Beca Mitchell had just finished the last notes of Tegan and Sara's "Closer" and the crowd erupted in cheers. The Barden Bellas had just made themselves the group to beat at the ICCAs this year and it was no surprise to anyone when the announcement was made that the Bellas had won the ICCA competition (by a large margin I might add).
Beca looked for and found Chloe and Aubrey. Chloe pulled her into a Beale worthy hug and said, "We did it, Becs! YOU did it! We won the ICCAs because of you!"
Beca's smile was so big that her cheeks were actually starting to hurt. "We all did it, Chlo!," she said.
Chloe let go of Beca and they both grabbed onto Aubrey. They were jumping up and down and screaming when all of the Bellas piled on. All the girls were crying and yelling; Fat Amy was waving around the trophy. Nothing could ruin this moment for them.
Everyone finally calmed down and made their way backstage. Amy pulled out several bottles of champagne and corks were popping.
"It's party time, bitches," Amy yelled as she poured champagne for the girls.
"Let's take this back to the hotel," Aubrey said.
The girls all agreed. They gathered all their stuff and headed to the Bellas bus. Once back at the hotel, everyone changed into their pajamas and gathered in Chloe and Aubrey's shared room. Now the real celebration could start. Lucky for them the floor they were assigned to was filled with the Bellas and the Treblemakers.
Chloe found Beca and they shared a toast. Chloe was Beca's best friend and also the first of the Bellas that Beca had told she was gay. Chloe knew that Beca had a crush on her but she was hopelessly in love with Tom, her boyfriend for the past 3 years. It didn't stop them from becoming best friends in a very short period of time.
Chloe was also the first, and only person, Beca told about having feelings for Aubrey. Somewhere between all the arguing and hating each other, Beca started to feel like she and Aubrey could be something amazing. She hadn't acted on her feelings because it seemed like Stacie also liked Aubrey and Aubrey reciprocated the feelings. Beca was a lot of things, but she wasn't one to mess with someone else's relationship.
Stacie and Aubrey walked, actually staggered, over to Beca and Chloe. They joined in another group hug.
"So, Beca," Stacie said. "Are you ready to captain us into another ICCA win next year?"
Beca laughed. She had decided that she was going to stay at Barden and get her degree. She had grown to love the Bellas and figured LA would be there when she was ready.
"Hell, I'm feeling cocky enough to say that we'll be 4-time ICCA champions when we graduate," Beca said with a smirk.
The three other girls laughed and "clinked" their solo cups and said "here, here!"
The party lasted until about 3:00 am. Later that day, all the Bellas finally woke up and made it down to the hotel diner for their 2:30 lunch reservation. Most of them were wearing their sunglasses. Yes, they knew they were indoors but even that light was too bright for their hungover brains.
"Where's Stacie?," Aubrey asked.
"I think she's still sleeping," Jessica told her.
Beca looked at Chloe and whispered, "Stacie didn't sleep in our room last night."
Chloe looked at her and didn't say anything.
After some food and plenty of water to rehydrate themselves, the conversation centered around what they were going to do the next day. They had chosen to stay an extra day since most of them had never been to New York. Aubrey and Chloe volunteered to act as tour guides and they developed an agenda for the group.
Everyone decided to just rest and take it easy that night after all the excitement from the night before. Aubrey went looking for Stacie. The rest of the girls, minus Chloe and Beca, went back to their rooms. The two best friends decided to take a walk around while it was still light outside. When they returned to the hotel all hell had broken loose. CR was holding a screaming, crying Aubrey; Fat Amy was trying to restrain an angry (also crying) Stacie.
"I can't fucking believe you," Aubrey yells at Stacie. "You told me to give you a chance. You said you were ready for a real relationship."
"I was drunk!," Stacie yells back. "I had too much to drink and it just happened."
"I can't trust you," Aubrey said quietly. "If I can't trust you, I can't be with you."
CR tightened her grip on their blonde captain. She was worried because Aubrey stopped struggling and yelling and she was afraid of what their blonde captain might do next.
"You can't mean that!," yelled Stacie. "I care about you. I want to be with you."
"I don't want to be with you," Aubrey says. "CR, please let me go. I just want to go to my room."
CR lets her go and Aubrey walks away towards the elevator. Beca and Chloe just stood there stunned. Beca finally shakes her head and looks at Chloe.
"Maybe you should go with her," she says quietly.
Chloe nods her head and hurries to catch up with Aubrey.
Stacie slumps down to the floor as tears poured down her face. Amy goes down with her and just hugs her.
"Shh," Amy says. "It's going to be okay."
Amy looked at Beca. Beca didn't know what to do but she went over and got down on the floor in front of Stacie.
"Stace," Beca said to get her attention. "Wanna tell me what happened here?"
Stacie gave her a sad look and said through her tears, "I fucked up, big time. I got drunk, some guy hit on me and I went back to his room. And you can figure out the rest."
"Oh," was all Beca could say.
"Yeah," Stacie said. "Oh."
"Come on," Beca said standing. "Let's all just go back to our rooms. I'll take care of Stacie."
The girls all nodded their heads and everyone went to the elevators. Beca used her key card to open her and Stacie's room. They went in and Stacie collapsed on one of the beds.
She was still crying and Beca went over and sat next to her. She rubbed Stacie's back. A small part of her was feeling kind of happy about the whole thing. She knew that Aubrey would never stay with a cheater no matter what explanation they gave. Which means, Beca may have a shot with the blonde.
Beca pushed these thoughts out of her head and did her best to comfort Stacie. Stacie finally fell asleep so Beca took the opportunity to go check on Aubrey. Chloe answered the door and Beca saw that Aubrey was asleep as well. Beca pointed to the door and led Chloe out into the hallway so they could talk without disturbing Aubrey.
"Is she doing okay?," Beca asked.
"She's really upset," Chloe told her. "She really took a chance on Stacie. I know this has devastated her."
"What should we do about the sightseeing tomorrow?," Beca asked. "Do you think Aubrey is going to feel up to helping you play tour guide."
"I honestly don't know," Chloe responded. "Aubrey is not the type to go back on her word and she promised everyone but it may be too much for her."
"Yeah," Beca said, "but I'm sure everyone would understand."
"Let's go talk to the girls," Chloe said.
Beca and Chloe got all the girls together in CR and Amy's room. They explained how they didn't think Aubrey would want to play tour guide the next day. Chloe said, "We just need to know what you girls want to do."
"We love both of them," CR said. "This has really hit us all pretty hard. I think we should just plan to head back to Barden tomorrow."
All the other girls agreed that the rift between Aubrey and Stacie put a damper on things. they agreed that they should leave the next morning and head back home. Everyone agreed and decided to meet in hotel diner at 7:00 am for breakfast so they could leave no later than 9:00.
Chloe woke Aubrey up early the next morning and told her the new plans. Aubrey thanked her and got ready. She and Chloe packed and went to meet the other girls. Breakfast was a quiet affair and they were done by 8:15.
"Okay, girls," Chloe said to the group. "Go get your stuff and meet back down here in 15 minutes. We can get an earlier start and hopefully make it to Barden before midnight."
Everyone did as Chloe said. Luggage was loaded as each girl arrived at the bus. Amy was taking the first shift driving so she started the bus and started the long trek back home.
It was very late and everyone was tired when they finally made it back to Barden. As they were getting off the bus two Georgia State Troopers approached them.
"Are one of you ladies Aubrey Posen?," one of the troopers asked.
Aubrey stepped forward and said, "I'm Aubrey Posen."
The trooper took out his handcuffs, stepped forward and took Aubrey's right arm putting it behind her back and said, "Miss Posen, you are under arrest for armed robbery."