?"
"You've never called me babe before."
"Oh." Aubrey frowned and looked away. She hadn't really thought about saying it, it just came out. "Does it bother you?"
"I kinda like it." Stacie's smile made Aubrey's heart skip a beat.
"Yeah?" Stacie nodded and kissed her. Aubrey turned and deepened the kiss, moaning when Stacie's fingers dug into her upper thigh.
"Take me home." Stacie whispered against her lips.
Aubrey groaned, deepening the kiss, and starting to consider actually agreeing to Stacie's suggestion to skip the performance, when they heard something fall loudly on the seat in front of them, making them pull apart alarmed.
"What the-" Stacie pushed Aubrey to her feet and she leaned forward to look at the next row when Lilly sprang up from between the seats.
"Jesus, Lilly, where did you even come from?" Aubrey exclaimed.
Lilly shrugged, tilting her head to the side and mumbling something unintelligible. Aubrey had no idea what she said but apparently Stacie had spent enough time with her to understand, surprising Aubrey when she replied.
"No, my phone's not down Aubrey's throat." Lilly mumbled something else and Stacie shook her head. "Just don't mention it to anyone, okay." Lilly pursed her lips for a second and smiled, her lips moving again before Stacie rolled her eyes. "Fine, one week."
Lilly nodded, smiling at Aubrey before jumping over the seats to the aisle and out the back. Aubrey stared for a few seconds at the spot she'd disappeared from before turning back to face Stacie with a confused frown. "What the hell just happened?"
Stacie huffed and sat down again, pulling Aubrey back on top of her. "She agreed to keep her mouth shut if I let her have my floss for a week."
"Your dental floss?" Aubrey asked with a grimace and Stacie nodded. "Your used dental floss?" Stacie nodded again and Aubrey shook her head. "What does she want with it?"
Stacie arched an amused eyebrow. "Do you really wanna know?"
Aubrey figured that whatever it was, it was probably gross. "Do you know?"
"Nope, and I've learned not to ask," Stacie said, sighing and kissing Aubrey's cheek. "I should get back down there."
Aubrey turned her head and kissed her softly. "See you later."
"Can't wait, babe."
"What are you doing, weirdo?" Ashley asked as she entered the kitchen. She was followed closely by Jessica and they both sat at the kitchen island looking at Stacie.
Stacie turned, dropping the kernel of popcorn from her latex gloved hand, a light blush covering her cheeks. "I'm separating the good popcorn from the broken or charred ones."
"Why?" Jessica asked and exchanged a look with Ashley.
"I wanted to make sure I had good popcorn for movie night." Stacie shrugged and went back to inspecting the popcorn.
They exchanged another look but refrained from making any further comments as they watched her finish sorting through the rest of the popcorn with amused smiles. Stacie would sometimes pick up a kernel, put it on the bowl with the "good" popcorn and then reconsider and put it in the other bowl. Jessica and Ashley couldn't really figure out the criteria for why some of the popcorn went into one bowl or the other.
When she finished, Stacie removed her gloves and turned around, surprised that Jessica and Ashley were still sitting there. "Did you need something?"
"Nope," Jessica said.
"No." Ashley shrugged. "Do you know whose turn it is to pick the movie?"
"Mine," Stacie mumbled and walked out of the kitchen with her popcorn bowl, setting it on the coffee table in front of her usual spot on the couch.
Jessica and Ashley shared a look before hurrying after her, Ashley grabbing the bowl of "bad" popcorn before joining them in the living room.
"So, is it gonna be sci-fi or horror?" Jessica asked, sitting down next to Stacie.
"Neither," Stacie said testily before nudging her. "You can't sit there."
"Why?" Jessica asked with a frown. They didn't have assigned seats, but they always seemed to arrange themselves in the same places. Still, no one really cared when their usual seat was taken.
"Yeah, why?" Ashley asked from the chair next to the couch, popping a popcorn grain into her mouth and chewing with a smile.
"Because, someone else is sitting there!" Stacie said exasperated.
Beca came in and sat on the one seater in the corner. "What's going on?"
"Stacie's being weird," Jessica said and Ashley nodded.
"I'm not being weird, you're being annoying," Stacie replied, crossing her arms and leaning back with a pout.
Beca chuckled and moved to grab some popcorn from Stacie's bowl but she swatted her hand away. "Get your own popcorn."
Beca gaped and looked at Jessica and Ashley. "She just spent the past twenty minutes sorting popcorn, I wouldn't argue."
She was about to do just that when they heard Chloe approaching and Stacie straightened up and then seemed to think about it better and leaned casually against the side of the couch, her legs crossed, showing off their length.
"Ready for the movie?" Chloe asked when she reached them, pulling Aubrey along with her.
"Aubrey, I didn't know you were coming," Beca said, and only then Stacie looked up from her phone and smiled at her.
"Chloe invited me," Aubrey said matter of factly and sat down on the empty spot next to Stacie. "Hey."
"Hi," Stacie's smiled stretched wider unconsciously.
"So what are we watching?" Aubrey asked, leaning back close to Stacie as Chloe sat down on her other side.
"I think it's Stacie's turn to pick," Chloe replied. "Is anyone else coming?"
Everyone shrugged. They had set movie nights every wednesday but not everyone could make it every time so the mix of girls changed each week. It was rare to have a movie night when all the Bellas were present.
"Actually, I thought Aubrey could pick since she's not here often." Stacie threw a smile at Aubrey over her shoulder.
"Oh," Aubrey said. "I wasn't prepared for this." She took the remote from Stacie and started going through the movie selection on Netflix, settling for a horror movie despites the groans from Jessica and Chloe. "It was Stacie's turn, I had to pick something she'd like."
Stacie beamed and grabbed the popcorn bowl, offering it to Aubrey as she settled back against her again. She grabbed the blanket they kept on the back of the couch and passed it to Chloe to spread out over their laps, using the cover it afforded to take Aubrey's hand and run her fingernails down her palm. She heard Aubrey's breath catch in her throat but she gave no other sign that she was paying attention to her.
The popcorn ran out less than twenty minutes into the movie, and as soon as Aubrey placed the empty bowl on the coffee table, she got nudged by Chloe. "Scoot." Chloe moved closer to her. "Beca, come sit here."
"Why?" Beca looked at her from her comfy spot by herself.
"Because it's scary and I need someone smaller to squeeze."
Beca rolled her eyes but complied, forcing Aubrey to move closer to Stacie until she was practically sitting on her lap. Stacie moved her arm behind her, squeezing her hip under the blanket, and Aubrey grabbed her other hand, lacing their fingers and pulling her impossibly closer.
Stacie let out a little contented sigh, fighting the urge to kiss Aubrey. She loved that they could just hang out with the Bellas like this, and that everyone liked her now that she wasn't their captain. Even Beca seemed to have mellowed out a bit recently, and she hadn't really complained about having to hide from Chloe the fact that they were sleeping together.
She let go of Aubrey's hand and snaked her fingers under her shirt, caressing her smooth skin with her fingertips. She felt Aubrey squirm against her but she didn't make her stop, making her smile wider. She didn't really intend to start anything with this, she just wanted to feel Aubrey.
As the movie progressed, she could tell Aubrey was barely paying attention. Chloe yelped at a particularly scary bit, Ashley had pulled Jessica against her, and even Beca had jumped a couple of times, but Aubrey was completely relaxed as Stacie's fingers traced lazy patterns on the skin of her abdomen.
When the movie ended and Beca stood up to turn on the light, Aubrey moved away from Stacie, gathering the blanket and standing up to fold it. "Well, that was…" She looked at Stacie and smiled.
"I know! It was super scary!" Chloe said. "Do you wanna sleep over?"
"I have to be at work early tomorrow, I should probably get going actually." She handed Stacie the blanket and turned to hug Chloe. "Bye, Chlo." She stood awkwardly in front of Stacie for a second and then moved away. "Bye guys."
It took Stacie a few seconds but she finally reacted and ran out after Aubrey, throwing the blanket at Beca as she did. Aubrey looked up at her from the door and smiled, stepping outside and waiting for Stacie to join her before closing the door.
"I don't get a kiss goodbye?" Stacie asked with a cheeky smile.
Aubrey stepped up to her toes and placed a soft, chaste kiss on her lips. "Bye."
Stacie smirked and pulled her closer, crashing their lips together and kissing her fully, pulling away after a few seconds and smiling when she noticed Aubrey still had her eyes closed. "Goodbye."
Stacie went back inside, leaning on the door for support and closing her eyes with a dreamy smile.
"So how long have you been in love with Aubrey?"
Stacie's eyes popped open at the sound of Ashley's voice and she shushed her hurriedly. "Not here."
She looked in the direction of the living room, grateful that she could still hear Chloe complaining about the movie and pulled both Jessica and Ashley up the stairs and into their room, waiting until the door was closed to speak.
"I'm not in love with Aubrey."
Jessica snorted and sat down on her bed. "Right."
"It's pretty obvious," Ashley added.
"I'm not. We're just sleeping together," Stacie insisted, the statement sounding wrong even to her now.
"We've seen you with people you're only sleeping with and you don't act that way," Ashley said.
"Yeah, you've never cleaned popcorn for anyone," Jessica said.
"Aubrey doesn't like the burned bits, says it ruins the whole experience," Stacie defended.
"Do you have feelings for her?" Jessica sked with a quirked eyebrow.
Stacie sighed and sat down next to Jessica. "Of course I do, she's my friend."
Ashley raised her eyebrows at Jessica and she continued. "Do you have not so friendly feelings for her?"
Stacie bit her lip. She knew they'd been getting dangerously close to a relationship as time went by, but they really hadn't intended it. She figured that as long as no one knew and she didn't really think about it much, it was still just sex. And she was afraid that adding feelings into the mix would ruin things, and she didn't want to lose Aubrey.
"I don't know." Stacie flopped onto her back and the other girls looked at her.
"Have you talked to her about it?" Jessica asked.
"No," Stacie replied stubbornly. "This wasn't what we agreed to."
"Maybe she has feelings for you too," Ashley suggested.
"And maybe she doesn't and I ruin the whole thing." Stacie shook her head. "I can't talk to her about it." Ashley looked at Jessica for help but she just shrugged. "And everything's great as it is."
"Does Chloe know?" Ashley asked.
"That we're sleeping together or that I have feelings for her?"
"Either?"
"Both."
Stacie shook her head. "No and I hope not." She sat back up. "And you can't tell her anything, Aubrey will kill me."
"Guys!" They heard Chloe calling for them outside. "Stacie? Anyone! Beca left and I can't be alone."
Stacie snorted. "Gotta go take care of my deranged roommate."
The performance had been bad. Horrible even. This was probably the second worst performance in the history of a capella, and only because Aubrey puked all over the audience that one time. Even Fat Amy flashing the president hadn't been this bad, no one caught fire then.
She walked away from the area where the paramedics were patching up Cynthia Rose, wincing when she saw Aubrey waiting for them in the hallway outside.
"So that was bad…" Stacie leaned on the wall next to Aubrey.
"That's an understatement." Aubrey chuckled shaking her head. "But, hey! At least no one threw up on the audience."
"That's the lowest bar, babe."
Aubrey shoved Stacie lightly. "Jerk."
"Aubrey!" Chloe came out and hugged her, biting her lip worriedly when she pulled back. "That was awful. I don't understand what happened to us. Is this my fault? Am I a bad leader?" She glanced at Stacie and she quickly shook her head. "Is it Emily? Should we kick her out?" Aubrey opened her mouth to protest but Chloe seemed to reconsider. "Except she wasn't there for the Kennedy Center thing so it can't be her. I mean, the thing at the riff offs was a little… But still, she's harmless enough." She took a deep breath and looked at Aubrey. "I need to think about something else, tell me about your date the other day."
"Your date?" Stacie asked with a frown.
"Yeah, Aubrey went out with a super cute guy the other day." Chloe nodded. "How was it? Are you seeing him again?"
"Umm." Aubrey looked at Stacie and closed her mouth, swallowing nervously. "I don't know yet."
"You should totes see him again, he sounded awesome!" Chloe said.
"Excuse me, I need to…" Stacie turned around and walked away from Aubrey and Chloe. She couldn't keep listening about Aubrey's date with some douche. Because surely he was a douche if he was dating Aubrey instead of her. Or maybe he was perfect and awesome and Aubrey would fall in love with him and leave her.
She opened the door that lead to the parking lot, almost jogging towards the Bellas bus. She didn't have the key but she figured she could wait there until the rest of the girls were ready to go.
She felt like an idiot. She didn't know if she'd ever had a chance with Aubrey but now that she was dating some guy she probably didn't.
"Stacie, wait!" Aubrey caught up with her just as she was walking towards the back of the bus.
"What do you want, Aubrey?" Stacie asked annoyed. She knew she had no right to get mad at Aubrey, they hadn't exactly set any rules or talked about being exclusive, but she was angry.
"You're upset." Stacie hadn't stopped so Aubrey picked up the pace.
"I'm not upset, I'm fine. Why wouldn't I be fine? I'm great!" Stacie moved to the side of the bus that was hidden from the building and leaned against it, folding her arms.
"It was just a blind date someone at work set up for me." Aubrey stopped in front of where Stacie was leaning.
"Okay." Stacie shrugged, avoiding Aubrey's gaze.
"I didn't tell you because I didn't think you'd care." Aubrey took a step closer but Stacie still didn't look at her.
Stacie nodded and Aubrey tried to reach out and touch her forearm but Stacie shrugged her off.
"Stace, come on."
Stacie pushed off the bus and took a step back, finally facing Aubrey. "What do you want me to say? You want me to ask about your date? Was he nice? Did you sleep with him?" Aubrey rolled her eyes and Stacie's nostrils flared. "Well, did you?"
"Of course not, it was just one date, I'm not-" Aubrey closed her mouth abruptly.
"You're not me? Is that what you were going to say?" Stacie asked. "I'm not the one who went on a date with someone else!"
"I need more, Stacie!" Aubrey admitted. "I need more than just occasional sex with you."
Stacie nodded, her stomach clenching at Aubrey's words. "Just not with me."
Aubrey stepped closer, wiping a tear from Stacie's cheek. "I didn't know it was an option, you never said anything." She tilted her head up and kissed Stacie softly. "I thought…" She shook her head. "I thought you didn't want a relationship."
"What if I do?" Stacie looked at her and Aubrey didn't remember ever seeing her so vulnerable. "What if-?"
"What if what, Stacie?" Aubrey asked, her heart beating loudly in her chest.
Stacie captured Aubrey's lips. She'd never been good with expressing her feelings through words so she tried to show Aubrey how she felt about her in that kiss.
It was rough and desperate at first. She buried a hand in Aubrey's hair, the other one holding her lower back and pulling her closer. After a few frantic seconds, she slowed down, her breath mingling with Aubrey's as she tilted her head and reconnected their lips, the hand on her hair moving down to cup her cheek softly.
She pulled back, staying close to Aubrey and keeping her eyes closed. Her voice was barely above a whisper when she finally spoke. "I want you, in every way possible-"
"No shit!" Stacie jumped back at the sound of Fat Amy's voice, who was standing by the front of the bus with her mouth hanging open. "You and General Posen?"
"Amy, we're kind of in the middle of something, can you give us a minute?" Stacie asked as she tried to read Aubrey's expression.
"Umm, rude." Amy frowned. "And I totally can, Legs, but you'll have to ask the rest of the girls too, they're on their way."
Stacie sighed heavily. "Wanna go somewhere?"
"I think…" Aubrey took Stacie's hand and squeezed it. "I think I need to do some thinking."
"Oh." Stacie tried not to sound too disappointed.
"I just need a little time to process this." She dropped Stacie's hand. "Chloe's bringing you over to the retreat next week, we'll talk then."
The heard the chatter from the rest of the girls approaching and Stacie turned around to wipe her tear stained face so she wouldn't look too bad. "Yeah, okay." She forced herself to smile, nodding at Aubrey and then making her way to the front of the bus where Amy was waiting. "We'll talk."
Stacie had thought of a million scenarios of what would happen when she saw Aubrey, but this, getting yelled at with the rest of the Bellas, wasn't it. She also hadn't expected to find it as hot as she did.
Stacie had tried to respect Aubrey's space and hadn't contacted her during the week between their talk and the retreat, it had taken all of her self control and an inordinate amount of time playing video games for distraction, but she was finally there.
Aubrey had looked at her a few times during her tirade, and while she hadn't given her any actual clues as to what she had decided, her gaze had seemed to soften a bit when it landed on her.
As soon as Aubrey sent them to their tent and left them with one of the retreat staff members, Stacie gave Beca her bag and followed Aubrey into her office, closing the door behind herself.
"Hey."
Aubrey smiled despite herself and sat down behind her desk. "You're supposed to stay with your group."
"I wanted to talk to you." Stacie moved towards the desk and Aubrey quickly stood up.
"Right." She motioned at the chair across the desk. "I guess this is as good a time as any."
Stacie frowned but sat down across from Aubrey. Once she was seated, Aubrey sat down and grabbed a legal pad that was lying on the side of her desk, reading the top page and nodding to herself before looking at Stacie.
"I have been thinking about what you said, about wanting to be in a relationship," she said without looking up from the page. "And I have some reservations."
"Reservations?" Stacie repeated. "Deal breaking reservations?"
"No." Aubrey pursed her lips. "I don't think so." She went over the paper in front of her again. "I just have some concerns about what going from just having sex to dating would entail."
Stacie chuckled and stood up, walking around to Aubrey's side of the desk and sitting on the edge. "Babe, this is ridiculous." She took the legal pad and tossed it to the chair she'd been occupying. "Don't read a list."
"But that's where I wrote my concerns." Aubrey said matter of factly.
"And we'll get to them. But do you want to do this?" Stacie asked softly.
"Can you just let me-"
Stacie shook her head and leaned closer, cupping Aubrey's cheek. "Do you want to be with me?"
"Yes," Aubrey whispered.
Stacie smiled and kissed Aubrey quickly. "Then we'll figure it out. Everything on your list."
"What if we don't?" Aubrey asked, her hands settling on Stacie's thighs.
"Then at least we'll know we don't work?" Stacie smiled. "Let me try."
Aubrey thought about it for a few second and nodded, tilting her chin up to kiss Stacie a few times before pulling her onto her lap, her hand finding the edge of her skirt. "You're really not wearing the right shoes for this, babe."
Stacie laughed. "I have sneakers in my suitcase." She ran her finger down Aubrey's chest. "You look super hot in your uniform. Especially when you're yelling."
Aubrey shook her head, smiling at how ridiculous Stacie was, but saving that information for later. "You should really get back to the girls."
"We'll go through your list later?"
Aubrey nodded, kissing her again. "Maybe you can sneak out after the other girls are asleep?"
Stacie gasped. "Are you suggesting I break the rules?"
"Well, you are dating the manager of this place," Aubrey said.
Stacie's smile widened. "Yeah, I am."
Aubrey grabbed Stacie by the front of her shirt and pulled her in for a quick kiss. "I'll catch up with you guys in a bit."
Stacie smiled as she made her way down to where their tent was. Most of the girls were still trying to figure out how to keep it from collapsing, while Chloe yelled directions at them from the back. Beca was standing next to a tree with her arms crossed and a frown on her face.
"What's going on?" Stacie asked as she approached Beca.
Beca turned to look at her, narrowing her eyes and pulling her to the other side of the tree. "Where the hell were you?"
"I had to talk to Aubrey." Stacie pulled her arm free and pouted.
"Right, talk…" Beca snorted.
"What's your problem?" Stacie asked. She didn't get why Beca was so upset about her talking to Aubrey.
"Chloe asked about you!" Beca hissed.
"So?" Stacie frowned still confused.
"So I had to lie to her! I hate lying to Chloe!" Beca shook her head. "I can't keep doing this!"
"This is really not a good time for you to be freaking out on me, Beca." Stacie shook her head. She'd just gotten Aubrey to agree to give it a try and adding Chloe into the mix would only complicate things. "Get your shit together."
"What?"
"Get it all together and put it in a backpack, all your shit, so it's together!" She started to walk away but walked back after a few steps. "And if you gotta take it somewhere, take it somewhere, you know? Take it to the shit store and sell it, or put it in a shit museum. I don't care what you do, you just gotta get it together."
Stacie walked to the side of the tent, where Jessica and Ashley were watching as Flo kept pulling at one of the tent poles while Fat Amy tried to fit the tent on it. "Hey."
Jessica tilted her head and studied Stacie. "What's wrong?"
"It didn't go well with Aubrey?" Ashley asked.
"It went great, I just-" Stacie bit her lip in thought. "I guess we're gonna have to tell people now, which is fine if everyone's cool with it, but I don't know."
"Well half of us already know and it was fine," Ashley pointed out.
"I know, I know, I just-"
She was interrupted by an angry voice behind them. "You still haven't finished pitching the tent?"
Stacie whirled around, smiling at the sight of Aubrey with her hands on her hips. Chloe walked around to the front and frowned up at her. "No one knows how to do this, Bree. It's not like you gave us instructions."
"I'm sure at least one of you has gone camping before." They all stared at their feet and avoided her gaze. "No one knows how to set up a tent?" Some of them shook their heads, still not looking up. "Stacie, you're an engineering major, think you can figure it out?"
Stacie smirked and shrugged. "Probably."
"Then get to it!" Aubrey yelled. "If you're not done by the time the sun sets it's gonna be harder."
All the girls scampered around to start working on something except Stacie, who stared at Aubrey for a few more seconds. "So hot."
Stacie gracefully jumped over Cynthia Rose and Beca. Going over Fat Amy took more skill but thankfully she was a heavy sleeper, and finally skipped over Jessica and out of the tent with a triumphant grin. She waited outside for a few seconds, listening for any movement or a break in someone's breath pattern in case she needed to make an excuse, but the steady flow of soft snores wasn't interrupted.
She turned in the direction of Aubrey's cabin, which she knew was behind the main cabin with the offices. She was glad they left a light on outside the building to guide her, even if she could barely make out the ground in front of herself. She thought about using her phone to light the way, but she didn't want to draw more attention to herself and she was half sure the bear trap warning Aubrey had given them wasn't serious.
She reached Aubrey's cabin, pulling her top down a little to accentuate her cleavage before knocking on the door.
"It's open!" She heard faintly, frowning at the fact that Aubrey would just let her door unlocked for anyone to come in.
She locked the door after walking in and found Aubrey in the bathroom brushing her teeth. "You know there could be serial killers out there, right?"
"What?" Aubrey turned to spit and rinse her mouth.
"Your door was unlocked? Any weirdo roaming the woods could walk in and murder you." Stacie shook her head.
"There's a fence surrounding the property and there are bear traps everywhere." Aubrey dried her mouth and turned to face Stacie, taking her hands and reaching up to kiss her. "Hey."
"Hey." Stacie smiled and pecked her lips a few times before processing what Aubrey said, and pulling back. "The bear traps are real?"
"You thought I was kidding?" Aubrey arched an eyebrow.
"Sort of?" Stacie chuckled and pulled Aubrey out of the bathroom and onto the bed.
The cabin was small. It wasn't supposed to be lived in, it was just a place Aubrey could sleep in when she needed to. The bed occupied most of the space, with a small breakfast table separating it from a kitchenette and a small bathroom with a shower in the back.
Stacie lay back on the bed, taking Aubrey's hand and looking around the room. It felt strange and familiar at the same time; even though it didn't have anything in terms of decoration, the pillow had Aubrey's scent, and Stacie had seen the book on the breakfast table sitting next to Aubrey's bed in her apartment.
Aubrey had been looking at her nervously and Stacie smiled when she turned to her. "So…"
"So?" Aubrey leaned on her elbow and squeezed Stacie's hand. "Are you sure about this?"
"About us?" Stacie asked and Aubrey nodded. "Of course." She let go of Aubrey's hand and cupped her cheek. "Are you?"
"Not really." Aubrey chuckled nervously. "But I want to do it."
Stacie kissed her, her hand moving to her hip and pressing herself flush against Aubrey. "I know I'm just an idiot who's never had a real relationship, and I know you could do way better than me, but I think... I hope you feel this thing between us too."
Aubrey laughed and shook her head, kissing Stacie quickly. "Like you couldn't do better than me."
"Are you kidding? A super hot, older girl with an awesome voice who runs an outdoor retreat?" Stacie rubbed their noses together. "Where am I gonna find someone better?"
Aubrey smiled, kissing Stacie again and pushing her back to get on top of her. She pulled back, looking into Stacie's eyes and brushing back a strand of hair. "I do feel it. The thing between us."
Stacie smiled wider and tilted her head up to capture Aubrey's lips, deepening the kiss immediately. Her hands roamed over Aubrey's back, down to where her shirt ended and she started pulling at the hem, her fingers tracing the skin underneath it.
It hadn't been just about sex for a while, but tonight felt different for Stacie. For the first time, sex wasn't the goal, it was just a way to express what she didn't have words for yet.
She let Aubrey pull her shirt over her head, watching as her fingers danced down her abs and to the top of her shorts. She started pulling on the ties at the front but Stacie flipped her onto her back, pinning her underneath her body and kissing her slowly, her hand moving down to remove Aubrey's pants and underwear.
Aubrey wrapped her arms around Stacie's neck, closing her eyes as she felt one of her hands travel down her front and stop just before reaching her center. She kissed the corner of Aubrey's mouth, resting her cheek against hers as she moved her hand the rest of the way down.
She felt more than heard Aubrey's soft gasp against her neck, a moan building up in the back of her throat with every thrust of Stacie's hand until she couldn't hold it back anymore. Her arms tightened around Stacie's neck and she arched her back, lifting her hips towards Stacie's hand.
Stacie kept the pressure until Aubrey relaxed, flopping back down on the bed and kissing Stacie in a way she'd never kissed her before, taking Stacie's breath away and forcing her to pull back.
She leaned her forehead against Aubrey's, her eyes still closed and breathing hard. Her heart pounding in her chest like she'd been the one to just have an orgasm instead of Aubrey. She felt Aubrey's fingers tracing her cheekbones and she opened her eyes, looking down at her.
One of Aubrey's hands moved down her neck and rested on her chest and Stacie suddenly felt self conscious about Aubrey feeling how fast her heart was beating. Her head felt light and she felt like something was squeezing and releasing her stomach. She rolled over onto her back, the thought that she was having a heart attack crossing her head for a second but she didn't really feel bad.
Aubrey looked at her worriedly, her hand pressing against her forehead and cheek. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm okay." She trapped Aubrey's hand against her cheek and turned to kiss her palm. "I just got a bit dizzy."
Aubrey was still frowning, but let Stacie pull her fully on top of her. "Are you sure?"
Stacie lifted her head and kissed Aubrey to reassure her. The feeling hadn't left but it had turned into a dull, background noise. "I'm great."
Stacie woke up to the sound of the shower running, frowning when she realized Aubrey was gone. She thought about getting up and joining her, the bed hadn't been thought for more than one person so they hadn't been able to really sleep that much. Still, Stacie hadn't minded sharing the tiny bed, and they'd spent most of the night having sex and going over Aubrey's list. Stacie had thought she'd been able to assuage most, if not all, of Aubrey's concerns, but still she hesitated before opening the door to the bathroom.
"Don't get in!" Aubrey yelled as soon as she heard her.
"Oh." Stacie's disappointment was patent in her tone.
Aubrey pushed the curtain back and peeked out of the shower. "You can't go back to the tent all wet."
Stacie smiled, happy that the rejection hadn't been because she didn't want her there, and moved closer to kiss Aubrey softly. "Then I probably shouldn't look at you at all."
Aubrey rolled her eyes but kissed her again before continuing with her shower, talking loudly so Stacie could hear her over the sound of the falling water. "I think I'm gonna tell Chloe about us today."
"Really?" Aubrey turned off the shower and Stacie turned to look for her towel to hand it over.
"Thanks." Aubrey grabbed the towel and went back behind the curtain. "Unless you still want to keep this quiet."
Stacie turned when she heard Aubrey push the curtain back and moved to wrap her arms around her as soon as she stepped closer. "As hot as sneaking around is, I wouldn't mind being able to do this whenever."
Stacie held Aubrey's chin and leaned down to kiss her softly, her free hand sneaking under the towel and pressing against Aubrey's back. Aubrey smiled against Stacie's lips, pulling back after a few lingering pecks. "You should go back to the tent before I wake everyone up."
Stacie pouted. "Can't we just hide here all day?"
Aubrey smiled kissing Stacie again before opening the bathroom door. "Tempting, but I have work to do and you are supposed to be bonding with the Bellas."
"We live together, how much more bonded can we be?" Aubrey arched an eyebrow, still holding the towel around herself. "Fine, I'll go."
Stacie pouted, putting on her discarded flip flops. Aubrey was standing next to her when she turned to open the door, and she took her hand, pulling her in for a kiss. "I'll see you in a bit."
Stacie smiled as she made her way back to the tent. The sun was barely over the horizon, which was good because the girls tended to sleep in when they didn't have class or rehearsal, which meant she could sneak back into the tent without anyone noticing she was gone.
She looked inside the tent, relieved when her suspicions were confirmed, and she rolled back to her spot and closed her eyes. She knew she wouldn't have time to really fall asleep, and her mind was reeling with the intensity of what she'd felt last night and this morning, but if someone woke up before Aubrey arrived they'd think she was sleeping.
She didn't have to wait long before she heard footsteps approaching and Aubrey started yelling at them to get out. Everyone jumped up startled, hurrying to obey Aubrey. Stacie waited until the first few girls were out so she'd have time to stretch a bit before joining them outside.
She was grateful she hadn't had to sleep on the ground like the others, no one really looked like they'd had a good night's sleep, and they were all especially grumpy as they made their way to the mess hall for breakfast. No one spoke as they ate, focusing on the gray slop Aubrey called oatmeal, some resting their eyes between bites.
Just as she was finishing, Cynthia Rose sat down next to Stacie, leaning close to whisper to her, "where did you go last night?"
Stacie frowned. She didn't know if Cynthia Rose had seen her leave the tent or if she knew she'd been gone most of the night. "What do you mean?"
Cynthia Rose rolled her eyes. "I woke up a bunch of times and you weren't there."
"Just around." Stacie looked up at where Aubrey was standing, talking to one of the camp's staff members, and then back at her oatmeal.
Cynthia Rose frowned when she noticed Stacie blush and looked up at the same spot, her eyes widening as she realized who Stacie had looked at. "You-!"
Stacie reached forward and covered her mouth, getting a few weird looks from Emily who was sitting across from them. "Shhhhh! Yes." Cynthia Rose spoke, but her words were muffled by Stacie's hand. "I need you to lower your voice."
She removed her hand and Cynthia Rose looked up at Aubrey again. "You're tapping blondie?"
"Yeah, we're sort of going out?" Stacie shrugged.
"You're dating her?" Cynthia Rose hissed. "Like exclusively?"
Cynthia Rose knew of Stacie's proclivity to avoid commitment so her surprise was expected. "It's new! We're seeing where it goes."
"Wow." Cynthia Rose shook her head. "Who'd have thought Aubrey could do that."
"Not me, that's for sure," Stacie said and chuckled. "I'm just as surprised as anyone."
Stacie looked back up, her mouth curling into a smile as she looked at Aubrey. Cynthia Rose smiled at Stacie's goofy, infatuated look and shook her head. "You've got it bad."
Stacie bit her lip and tilted her head, her eyes never leaving Aubrey. "Don't say anything to Chloe."
"Don't say anything to Chloe about what?"
They both looked up surprised at the sound of Chloe's voice. They hadn't noticed she'd sat down next to Emily at some point during their conversation. Thankfully, Stacie was fast on her feet. "If we told you it wouldn't be a surprise anymore, would it?"
Chloe grinned. "I love surprises!"
"I know!" Stacie said, matching Chloe's smile even though she felt she wouldn't love this particular surprise.
Before she had to explain more, Aubrey yelled that they had five minutes to finish breakfast and meet her outside. Everyone groaned, forcing the rest of the sloppy oatmeal into their mouths before returning their bowls and standing tiredly outside.
Again, Aubrey continued to defy her expectations by making them go through a series of "team building" exercises that looked more like army drills, while they sang. She'd been vaguely aware of what Aubrey did at work, they sometimes talked about their days and a few times Aubrey had called her to complain about particularly annoying clients, but she hadn't realized exactly what went on here.
She now understood all the times Aubrey had been too tired and they would just cuddle, even though Stacie had gone there with the intention of having sex. And she realized now that maybe she'd had feelings for Aubrey for way longer than she though, given how little it had bothered her that her booty calls turned into cuddle sessions.
But, like they said, hindsight was 20/20, and jumping across logs over a mud pit really wasn't the time to think about how long she'd been harboring feelings for Aubrey. Especially now that she was her girlfriend.
Stacie slipped and fell in the mud at the thought of the g-word. It wasn't that the word had scared her, but she hadn't been ready for the way her stomach flipped at the thought.
"You okay, Stace?" Emily called from behind her as she emerged from the mud with a gasp.
She took a moment to wipe mud from her face before looking up at her and responding. "Peachy."
Fat Amy suddenly appeared behind Emily and pushed her off her log and into the mud with a loud laugh, which devolved into the rest of the Bellas pulling each other into the mud pit. Stacie didn't notice Beca and Chloe get out, but she suddenly heard Aubrey scream and she immediately turned. She smiled when she saw the other girls pulling her towards the mud pit, and she started pushing the rest of the girls to the side so she'd have a space to land.
Chloe gave her one last shove and she flew into the mud with a yelp. She emerged and shook her head, her eyes searching for Beca through the mud. "I'm gonna kill you, hobbit!"
She made her way to the edge and jumped up to get out, but Stacie grabbed her leg and pulled her back inside. Stacie felt her stomach clench with pure fear when Aubrey got out and turned to find whoever had pulled her back in, but her fear turned into lust when Aubrey realized it was her. She looked like she was about to pounce, but Stacie knew that look and, if they'd been alone, she knew Aubrey would be all over her.
"Everybody out!" Aubrey yelled.
The girls scrambled to get out, forming a shaky line in front of the pit and watched as Aubrey grabbed a hose, turning it on and letting the spray fall on her head, washing the mud away. Stacie bit her lip to keep herself from whimpering at the sight. With one final shake of her head, Aubrey turned the hose on them, ignoring their yelps as she washed them down like she was washing graffiti off a wall.
"Alright, you have an hour to shower and rest. Whoever's not ready will help carry the firewood for the fire pit." The girls turned to head to the showers when another yell from Aubrey stopped them. "Stacie, come with me."
Chloe and Emily looked worriedly at Stacie's retreating back but the rest of the girls smirked at each other. Jessica rolled her eyes, while Cynthia Rose snorted, fighting the urge to yell something suggestive at them.
Stacie hurried to catch up to Aubrey and walked in silence behind her for a bit. She thought they were going back to Aubrey's cabin but the silence from the blonde was making her increasingly nervous. "Bree?" Aubrey just kept going and ignored her. "Aubrey, are you mad?"
"No." Aubrey breather out, barely audibly, and stepped up her pace.
Stacie skipped a bit to keep up with her. "Then what's wrong?"
Aubrey paused for a second, hesitating before continuing. "Can you wait until we get there?"
"'Kay." Stacie grumbled and continued following Aubrey, waiting as she fished her key from her pocket and opened the door.
As soon as they were inside, Aubrey pushed Stacie against the closed door and kissed her forcefully. "I couldn't stop or I would've done this outside and someone could've seen us."
Stacie saw the look she'd seen in the mud pit return to Aubrey's eyes and she smirked, pulling her back against her and capturing her lips. "You taste like mud."
"We should probably shower." Aubrey said, winking before turning around and making her way to her bathroom, discarding her shirt before disappearing inside.
It took Stacie a few seconds to break out of her stupor and follow Aubrey to the bathroom. She was already in the shower, and Stacie quickly divested herself of her muddy clothes and jumping inside.
The warm spray hit her back and she wrapped her arms around Aubrey from behind and kissing her shoulder. "Hey."
Aubrey reached up and buried her fingers in Stacie's hair, moaning softly. "Hey."
Stacie grabbed the shower gel from Aubrey's shower caddy and squeezed it on her loofah, lathering it before running it over Aubrey's front, her free hand following its path as she turned her head to kiss her neck.
She turned Aubrey so she ended up under the spray, dropping the sponge and following the soap suds down Aubrey's stomach to the apex of her legs, her fingers sliding easily inside her.
Aubrey turned her head and clutched Stacie's forearm, keeping it in place as she let out a hoarse moan. "Stace."
Stacie smirked against ker neck, biting down and moving her fingers faster. "I think I owe you an apology for pulling you back into the mud pit."
"Yes." Aubrey squeezed Stacie's arm tighter. She couldn't tell if Aubrey was confirming that she owed her an apology or she was expressing her approval. Either way, Stacie took it as encouragement and sped up her movements.
Aubrey bit her lip and pressed herself against Stacie's front, her nails biting into the skin of her forearm as she rode her orgasm, fighting to keep herself upright as her legs trembled. Stacie's grip on Aubrey's waist tightened, holding her and leaning back against the wall until she felt Aubrey steady herself.
Aubrey chuckled, turning to face Stacie and pecking her lips. "Apology accepted."
Stacie grinned, pulling back slightly and poking at a muddy patch on Aubrey's hair. "We should really get cleaned up, you don't wanna be late to yell at people."
Aubrey rolled her eyes and picked up the discarded sponge, passing it to Stacie. "Do my back?"
Stacie whistled as she made her way down the path to their tent. Aubrey had leant her a pair of yoga pants, that were a little short for her, and a Bellas t-shirt she had laying around her cabin. She felt clean and fresh and 100% better than when she was covered in mud. Her skin felt unusually smooth, she was thinking about asking Aubrey to steal some mud for her occasionally.
Just as she was about to turn the corner of the big cabin with the showers, she started hearing loud voices coming from the other side. She stopped, tilting her head to the side and then running towards the disturbance when she recognized Beca's voice.
"I don't know, Chloe!" Beca yelled. "Why don't you ask your best friend!"
Stacie arrived to the front of the cabin where Beca and Chloe were facing each other, watched by the rest of the girls. "What's going on?"
They both looked at her, and Chloe seemed to forget what she was arguing about with Beca and furrowed her brow. "Where were you?"
"Umm." Stacie twirled her wet hair on her index finger. "Shower?"
"Where?" Chloe brought her hands to her hips and tilted her head.
Stacie looked at the other girls but they all averted their gaze. "Aubrey let me use her shower."
"With her in it." Fat Amy mumbled.
"What?" Chloe whirled around to face Amy.
"I said 'wiggle wigger'," Fat Amy replied.
"What's going on, Stacie?" Chloe turned back to face her and Stacie looked down so Chloe turned to Beca. "Beca?"
Stacie's head whipped up and she looked at her pleadingly but Chloe was using her puppy dog eyes and she could see Beca wavering. "Beca…" Stacie tried.
"Stacie and Aubrey are sleeping together!" Beca finally exclaimed.
"What?" Chloe turned, noticing the lack of reaction from the other girls. "You all knew?"
"I didn't!" Emily raised her hand.
"Shut up, Legacy." Fat Amy swatted her hand down.
Chloe turned back to Stacie. "Since when?" Stacie opened and closed her mouth but no words came out. "Are you just using Aubrey for sex?"
"What? No! I wouldn't-" She stopped because they all knew she had done it in the past. "It's not like that."
"Then what? Aubrey would've told me if it was more," Chloe said.
"She's-" Stacie wanted to defend Aubrey but she didn't know if she would make it worse by accepting they were in a relationship and Aubrey didn't tell Chloe.
"I'm in love with her!" They all turned when Aubrey intervened.
"What?" Chloe asked loudly, completely drowning out Stacie asking the same question.
Aubrey ignored Chloe and looked at Stacie. "I love you."
Stacie stepped closer and took Aubrey's hands, looking at her feet for a second before looking back at her. "I love you, too."
Aubrey wrapped her arms around Stacie's neck and was about to kiss her when Chloe interrupted them. "I'm sorry, what the fuck is happening here?"
Aubrey pecked Stacie's lips quickly and let her go, facing Chloe apologetically. "I was going to tell you tonight."
"You were gonna tell me tonight you're in love with Stacie?" Chloe shook her head incredulously. "How long has this been going on?"
Stacie took Aubrey's hand and squeezed it. Aubrey gave her a small smile before replying to Chloe. "I don't know, it just happened." She looked at Stacie. "I just woke up one day and I couldn't imagine my life without her."
Stacie smiled, kissing Aubrey's cheek quickly. "This is all news to me too," she said to Chloe. "And a surprise since yesterday she had a long list of reservations about dating me."
Aubrey turned and punched Stacie's shoulder softly. "Shut up, I was scared."
Stacie hugged her and rubbed their noses together. "I love you."
Aubrey kissed her and Stacie tried to deepen the kiss but Chloe interrupted them again. "Stop being so cute, I can't be mad!"
Aubrey pushed Stacie away and returned to Chloe. "I'm really sorry, Chlo."
Chloe pouted. "Why did everyone else know before I did?"
"We didn't tell them they just… found out," Aubrey explained.
"I walked in on them having sex," Beca said. "I would've loved to not find out."
"You liked it." Stacie winked at her and Beca blushed furiously, walking away and taking the rest of the girls with her.
Chloe sighed. "Fine, but I better find out before anyone when you decide to propose."
Stacie immediately blanched at the idea, her heart speeding up as she waited for Aubrey and Chloe to hug it out. Aubrey returned to her and squeezed her hand. "Don't think about it."