tumblr perks include but are not limited to: helping me decide whether the Bechloe spinoff of STT will be multi-chapter or a one shot*; headcannon integrations; and a crap ton of trash.
There are a few perks to following me on tumblr *hint hint* (Besides the fact that I actually respond to messages and comments on there)
*votes here will not be counted.

Also, for those of you only reading for the Bechloe interactions, not a lot of that happens in this chapter.


Stacie hates being a girl. Okay, that's actually not true. Ninety-six percent of the time, Stacie loves being a girl. She loves the makeup, and the clothes, and the hair. She loves proving unassuming imbecilic men that think she's nothing more than her looks wrong, as she outpaces them in everything she does.

She absolutely hates, though, those four to six days a month where she inevitably questions if being a girl is worth it.

She knows it is, of course. She knows it's the burden she has to carry that will eventually lead to children one day and the ability to swallow the worst pain imaginable. Of course, she's already survived through the disownment of her soulmate, so what's a little period pain?

Except it isn't normal period pain. She's been to doctors and gynecologists galore, and each time they tell her nothing is truly wrong. It's not endometriosis or PID, it isn't ovarian cysts or lesions. It's nothing that comes up on any test she's taken, but every few cycles or so, she's hit with pain that she's sure labor has nothing on.

Luckily, it doesn't affect her every month, this major cramping. If she's lucky it really only happens a few times a year.

It's the timing that she isn't lucky on.

It figures that six weeks after Bellas rehearsals have started and a few days after their regionals set has actually started to sound like a regionals set, Stacie would be incapacitated by cramps so strong and vicious that they'd cripple even the stubbornest of mules.

She skipped her afternoon classes because she couldn't stay upright in her morning classes any longer. She's been curled into a ball for the past two hours, only moving to flinch when Beca came tearing through the room like a cracked-out tornado.

"Stacie come on we're going to be late!"

Beca's rushing to get ready for practice does not distract Stacie from the pain, either. She watches her scramble, trying to put an exercise top on and her shoes at the same time from her curled position on her bed.

Stacie doesn't answer with anything more than a groan of pain as she pulls her blankets up over her head.

"Stace?" She hears Beca stop scrambling for a moment and can imagine the look of confusion on her face. She hears Beca walk unevenly towards her bed, her shoe forgotten for the moment.

Her blanket is slowly pulled back down and she looks up to see Beca's concerned gaze.

"Oh, Stace," Beca's voice is soft and comforting as she holds the back of her hand to Stacie's forehead. She can tell by the feeling of the cool air hitting the spot when Beca pulls away that she's clammy. "Have you taken anything?"

Stacie nods. "Ibuprofen." Her voice is weak and broken and not at all helping to hide the amount of pain that she's actually in. Of course, it takes a while for the medicine to work, but each minute that she waits feels like torture.

"Do you want me to stay?" Beca asks. Hopefully, it seems to Stacie, seeing Beca's eyes light up and a small smile form at the edge of her mouth. She knows Beca hates practice. Honestly, Stacie believes the only reason Beca actually goes to practice is because either Stacie or Chloe makes her.

Stacie rolls her eyes and grins at her friend. "No, go to practice before Aubrey flays you alive."

Beca sighs and mumbles out a pathetic "Fine." She puts her other shoe on and ties the laces quickly then grabs her keys and bag. "Do you want me to get you anything while I'm out?"

Stacie thinks it through. She doesn't have much of an appetite at the moment, thanks to the pain roiling through her body and making her nauseous, but she knows in a few hours, if the pain meds ever kick in, she'll be ravenous.

"As much junk as you can carry." She sees Beca light up. It's been a while since they've been allowed to eat the unhealthy foods that they subsisted on in high school. Aubrey and Chloe weren't kidding around when they said being a Bella was hard work.

"Mozzarella sticks?" Beca asks hopefully.

Stacie's mouth begins to water at the thought and she moans in anticipation. "And jalapeno poppers."

Beca grins widely and thrusts a fist in the air accompanied by a triumphant "Yes!"

"You have to go to practice first though," Stacie says.

"Yeah, yeah fine." She opens the door and closes it behind her, leaving Stacie alone in their room.

Sometime after Beca leaves, the pain starts to subside and Stacie feels like she can start to function again. It's not all the way gone, and she's sure it won't entirely leave at all, so she takes advantage of the minimal state of pain and quickly checks online for her missed lessons and takes notes from the slides her teachers uploaded online.

When she's finished, she checks the clock and notices that Beca should be back soon and decides that it would be a good time to shower.

She's drying her hair and combing it out when there's a knock on the door. Figuring it's Beca and she has her hands too full to open the door, she gets up, hanging her towel up on the way, and opens the door.

She's surprised to see Aubrey standing there looking unsure instead of Beca, but she's not unhappy.

"Hey," Stacie greets her, stepping back and opening the door wider to invite her in.

Aubrey steps in, furrowing her eyebrows and looking around. "Beca said you were sick," she says, turning around and gazing at Stacie questioningly.

Stacie shrugs and sits back on her bed, pulling her legs up under her. "Did you come all the way over here just to make sure she wasn't lying?"

"What? No! No," Aubrey furiously shakes her head. "I wanted to see if I could help in any way." She looks away as she says this, and Stacie thinks she can see the faint tint of pink in her cheeks. But whether it's from embarrassment or suppressed anger, Stacie can't tell.

Aubrey turns back to her, one eyebrow raised. "Were you lying?" She looks over Stacie, as if she were searching for whatever ailment caused her to miss practice. Which is what she is probably doing, Stacie admits.

"No," Stacie shakes her head and leans back against her pillows. She eyes Aubrey, who is standing just inside the doorway. "You can sit you know."

Aubrey eyes her warily before moving across to room to perch lightly on the edge of Beca's desk chair.

"I'm not lying," Stacie says once she's sure Aubrey is comfortable enough. "I get like, the worst cramps imaginable, and I got hit with them this morning." She looks away from Aubrey and starts playing with a loose string on her comforter. "It's not that I wanted to miss practice," she says, her voice low. "I just physically couldn't go."

She chances a glance back up at Aubrey. The blonde is leaning towards her, eyes wide and earnest as she bites her lip. She looks like she wants to touch Stacie in some way, offer some sort of comfort, but doesn't know how.

"I'm sorry," she says eventually. Stacie can tell she really means it. She doesn't know if Aubrey suffers as much as she does, but it's obvious that Aubrey can relate in some way.

Stacie shrugs. "It's not like it's your fault."

"Still though," Aubrey shrugs. She leans back a little in the chair, settling in more comfortably. "So what have you been doing instead?"

Stacie shrugs. "This and that. I was about to watch a movie while I waited for Beca to bring me food." Aubrey grimaces and looks away guiltily when Stacie mentions Beca. "What?"

"Beca isn't coming."

"What?!" Stacie shrieks, sitting up and facing Aubrey fully. "Why?"

"She may have gotten distracted," Aubrey trails off, looking over Stacie's shoulder. Stacie raises an eyebrow at her to implore her to finish her thought. "By Chloe's mouth."

"Ugh," Stacie scoffs. "Of course she did."

"I told her it was fine," the blonde admits. She doesn't look entirely confident in what she's about to say, but after a moment of deliberation and an almost silent intake of air, like she's bracing herself for what she's about to say, she continues. "I told her I would be happy to take care of you, and let her off the hook."

Aubrey's words bring a bright smile to Stacie's face. "Really?" She asks.

It isn't like she doubts Aubrey's intents. Not at all. She can tell Aubrey is being sincere by the light blush and she shy, almost unnoticeable biting of her bottom lip. She just can't imagine that anybody would want to spend time with her if they thought she was sick. Even more that it's Aubrey – someone Stacie has only known in person for a short period of time. Sure, she can admit they've bonded in that time, and have become close, but Aubrey's actions shock her. And she can't even think about how to begin to express her gratitude.

"Do you want to order food and watch a movie?" Stacie asks. She tries to keep the hopeful note out of her voice, but by the way Aubrey lights up she's not sure she's quite succeeded.

"Yes please!" Aubrey agrees. She stands up and grabs her phone from her purse where it lies by the door. "What are you in the mood for?"

Stacie's mouth begins to water imagining all the greasy and salty foods that are a simple phone call away. "Beca was going to bring back junk, so anything unhealthy."

Aubrey looks at her from the corner of her eye. "You know, healthy foods would make you feel better."

"Yes," Stacie agrees, nodding sagely. "But unhealthy food will make my soul feel better."

Aubrey rolls her eyes. "Chinese?"

"How about pizza with mozzarella sticks and jalapeno poppers and wings and soda?"

Aubrey turns toward her, eyes wide and mouth slightly opened in shock. "You weren't kidding."

Stacie grins widely. "Nope."

Aubrey rolls her eyes and starts dialing the pizza place with the best food nearest campus, and Stacie can't help but watch her. She's glad Aubrey's here, and she's already distracted from the, currently slight, pains in her abdomen. She won't admit it out loud, but she's relieved that Beca and Chloe were selfish enough to forget about her. She's happy that Aubrey chose to check in on her, and she's almost ecstatic that she's getting some one on one hang out time with her.

She didn't want to admit it to Beca earlier, but she was truly disappointed in herself for not going to practice and therefore not getting her daily interaction with Aubrey. So as much as she wants to kick Beca for not coming back and bringing her food, she's relieved that Aubrey's here instead.

"Okay," Aubrey says, hanging up the phone. "It should be here in 35 minutes."

Stacie scoots closer to the wall and pats the open spot on her bed for the blonde to come sit next to her.

Aubrey doesn't hesitate this time, and walks over before plopping herself confidently next to Stacie and settling in with only a few inches between them.

"So what are we watching?"

Stacie shrugs and pulls up a browser and logging in to her and Beca's shared Hulu account. "There's a new episode of Parks & Rec that I haven't gotten around to watching yet." She figures that a short show would be better for pizza timing than watching a movie and having to pause it when the food came.

"Yes," Aubrey nods happily. "I love that show."

"Have you seen this episode already?" Stacie asks, clicking the episode and pressing play.

"I have," Aubrey admits. "But it's good and I'd probably be able to watch it at least three more times before I get tired of it," she adds reassuringly after seeing Stacie's slight frown.

"You really don't mind?" She asks, just to be sure.

Aubrey shakes her head and leans in to Stacie, settling in the for show.

They sit like that, leaning shoulder to shoulder and watching the show, each laughing at Andy or Leslie's antics and the absolute deadpan of April.

"She's just like Beca," Aubrey says, catching her breath after a particularly funny scene.

"Beca's basically molded herself after April," Stacie says, cheeks starting to hurt from smiling so much. She doesn't think she's ever enjoyed watching this show as much as she is with Aubrey. She's not sure if it's because this episode is funnier than the rest, or if she's laughing along with Aubrey and reveling in the light, airy feeling that builds up in her chest at Aubrey's laughs.

"Oh my god," Aubrey sits up and looks over at Stacie with a smile threatening to completely overtake her features. She reminds Stacie of Andie at Christmas with her bright-eyed expression. "Please tell me that's where she gets the inspiration of her look from. Please. Give me ammo to torment her with."

Stacie grins knowingly. She understands Aubrey wanting to get after Beca, since all Beca does in practice is snark at Aubrey and her leadership choices. Beca will probably hate her, but she can't let Aubrey's expression go back to the usual business-only look.

"I'm not saying she's channeling her inner April," Stacie says carefully, "but I'm also not saying she wore just a few more girly things before this show started."

Aubrey's pealing laughter fills up the room and Stacie can't help but join in. She's never seen Aubrey this loose, though she's come close. From all that Chloe's told her about Aubrey, she never seems this carefree and, well, fun. Stacie isn't sure what's different about tonight, but she knows she always wants this version of Aubrey around. This is the version she could easily fall in love with.

That ling of thinking is interrupted with the ringing of Aubrey's phone, alerting her to the delivery of their food. Aubrey collects herself, dabbing at the tears that have gathered at the edge of her eyes.

"I'm totally going to use that against her," Aubrey says, going through her bag to produce her wallet. Stacie tries to hand her cash, but Aubrey shrugs it off. "I've got it. Just pause the show, I'll be back in a minute."

Aubrey all but skips out of the room and Stacie pulls out two bottles of water from her and Beca's shared mini fridge. She sets them up on her bedside table, not bothering to move much, since she's going to insist that Aubrey retake her previous spot.

It's only a few minutes later when Aubrey returns, holding a pizza and a bag of their extras. She looks much more composed now, though her cheeks still hold a slight tinge of pink.

"I've got water," Stacie says as Aubrey sets the bag down on her desk. "If you want, I can go run to the vending machine and grab a few sodas."

Aubrey shakes her head while grabbing the jalapeno poppers and mozzarella sticks. "I'm fine with water, thank you."

She puts the containers of food on the bed next to Stacie and grabs a couple pieces of pizza for them both and placing them on napkins that she took out of the bag.

They sit and resettle on the bed and resume the show. They're fairly quiet while they eat, but Stacie can't help but watch Aubrey out of the corner of her eye.

It's a little funny how Aubrey eats. Stacie isn't sure how Aubrey was raised, but she can tell by the careful and small bites, compared to Stacie's own ravenous bites, that Aubrey is a proper eater. She would not be surprised that if she and Beca had actual plates and utensils in their dorm room, that Aubrey would be the type of person to cut her pizza up and eat it with a fork.

Which to all pizza laws is basically sacrilege. So she's glad she doesn't have to kick Aubrey from her room for breaking an all precious pizza rule.

She almost chokes on a popper when Aubrey carefully blots the grease from the outside of a mozzarella stick, but covers it as a laugh at the TV. Really, watching Aubrey eat finger food is hilarious, and Stacie knows that she will make sure that this isn't the last time they have dinner and watch TV together.

Their show ends and Stacie immediately cues up older episodes of Family Guy before she sits back to finish enjoying her dinner.

"You watch cartoons?" Aubrey asks, eyeing her warily. It's like she thinks Stacie is a weirdo for still watching children's shows. Never mind the fact that Family Guy should not be watched by children. Ever.

Stacie shrugs and bites a mozzarella stick, pulling the remainder away from her mouth and trying to break the cheese bridge that still connects the pieces. When she succeeds, she chews a bit, but answers before swallowing. "I've been known to binge watch a few cartoons in my day." At Aubrey's look she continues. "Family Guy, The Simpsons, South Park, Futurama…" Aubrey still looks confused. "Have you never watched any of these?"

"Cartoons are for children," Aubrey answers, looking away from Stacie.

Stacie can't help but laugh. "These cartoons are definitely not for children."

Aubrey shrugs in response and finishes off her pizza crust, chewing slowly. "I wouldn't know," she answers once she's swallowed and washed it down with a sip from her water bottle. "I didn't have a TV growing up."

"Ever?" Stacie can feel her eyes growing in equal parts surprise and horror. Who raised their children without TV? How is that even a way to live? Stacie couldn't imagine her childhood without her staple shows. For her, TV has always been a good way to escape and relax. She can't imagine what it would be like to not have that outlet at all.

"My parents believed they rotted brains and diminished attention spans."

Wow. Stacie knew Aubrey isn't joking by the tone her voice took when explaining her parents' decision. It was like she was reciting something told over and over to her, and by the change of cadence to Aubrey's tone, Stacie knew those weren't her words either.

Instead of going off about how ridiculous that decision is, Stacie instead exited out of Family Guy and began searching through her favorites until she landed on Bill Nye the Science Guy.

"What's this?" Aubrey asks, narrowing her eyes in confusion as the episode starts.

"This was my favorite show growing up," she explains. She sees Aubrey's eyes light up when she tells her that, but instead of dwelling on it, she continues. "If you missed the staple shows as a child, you need to catch up and relive the 90's with everyone else. So this is the best educational show out there."

Aubrey nods excitedly and settles in more comfortably next to Stacie after moving away some of the trash.

They're pressed quite close together now, shoulder to shoulder and hip to hip. Stacie wouldn't consider herself someone who thrives off of physical contact, especially not like Chloe, but she can admit that sitting this closely to Aubrey and being as comfortable as she is, that she would not mind being this close to her more often. It's comforting, Aubrey's presence, and Stacie can feel Aubrey lean into her a little more as the show goes on.

It's a while later, after the third episode of Sabrina: The Teenage Witch ends, that Stacie notices Aubrey has fallen asleep. They're more securely entwined now, having happened in an attempt to get more comfortable when they'd switched shows. Aubrey's head is lightly resting on Stacie's shoulder and her hand is splayed across Stacie's stomach, where earlier she was pulling on the little balls of fuzz that stuck themselves to her pajama shirt.

Stacie's own arm is settled around Aubrey, almost holding the blonde against her. She didn't even realize her arm was there, but she shrugs it off (metaphorically, since Stacie's reluctant to move and disturb Aubrey's slumber). Aubrey didn't make her move her arm away, and she didn't seem to mind when it happened, so Stacie figures that it's a move that's been allowed.

She slowly and carefully closes her laptop and reaches over Aubrey to put it on her nightstand. When she settles back down, Aubrey sighs and tightens her hold on Stacie.

Stacie smiles and allows herself to burrow closer into the blonde and shuts her eyes, enjoying the warmth and comfort from the blonde beside her.

She isn't going to let Beca off the hook completely for bailing on her, but she's glad she did. Especially if it meant a night with Aubrey.