Her Plans
It was a good thing Donald was the one driving to the semi-finals. If he was in the back of the bus with the rest of the Trebles and Bellas, he was fairly certain he wouldn't be able to stop staring at Stacie. It didn't help that they had made out ten minutes before he was supposed to go get burritos with Bumper. Or that she had teased him by trailing her fingers over his belt. Worst of all, she had finished by nibbling his ear, kissing him swiftly, and dashing away to meet the Bellas with her hair streaming behind her in the wind.
Bumper had kept his promise. He hadn't said anything to the other Trebles or to the Bellas, but he made loud hints about Stacie that no one understood. It was kind of annoying, but at least he was keeping the secret.
One of the Bellas, a quiet girl named Lilly, sat on the floor beside him. Donald could practically feel the jealousy radiating from Stacie, and he wished he could see her face. He imagined she was staring daggers at them. He grinned while he drove, glad he didn't have to make up excuses for his facial expression.
The Bellas were the first ones off the bus when they arrived. Donald watched them go, his eyes focused on Stacie's back. She didn't even glance in his direction as she passed him, but Aubrey glared at him as she herded her group off the bus and into the school. He assumed it was just because Aubrey hated all the Trebles, but he couldn't help wondering if it was because she knew.
Considering the fact that they were already on thin ice with Bumper knowing, they probably shouldn't have met in the school's basement. Stacie stayed for five minutes, running her fingers through his hair as she pressed her lips eagerly to his. All too soon, her phone beeped and she pulled away from him. "I have to go, or I'm going to miss our performance."
"Good luck," Donald told her.
Stacie grimaced. "Thanks."
Stacie climbed the stairs quickly, leaving Donald alone for a few minutes before he decided it would be safe to go upstairs as well. He joined the Trebles in the private room they had been given, where they waited for their turn on the stage. Bumper had decided that they weren't going to watch the Bellas perform. If they didn't have to "torture" themselves, as he put it, why should they?
Their own performance went well, despite Jesse's obvious lack of enthusiasm. Donald couldn't really blame him, after the way Beca had yelled at him, but Bumper did. They won, satisfying Bumper and keeping him from saying anything else that might have made Jesse feel bad. At least he didn't have to deal with riding back to campus on the same bus as Beca. None of them were sure where she had gone, but she hadn't reappeared by the end of the night so they assumed she had found another ride.
The Bellas, who had come in third, were quiet during the return ride. They all looked extremely disappointed, because it meant that they would not be going to the finals at Lincoln Center. The look on Aubrey's face, however, was too difficult to explain. The closest thing Donald could think of was that she looked like she wanted to cry and break something at the same time. Stacie and a few of the other girls seemed to be taking their loss a little better, probably because they had been expecting it.
Even Bumper was nice enough not to rub their win in the Bellas' faces, until they were getting off the bus. Amy, who seemed to have been trying to do what Aubrey should have done and was too distraught to do, approached Bumper reluctantly. "Thanks for the ride," she said with difficulty.
"And thank you for giving us an easy win," Bumper responded, smiling in what he thought was an innocent manner.
"Bumper," Donald warned. A couple of the girls looked like they were on the verge of tears by that point.
For once, Amy didn't have anything to say to Bumper. She turned away from him without a word and followed the rest of the Bellas away from the bus. Donald wasn't the only one who seemed to think that Bumper had gone too far. A few of the other Trebles were giving him disbelieving looks. Bumper was usually pretty cool, but it was time like this when Donald had trouble remembering why they were friends.
"Good performance, guys," Bumper said, clapping one of the Trebles on the back. "I'm gonna turn in now. You all have the day off tomorrow, and we'll start rehearsal again on Sunday."
The Trebles exchanged looks as Bumper left them and headed to his dorm, where Donald doubted he would actually be going to sleep. "I'm out of here, too," Donald announced after a moment, locking up the bus and heading back to his own dorm. He wasn't too surprised when he opened the door and saw that his room was empty. He changed and lay down on his bed, picking up the book he was supposed to be reading for his English class.
Being an English major meant that Donald could actually admit to other people when he enjoyed the books they read in class. Donald didn't mind leaning back against his pillow and cracking open The Grapes of Wrath, but he would probably never admit it to Bumper or the other Trebles. He had realized a long time ago that he was a considerably different person in class and outside of class, but he figured a lot of people were. He was serious about his major, but he wanted to have fun as well.
A few hours later, towards midnight, there was a quiet knock on his door. Donald marked the page in his book and got up to open the door. When Stacie entered the room, Donald noticed that her eyes were red. Her face was sad, but she attempted to smile when she turned to look at him. "Are you okay?" he asked cautiously.
Stacie was quiet for almost a full minute. "No," she admitted at last. "I didn't think it would be this big a deal, but I really wanted to win."
"Everyone wants to win," Donald said. "It's normal."
Stacie let out a shaky sigh. "Yeah, I guess."
"Come here," Donald said, holding his arms out. "You look tired. Let's go to bed."
Stacie seemed almost incapable of moving, so Donald went over to her and pulled in her into his arms. She buried her face in his chest, wrapping her own arms around his middle. She didn't cry, but she was quiet for a long time. Donald stood still, holding her and stroking her hair until she was ready to let go. She kissed him, her lips soft against his, and then changed into her pajamas in a slightly dazed manner. Donald tucked her into bed, and then crawled in beside her.
"Thank you," Stacie whispered after he turned out the light. She scooted closer to him, putting her hands on his wrists and pulling his arms around her again.
"For what?"
"For… Everything. For being amazing," Stacie murmured.
Donald couldn't help laughing. "Well I am pretty awesome," he agreed.
"You are," Stacie said, kissing him. It was different from how they were usually, soft and slow. It seemed as though something had changed, in a good way. After only a few minutes, though, Stacie pulled back.
"You should sleep," Donald said.
"I will," Stacie answered, sounding exhausted. "Will you sing to me?"
"What do you want me to sing?"
"Anything," Stacie sighed sleepily, using his chest as a pillow.
Donald began to sing the only lullaby he knew, softly, but Stacie was already asleep.
He was awake first the next morning, and was surprised when he realized that it was only 7:30. Since he had time, he decided to surprise Stacie with breakfast. Being careful not to wake her, he got out of bed and got dressed. He went down and got into his car, driving to a nearby bagel shop. He bought a couple of bagels, a smoothie for Stacie, a coffee for himself and took them back to his dorm. Stacie, as he had expected, was still asleep.
Donald kicked off his shoes and sat down on the edge of his bed. He leaned over and kissed Stacie, on her forehead, on her lips, and finally on her throat. She smiled in her sleep, before blinking her eyes open and reaching up to grab Donald. She pulled him down towards her, kissing him with more force than the night before. When she finally released him, he grinned. "Someone's in a good mood this morning."
"Yeah," Stacie answered, stretching out across the bed.
"I brought you breakfast," Donald said, pointing to where he had put the bag of bagels and the drinks on the table.
"Ooh," Stacie said, sitting up. "Bagels?"
"And a smoothie," Donald said, leaning over to grab her smoothie. He handed it to her, and then got up to put cream cheese on her bagel for her.
"No one has ever brought me breakfast in bed before," Stacie said, looking pleased.
"Well that obviously gives me 'best boyfriend ever' status," Donald replied, handing over her bagel and grabbing his own.
"It might," Stacie said, taking a sip of her smoothie. "Keep this up and it's all yours."
They talked about little, unimportant things while they ate. When Stacie had swallowed her last bite of bagel, she leaned back and looked at Donald. "So what are you doing for spring break?"
"I'm going home for a while," Donald said. "And then I'll just hang around here until classes start again. What are your plans?"
"I was thinking about going home," Stacie admitted, "But I don't know if I would be able to leave if I went back. I kind of miss it. A lot."
"So you're going to spend a week here by yourself?"
"I'm not the only one staying on campus," Stacie said. "I won't be alone."
Donald probably shouldn't have said it. He was feeling so many different things, and part of him wanted Stacie to know. That part dominated the part that wanted to keep it a secret, because he was unable to keep himself from blurting out his next thought. "Come with me. To Savannah."
"To meet your family?" Stacie asked, sounding alarmed. Her eyes were wide with surprise and anxiety.
"Not if you don't want to," Donald said quickly. "I don't stay with them when I go visit anymore. They've already turned my old room into a library, so I stay in a hotel. You don't have to see any of my family."
Stacie appeared to be thinking it over, which was a good sign in Donald's opinion. At least she hadn't just turned him down immediately. It seemed crazy to invite her home with him, since they had only been seeing each other for a couple of months. They had only known each other since February, but Donald didn't want to spend a week away from her. It seemed like such a long time to be without her. He watched her while she thought, trying to figure out what she would say.
After a while, Stacie looked up to meet his gaze. Her blue eyes were confused, but there was a sparkle of happiness in them too. They looked silently at one another, Stacie's eyes searching his while Donald wondered what she was thinking. After a few minutes, she seemed to have made a decision. "I'd love to come."
"Great," Donald said. "We leave on Friday."
A/N: Okay, this was fluffier than before (I think) but still not what I had been planning on. Oh well. It never seems to work out the way I want, but I think this turned out okay.
Thank you all SO much for the reviews you've been sending! I really appreciate them, they make me happy. So, keep them coming? I love hearing what you all think! And I do take your ideas into consideration, so please keep up with those as well. :3
Also, to explain my guessing at how much time passed between the Riff-Off and the semi-finals, in the movie Beca gives Luke the flashdrive that is labeled '2/17' so the Riff-Off was in February. Spring break is usually late March or in April, so I was guessing that it was about two months between the two.
