Everyone eventually made their way downstairs to breakfast. Chloe was feeling somewhat relieved believing that Ben was unaware of which room she actually slept in. Counting it as a special occasion, Carol broke out the waffle iron and made waffles for everyone. The discussion was light, mainly talking about the game, how the dance went, and what everybody's upcoming week looked like. Chloe hadn't had much homework for the weekend so she was able to get it done after her cheer practice on Friday. She had obviously heard about the project Aubrey and Beca had for music class and was disappointed she wouldn't get to see them actually perform their songs. They agreed she'd stay for a while after breakfast to give a fresh set of eyes to their reports and watch them both perform the song they chose.

Breakfast was done and Chloe started to follow Beca and Aubrey upstairs when Ben stopped her and asked to speak to her in his office. Chloe looked nervously at Beca who grabbed her hand and gave her a reassuring smile. "It'll be okay. Come on up when you're done," Beca told her and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek. Chloe turned and followed Ben to his office.

"Have a seat, please," Ben said once they were alone with the door closed.

"I have a feeling I know what this is about," Chloe said nervously as she sat down.

"Carol and my ex-wife both have told me how smart you are," Ben said with a grin as he sat down as well. "Relax. We're not going to talk about what may or may not have happened last night. I really don't think anything good would come of that."

"Thank you," Chloe said and breathed a sigh of relief.

"I know things are supposed to be different now, and this may come across as dated and patriarchal, but Beca's my little girl," Ben started, trying his best to find the right words. "My only child. Don't get me wrong, I love Aubrey and think of her as my own but it's different because she has her own father. But, between you and me, that won't stop me from having a similar conversation with her girlfriend." Ben gave a small chuckle. "But I digress. This conversation today is about you and Beca. Melissa told me she already talked to you and has nothing but great things to say on your behalf. And from what I've seen, I agree with everything Melissa and Carol have told me. My personal observation is that you make Beca happier than I've ever seen her. That more than anything is what's important to me. Keep making her happy. Do that and you'll always be welcome in my home. I could do the cliché thing and be all menacing about if you break her heart, blah, blah, but I think we both know that won't be necessary. Beca's got a great group of friends; they'll do that for me."

"Dr. Mitchell, sir, I promise you I'll do everything I can to make her as happy as she makes me. She's the most amazing person I've ever met, and I sometimes wonder how I was lucky enough to be the one she wants to be with," Chloe told him with a smile on her face.

"Call me Ben," Ben said, adding, "And you do realize she'd probably say pretty much the exact same thing about you right?"

"Isn't that what's supposed to happen in a good relationship?," Chloe asked.

"It is," Ben agreed. "As for last night, I still don't want to know. You're both basically adults so you don't have to pretend to stay in the guest room. We just won't talk about it ever again, agreed?"

"Agreed," Chloe said.

Chloe left Ben's office and closed the door. She let out the breath she had been holding and sighed with relief. She made her way upstairs to find Beca in Aubrey's room waiting for her.

"How'd it go?," Beca asked as soon as she walked in. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Chloe said with a smile. "I'll tell you everything later. Now, I want to hear your songs."

"I'm so nervous," Aubrey said as she got ready to start the music on her computer. "It's not that I don't know the song, I just really want Stacie to like it."

"I'm sure she will," Chloe said, beaming at her best friend. "You're an awesome singer, Bree, and everyone knows that. You could sing that silly 'Friday' song and she'd love it because it's you."

"Maybe, but you know how I am," Aubrey said with a nod. She started the music and proceeded to give a flawless performance, picturing Stacie in her mind as she sang. When she finished, both Beca and Chloe gave her a mini standing ovation.

"That was seriously great, Aubrey. Stacie will love it," Beca praised.

"I'm so proud of you!," Chloe added, hugging the blonde. She turned to Beca and, with a grin said, "OK, it's your turn now."

"Um, actually, mine would be best if we went down to the piano," Beca explained.

"Did you pick an Elton John song?," Chloe guessed.

"Nope," Beca said and shook her head, not saying more as she led the girls out of the room. Chloe glanced at Aubrey.

"Don't look at me, she's been kinda mum on what she's picked," Aubrey explained. "I haven't even heard her practicing here."

"You haven't practiced your song?," Chloe asked, a little surprised

"Oh, I've practiced. I just did it at mom and Alex's," Beca explained as she sat down at the piano. "What can I say? I wanted a little mystery."

"OK, now I've really got to hear this," Chloe added, her curiosity truly piqued.

"Your wish is my command." Beca grinned at Chloe as she started playing The Rolling Stones' 'She's a Rainbow' from 'Their Satanic Majesties Request'.

"BECA! THAT WAS AMAZING!," Chloe exclaimed when Beca finished her song. "I loved every bit of it, and it was so very apt."

"I'm glad," Beca smirked. "I had you, us, in mind when I picked it."

"If you don't get an A+ on this project, I'm going to have to have a serious talk with your teacher," Chloe said, giving Beca a deep kiss. "That is one of the sweetest things anyone's ever done for me."

"I'm really glad you liked it," Beca said and smiled. "As soon as this project was announced, that's where my mind went. I figured nobody else would pick it."

"Well, I'm glad no one did," Chloe said, kissing Beca on the cheek. "Do you two still want me to take a look at your reports before I go?"

"If you don't mind," Aubrey said. "I put so much work into it, I want to make sure it makes sense to someone else."

"It couldn't hurt," Beca said with a shrug. Chloe agreed and they all went back upstairs. Chloe had nothing but praise after she was done reading the papers, though she did catch a few typos here and there.

Aubrey and Beca thanked Chloe for her thoughts on their papers. Beca looked at Chloe, biting her lip.

"Hey, Chlo," Beca said. "I know you have to leave soon but I really want to know what my dad said to you. You seem awfully calm about your 'talk' and that worries me a little."

Chloe smiled. "You're so cute."

"Chloe," Beca whined.

"Do you want me to leave so you can have some privacy?," Aubrey asked them.

"No, that's okay," Beca said. "I know she'll tell you about it later anyway." Beca turned to Chloe and pleaded, "Just tell me, please?"

"Stop begging," Chloe said with a laugh. "He just told me to keep making you happy."

"That's it?," Beca asked in disbelief. "You spent twenty minutes in a room with my father talking and all he said was keep making me happy?"

"Well," Chloe said. "He also said that I didn't have to pretend to stay in the guest room when I spent the night."

Beca nearly choked on her own spit as she sputtered, "My dad? He. What?! How? What exactly did he say?"

"He said," Chloe cleared her throat and made her voice a bit deeper. "You're both basically adults so you don't have to pretend to stay in the guest room. We just won't talk about it ever again, agreed?"

"Wow," Aubrey said with a laugh. "I wonder what he'd say if he caught Stacie and me."

"Oh, he's fine with that, too," Chloe said. "He's planning on having the same conversation with her."

"Wow," Beca and Aubrey say simultaneously.

"I hate to have to cut this short," Chloe said. "But, I really do have to go."

"I wish you didn't have to," Aubrey said with a frown.

"Me, too," Chloe said and gave her a hug. "But I'll be spending the entire weekend with you next weekend. You know I wouldn't miss your birthday for anything."

"Now that you and Beca have become 'intimate' will I even get to spend time with you?," Aubrey asked teasingly.

"I'm all yours," Chloe said and laughed at the frown on Beca's face. "During the day." She walked over to Beca. "But at night. . ." She grabbed Beca and kissed her, hard. "I'm all hers."

Beca's face became a bright red causing both Aubrey and Chloe to laugh at her. "Shut up," was all Beca could manage to squeak out.

Eventually, though none of them wanted it, Chloe had to head home.

~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~

Everyone was in high spirits the next day. Up till music class, the most noteworthy thing that happened was Bumper being allowed to begrudgingly sit at their table during lunch. Beca made it clear it was up to Amy to keep him in line. Everyone could tell he wanted to say something but a glare from Aubrey shut him up.

"Thank you all for turning your papers in on time," Gail said as she checked to make sure that everyone had turned in their reports. "I look forward to reading them. I'm sure they're all fantastic."

"I still don't know why I couldn't do the Baha Men, they're not American." Bumper said.

"The Bahamas may be a former British Colony, but they don't count as 'British Invasion'," Beca pointed out.

"Whatever. 'Who Let the Dogs Out?' is one of the greatest songs of all time," Bumper snorted.

"You're really damaging all the good things you did on Saturday," Beca warned, rolling her eyes

"As much as I love these debates, I do have an actual plan," Gail interrupted. "As you all know, I asked you all to prepare a song to perform. We'll do that over the next four days with four performances each day. What I left out is that on Friday we'll be having a vote, and the top three will get to sing their songs as part of the halftime show at the last home football game of the season."

"Does coach know?," Bumper asked. "Some of us have to play that day."

"Your coach is well aware and, if you or Theo are selected, proper arrangements will be made," Gail responded. "If performed well, 'She's Not There' could be a serious contender."

"What about me?," Bumper asked

"Well, 'Mellow Yellow' is an interesting choice if you can make it work," Gail responded, doing her best to be polite. "Anyway, I figure we'd draw names from a hat each day to see who would perform on that day." She picked up an actual hat and drew out four pieces of paper and read them off. "Today, Jessica, Denise, Donald, and Flo will perform."

The four performed their songs while the others took notes. The process was repeated similarly the next three days. Everyone put all they had into their performances. Even Bumper's performance of Donovan's 'Mellow Yellow' went over well.

On Friday, there was much debate over the third song to be performed at the halftime show. To no one's surprise, the top two performances were by Beca and Aubrey. The contentious debate was between Stacie's 'Whole Lotta Love' and Jesse's 'Pinball Wizard'. There were some good arguments being made about which performance was better. Oddly, the biggest arguments came from Jesse and Stacie who were trying to make the case for the other to get the final spot.

The class seemed to be split and Gail knew that she could just make the decision but wanted the class to come together and decide. She told everyone they were going to have another vote and this time it was just between 'Whole Lotta Love' and 'Pinball Wizard'. They were told to write down Jesse or Stacie on a piece of paper and turn it in.

Everyone handed Gail their 'votes' and she took them to her desk. She counted them, twice because it was so close. After determining they had a winner, she smiled and stood up.

"Okay, guys, listen up," Gail said getting their attention. "It was close and our third performer will be," she paused for dramatic effect, "Jesse."

"Congratulations, Jesse," Stacie said jumping up to engulf him in a hug.

Jesse was stunned, still believing Stacie's performance was better than his. He graciously accepted the classes congratulations with a smile and thanked everyone for their support.

~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~

Aubrey finished cheer practice and was waiting with Stacie for Beca to pick her up. She was surprised to see her mother pull up. She gave Stacie a quick kiss and got in the car.

"Hey, mom," Aubrey said as she fastened her seat belt. "Where's Beca?"

"She forgot she promised to meet with her mom and Alex to talk about the wedding," Carol said. "She asked if I could pick you up."

"Oh," Aubrey said. "Can you bring me back up to the school later? We have an away game and I have to get here in time to catch the bus."

"Don't worry," Carol said with a smile. "We'll figure something out."

Carol and Aubrey chatted about school and cheerleaders on the way home. When they reached the house Aubrey noticed a car in front of the house.

"Do we have visitors?," Aubrey asked.

"I don't know," Carol responded. "Let's go find out."

The two women got out of the car and Ben came out of the house. He looked at Carol and then at Aubrey.

"I'm glad you're home," Ben said. "This car needs to be moved."

"Whose car is it?," Aubrey asked.

"Yours," Carol said as Ben held up the keys. She and Ben both laughed at the shocked look Aubrey's face.

"What?!," Aubrey squealed. "You bought me a car for my birthday?"

"Actually, your father bought it for you," Carol said. "It was Beca's suggestion."

Aubrey hugs Carol and Ben. "I have to call Chloe. And Beca. And Stacie. I have to call everybody!"

Aubrey squeals and runs over to the car. "You might need these," Ben calls her back. He hands her the keys and she goes rushing back over to check out her new car.

"I guess she likes it," Carol said with a laugh.

"It's a 2018 BMW," Ben said with admiration. "What's not to like."