Over the course of the rest of the week, you started to feel less like a ticking time bomb ready to destruct and more like you were getting defused, slow but surely, one wire after another getting cut and preventing you from detonation.
You still felt uncomfortable at times, but when you realized Chloe wasn't forcing you to hold her in her sleep or any physical contact for that matter, you were able to breathe again. Most nights, Chloe's hand in yours was the only contact there was, and you actually liked that.
You had thought you'd be okay, that you were starting to get used to these dynamics and you were still the same person you were a week ago. Even the new layout of the room wasn't a slap across your face anymore. It was actually growing on you.
You started to find comfort within the newfound relationship. It was always there, you just had trouble seeing it with these insecurities and doubts blurring your view. But they were washing away and by the time Sunday arrived, you started to actually feel comfortable in the relationship you had built with Chloe over the week.
It took you some getting used to, but the sky was clearing and you found yourself wanting nothing more but to try your hardest to make this relationship work.
For a moment there in between laughs and kisses shared in the room belonging to you and Chloe, you thought everything would be okay from here on out. Looking back on it, you should have just stayed in that room, but you didn't.
You met up with Jesse Sunday late afternoon in his dorm upon his request, where he started to play you movie soundtracks he only just discovered. His enthusiasm lasted for a good half an hour and then he seemed to remember what he had been a witness to a few days ago in Luke's record store.
You were forced to admit you're dating Chloe, which you will never get used to saying, and Jesse happily pulled you into a weird side-hug on his bed.
"Beca, this is huge! Do you have a plan? You need a plan!"
"A plan for what?"
"A plan to court her, to woo her! Have you not been paying attention to the movies I've showed you? Girls like Chloe want to be impressed, surprised, treated like a princess."
"You don't know Chloe." Your defenses went up and you wanted to push him away, to tell him to mind his own business, hurt his feelings by bringing up the fact that he doesn't know how women work just because he watches them in films. Somehow, you didn't and you kept your insults to yourself.
The boy continued to try to convince you of his words, but it wasn't until you were walking home alone and passing the small flower shop that you stopped and foolishly let Jesse's words affect you. All the dumb movies he forced you to watch suddenly got into your head and you hate how persuasive Jesse's words can be.
You stand there and contemplate what you're about to do when you realize how painfully ironic this situation is.
You don't even remember how many weeks went by since you watched another girl stand where you stand now, panic and uncertainty in her eyes as she was picking out flowers for the girl you're currently dating.
Now you're doing the exact same.
Perhaps you look even more unsettled than Hannah had back then. You had looked at her with joy that day, smiling to yourself about how much of an idiot she was as you had walked home. You quickly check the premises, but nobody's watching you like you did with the art student that day.
You angrily and literally shake the worries off of you and you grab the first flowers you can get your hands on, not in the mood to spend time contemplating whether or not Chloe will like them. You're not interested in staying in the same humorous position that's been previously claimed by Hannah.
You walk home with the dumb flowers hanging stupidly in your hand.
You try to rationalize your actions. If Jesse's right and Chloe will like these kind of things, then it doesn't really matter how stupid it makes you feel. You can buy flowers if the girl wants flowers. You can do anything if it's what she wants, if it keeps her with you.
Still, it can't make you feel better about the whole situation. It feels weird and unlike you to do something like this and you think Chloe will know it, too.
Without another second thought, you enter your building and eventually the room you share with your girlfriend. She's in the kitchen in nothing but a white t-shirt that's too big for her size, paint stains covering them as her eyes land on you happily.
Upon finding her, you feel even more stupid and nervous about your act, so you quickly hand her the flowers and try to compose yourself while losing your jacket, hoping that as long as you don't face her, she won't see through you.
It works for a minute or two, but as soon as you hear the girl sigh and watch her make her way over to you, you know you're busted.
Chloe sees through your layers of sarcasm and fake-anger. She always has, and she probably always will. This past week being the exception where at times she was too happy and unfocused on you to notice, but you're kind of glad that seems to be changing again.
You've never been one to handle words in a situation like this. A situation where your girlfriend is waiting for you to explain what's going on. How can you explain that your dumb friend and his movies got inside your head and you did something that's so unlike you, because you thought she wanted it and you'd do anything for her?
It's already scary enough that you have no problem admitting that to yourself.
You'd do anything for her.
You're not even trying to find words to fill the silence. You're simply praying Chloe will start talking soon, because you have nothing to give at this point. However, when she does, the words are not what you expected.
"Why are you sorry?"
You were expecting questions. Or guesses. Her view on why you bought flowers and made reservations at the local movie theatre. You weren't prepared for words reflecting on Chloe herself.
"-I never meant for you to do anything you're not okay with, Becs."
The words are honest and painful to hear, because Chloe hasn't changed since the first day you met her. She's still the sweet girl that doesn't force you to change. Doesn't even want you to. You feel a sense of guilt washing over you that you made her feel bad for something as stupid as a movie. A movie you'd very willingly sit through if only she said she'd want you to.
You try to bring Chloe back to earth and erase the heaviness coming from this conversation, but your girlfriend is suddenly relentless and she starts to put the room back to its original state before going off into the most adorable rant about how she didn't mean for you to be uncomfortable.
To be honest, the discomfort brought onto you by the beds lasted no more than a few seconds. Anything after that was just insecurities and the unknown. Unfortunately, those lasted more than a few seconds.
With a stupid joke and a kiss, you get the girl smiling again.
"Thank you."
"I swear to God, only you could spent ten minutes apologizing and ending it with a thank you. Both are, by the way, supposed to be coming from me." You say as you sit back down on the bed, your legs folded underneath you as Chloe copies your actions. "I am the one who's sorry." You decide Chloe deserves to hear those words, no matter how vulnerable they make you feel.
"I know you've been forced to deal with a lot of things on your own and you're kind of used to it." Chloe speaks slow as her hands reach out to you, one hand caresses the top of yours while the other stroke the inside of your arm. "But you have me now. And you can always talk to me."
"I know. I'm just weird with that stuff."
Chloe's eyes find you, first sympathetic and understanding before their usual joy shines through them again. "I know. But next time I do something crazy like push our beds together, you can just tell me. You can be like, 'wow dude'-" Chloe's voice drops and turns into a low and scraping version of it. Her mouth stays open while her hands indicate for you to relax.
"Is that-, I don't sound like that!"
"Dude, not cool! I'm not down with this, dude!"
"I don't say dude that much." You downplay while you watch your girlfriend act out her play accompanied by her hands, throwing finger guns and peace signs at you, as if you've ever done that before.
"Yo, you better put those beds back where they came from!"
"Why do I sound like an annoying, self-righteous man?" You say insulted while secretly enjoying this game.
"That's what you sound like, Becs." Chloe's giggling and bubbly tone is back, her knees bouncing on the bed as her lips curl in pleasure.
"I sound nothing like that, I don't know what that just was." You say as you pull your girlfriend towards you and turn her in one quick move to lay her on her back, surprised by the sudden limited surface of the single bed again.
"You want to hear another impression?" Chloe asks as her hands lay in surrender above her head and her voice drowns in joy.
"No." You state simply, but you know she can tell you're lying. You push yourself up and towards Chloe, one hand under your head and your elbow pressed into the bed to keep yourself up, giving her your full attention with eyes pushing her to continue.
"Okay, hold on, I need something for this." Chloe yelps as she jumps off of the bed and orders you to close your eyes. You do what you're told, but with a lot of verbal complaints. After a few seconds of hearing Chloe run around the room, you finally hear her voice again, close but again in that low voice.
"My name's Beca effin' Mitchell and I like to pretend I'm a huge badass, but I bought my girlfriend this mug that says I like her and I made her this drawing asking her to kiss me!"
She never told you to open your eyes, so you didn't get to watch her while those words escaped her, but you can observe her now. She's wearing your sunglasses, your leather jacket and the two items she mentioned held tightly in her grip as her arms are crossed and she looks uncaring around the room, a scowl on her face that doesn't look as intimating with her beautiful, sweetened eyes.
You burst out in laughter immediately.
"I really fucking hate you, you know that?"
Chloe's apologetic and sympathetic state of being ends shortly after that and she mercilessly drags you to the karaoke bar that evening. It's a small place just off campus, a bar in the back and the rest of the space filled with chairs facing the stage.
Your girlfriend spends more time on that tiny stage than on her claimed seat next to you by the bar, but you don't really mind. It's quite hilarious the way Chloe makes a fool out of herself while singing her heart out. You might be on one side of the building and the girl on the outer other, it's no secret she's singing every song to you, from the way she points and winks at you to dramatically running up to you and falling to her knees in front of you while serenading.
You're completely fine with how the evening is going, until some sort of duet contest begins and you're forced to join your girlfriend on the stage. Before you know it, the classic Grease song starts to play and Chloe takes the lead, not only singing but doing the appropriate steps –exaggerated- as well.
You're left with Olivia Newton-John's share of the song, which isn't hard to do now that your girlfriend has loosened you up, but it is quite embarrassing you know the words to this song without looking at the 20" monitor down at your feet.
You end up winning the contest, which you give Chloe all the credits for, because it was the audience's decision and you know the effect your friend has on people in general, but definitely on crowds. The bartender hands you a small, fake trophy and gives you two free drinks.
"Isn't this so much better than a boring movie?" Chloe asks smug as she bumps her shoulder against you.
"Not that much, actually." You say indifferent, but you allow your lips to form a smile while your eyes stay stuck in front of you and not on the girl next to you.
"Well, I am having a great time." Chloe states cheerful as she sips on her drink. "You can continue to pretend you're not."
To be honest, this is ten times better than Jesse's dumb idea about a romantic comedy in the movie theatre, but you could never admit that to the girl. If she ever found out you're kind of enjoying yourself in a karaoke bar, you'd never hear the end of it.
Chloe leaves your side a couple more times to either sing and dance on or off the small stage, but you're comfortable right where you are. Your girlfriend is the kind of person who jumps in on someone else's interpretation of Bohemian Rhapsody just to do the backing vocals and dance. You're the kind of person who watches that happening from the bar with a smile on your face, still in disbelief and awe that the bubbly girl that has the ability to capture everyone's eye in the filled room seems to only have hers set on you.
"Becs! Finally, you're home!"
Chloe jumps around your neck when you've only just set foot inside your room, but the contact mixed with your girlfriend's telling scent relaxes you and you decide to dwell in the embrace for a second or two.
"Long day?" The girl whispers in your ear while her arms continue to hold you.
"Kind of."
"How'd lunch with your dad go?" Chloe asks carefully as she pulls herself away from you and instead runs her hands over your arms and shoulders.
"It wasn't bad." You explain in lack of anything more positive. "He can just be so exhausting, you know?" You walk past your girlfriend and lose your jacket and shoes before collapsing to the beds you pushed back together approximately five hours after Chloe had separated them again.
"Those things take time, Beca, but you're both trying. It'll get better soon." Chloe jumps up on the counter and sips her tea while her attention stays with you.
You simply nod, because you know your friend is right. You can't expect everything to be fine again after one lunch, but it was the first time it was just you and your dad and it wasn't awful. Little things about him annoy you, but you're just going to have to learn how to deal with that again.
"What's going on here, by the way?" The floor is covered in opened books and notebooks, there are sheets of paper completely filled with words all around the room and at least three cups filled with coffee on the desk.
"Mid-terms are coming up, Becs."
Chloe is really smart and passionate, so it makes sense she's studying her ass off. But truth be told, you just don't care much about the classes. You'll probably steal Jesse's notes and read them once or twice, but that's as much work as you're planning to put into it.
"Good. Then you won't miss me tonight."
"I always miss you, Becs." Chloe flirts before dropping to the floor and getting back to where you think she left off before you entered. "Do you have plans with Jesse?"
"No, I'm actually going Christmas shopping with Stacie." You speak as if it's the most normal thing in the world, but Chloe probably fractures her neck the way she spins it fast to look at you.
"You're going Christmas shopping with Stacie? On a Wednesday evening? Two weeks before the actual holiday?"
You feel like you're being mocked by your girlfriend, but you don't quite understand what for.
"I assumed you were the kind of person who had to run to the store an hour before they closed on December 24th."
You explain how this plan wasn't your idea to begin with, and Chloe had told you about the tradition of spending Christmas with the Bellas, so not only do you have to worry about getting Chloe a gift, you have seven other girls to stress about as well.
When you think about it, the girls are fairly easy. You can probably find something both offensive and hilarious for each and every one of them. Chloe, however, you worry about. You want something that shows her you care, but you also don't want something too sentimental or romantic.
You realized you could use some help with that and that's the only reason you agreed to Stacie's offer.
Although that's a lie. You're starting to like Stacie. She's so funny and relaxed. She doesn't have a filter, she just says it like it is. A guy in the bar she took you to on that Sunday afternoon was apparently staring at her and she called him out on it in front of everyone in the bar.
She's crazy and you love it.
That evening, you once again have a great time with the tall girl. Stacie's mocking everyone in the mall, but not in a rude way. Somehow she does it in this super nice way, but it cracks you up every time.
"Oh my God, look at the kickers on that one. I hate them, but it's bold, so watch this." She told you right before making her way over to the woman in question and tapping her on the shoulder. "Excuse me, ma'am, where did you buy those beautiful green, leather heels? I've been looking for a pair of those everywhere to finish my Shrek costume."
The people she approached didn't get the joke, but you were –sometimes for real- rolling over the floor laughing. The sarcasm in her voice matched with her sincere interest were too much for you to handle.
After a few hours of goofing around, you have only bought three gifts yet. You spotted a UFO detector and it screamed Lilly, so you had to buy that. You know she's weird like that. And you found hoodies with the names Ashley and Jessica on it, since the two of them get mixed up a lot, you thought it would be funny.
"Oh, Victoria's Secret!" Stacie yells out as she drags you along to the store. She stops you right in front of the entrance, to the annoyance of customers trying to enter and exit. "Beca Mitchell, do you dare to enter this shop with me?"
"Honestly, no." You reply, but you follow the woman inside anyway, scared of how much she'll scar you this time.
"Do you think this would look good on Aubrey?"
There you go.
"Oh come on, eyeline-monster. You're not shy about lingerie, are you?"
"I'm just wondering if I can ever look Coach in the eye again after this."
Stacie wanders through the shop, lifting bra's to her chest completely unreserved as she checks if they look good on her, cupping the item and her boobs in the process. You just follow her around, lifting an item here and there, but mostly keeping your hands to yourself, feeling a little out of place in this fancy store.
"What about this for Chlo?"
Stacie throws a matching set of underwear in your hands, and it's nice, it is. But you don't think you're ready to go lingerie shopping for the girl you've been dating for a week and a half now. You quickly put the item back to where Stacie got it from and continue to follow her tracks.
"You two are good, right? Sexually? Are the two vaginas getting along?"
A woman of age standing dangerously close to you and Stacie looks up petrified and quickly leaves your sight. "Oh, that is.. Super personal." You say fast and uncomfortable with the topic, slightly startled from the sudden interest. "No, we're good, dude. We're really good."
Stacie looks at you as if she won't believe it until you give her at least some details.
"We.. have a lot of it. Sex. Great, great sex. Lots of sex."
"Wow, easy there, Mitchell. You don't have to paint me the scene." Stacie scoffs as she proceeds her path towards the back.
"No, I'm just saying. No problems in that area." You hate that you somehow stay on the topic.
"Are there problems in other areas?" Stacie asks as she gets in line to pay for a sexy Santa Claus outfit, which you don't even dare to ask about or look at.
"No, surprisingly we're doing pretty good right now. We had, like, issues in the past, but I think we're in a good place now."
"Be careful, Mitchell. You've only been dating for a week. You don't want me to think you were hooking up before that time, do you?" Stacie speaks with a dirty smirk and a wink that invades every inch of your privacy.
"No comment." You say as you try to suppress a smile, but failing to.
Stacie decides to store all the gifts in her room, since Chloe's a snooper and you don't trust the woman around presents. Stacie claims her roommate is barely around and Aubrey refuses to meet in her room, which you think has to do with her control issues, but you don't dare to ask the girl about that.
Either way, the gifts you bought are safe at Stacie's place and you can head home with a content feeling. Although that doesn't go for Chloe, who's visibly upset at the bags your hands aren't carrying when you return.
"You didn't find anything?!"
"I did." You answer cool and nonchalant as you start to get undressed and change for bed.
"Where is it? Did you get me something?" Chloe asks as she bouncingly follows you into the closet.
"Maybe." You state as you unbutton your jeans and slide them down to your ankles where you can kick them off.
"You did!" Chloe yelps out enthusiastic. "What is it? Can I have a hint?"
You lift yourself into your pajama bottoms before pretending to cave. "Fine. Close your eyes." You order and Chloe obeys right away, her hands clapping excitedly as she waits for you. You change your shirt while keeping up appearances that you're needing that time to get her the present. When enough time has passed, you step into Chloe's personal space and take her hands in yours, intertwining your fingers before moving to stand on your toes to peck her lips.
"I'm not getting my gift, am I?" Chloe smiles softly against your lips.
"You'll have to wait for Christmas, Beale."
/
You're glad that you and Beca are on better terms after having talked some things out and you can go out for your one-week anniversary with a clean slate. Beca tries to keep her cool and indifferent attitude, but you know that she's having fun in the karaoke bar. She even joins you on the stage once and you catch her laughing at you from across the room more than a dozen times.
After having such a great evening, you'd forgotten what the night would bring you, but upon entering your dorm room, you instantly feel sick over the state of the room. Your bed, back at its previous place, seems miles away from Beca's.
You try to ignore the dirty way your stomach rotates at a suddenly fast speed, but it inevitably succeeds in its mission and you're left with the sickening and off feeling.
Looking back, you know it was a mistake to turn the two single and separate beds together, but you've also never slept and awoke better than after every day of the week with Beca beside you. It was satisfying and relaxing to know the girl you're dating would be within your reach at night.
But it was too fast, and you can see that now. Beca wasn't ready for something like that and you should've realized that before you acted. You're just glad she's forgiven you and you can wait for her until she will be ready.
But this first night alone in your own bed again will be rough.
You crawl under your sheets and lie on your side so you can at least face your girlfriend. It seems Beca on the other side of the room can feel your eyes on her, so she mirrors your position and stares back at you with a smile tugging her lips.
"What are you thinking?" You ask when you can't seem to read her.
Beca sighs heavily, her head shaking in that quick way that you'd miss if you weren't paying attention, the way she always does when she's cursing herself over something right before she gives you more intel about the subject. Never with an actual explanation. But with enough words and body language for you to figure it out.
"I'm thinking that this is stupid." Beca mutters as she gets out of bed and walks over to you. In the blink of an eye, she's dropped to her knees and tries to get the bed moving. "Damnit, woman. How did you do this?!" Beca complains as she jolts the bed roughly towards her, little by little.
"Beca, what are you doing?" The question is serious, but a laugh escapes you from the sight of your girlfriend's struggle.
"I'm trying to get your fat ass over to my side of the room, but you're not exactly helping here, Beale."
You get off the bed to show your assistance, but instead of helping your friend pull the bedframe back against hers, you take her hands in yours and try to make eye contact. "Are you sure?" You ask while studying her face, aware by now that you can trust her eyes more than her sarcastic words.
"Yeah, this is dumb."
"It's not dumb." You reason. You don't ever want your girlfriend to think that what she feels is insignificant or unimportant. "It's perfectly fine if you're not okay with this."
"I am. I mean, I guess I got kind of used to it."
You feel your lips curling into a happy but arrogant, surprised smile. "You got used to sleeping with me?"
The girl rolls her eyes in annoyance. "Yeah, I don't know how I managed before when there was no one snoring into my ear or stealing my covers." Beca says with sarcasm dripping off of her voice as she bumps you out of the way and closes the last of the gap between the two beds.
"You could just admit it, Becs." You say as you get back into the bed that's now no longer just yours, but Beca's as well.
"Never." Beca mumbles from where she's hidden underneath the sheets, curled into a ball and faced away from you like she always does.
You happily close your eyes, more than satisfied with just the knowledge that she's next to you and that she has found more comfort within your relationship.
Just before you drift off, you hear Beca move, not her entire body, but a rustling sound beneath the sheets and over the mattress. Before you can identify the sound, you feel her hand finding yours, her fingers slipping softly and gentle between yours and rest over your knuckles. You hear a content hum coming from where your friend is sleeping and it spurs something inside of you.
You're too tired and happy to figure out what it was exactly.
You have always loved Christmas. Not just the 25th of December, but the entire Christmas spirit, the entire month, the winter holiday. You love it all. Perhaps Christmas is your all-time favorite time of the year.
This year is no different. You're always excited for Christmas, but this time in addition to your usual happiness, you have Beca with you in every sense of the word.
If you had to define your relationship with Beca in one word, you'd use perfection. Not because there haven't been arguments or disagreements. You have those every day. Most of them are about how you got paint stains on her jeans, –which was her own fault, because she should know better than to crawl on your lap and start making out with you while you have paint on your hands- or how you didn't clean up the room –again, not your fault, because you were still working and you needed everything that was spread out on the floor- and how you didn't use the special mug for your dirty paint water and she'd get a mouthful of it. -…Okay, that one might be on you.-
But it's still perfection.
Apart from those small fights that always led to makeup sex, and the usual tension between Beca and Aubrey, there haven't been any bumps in the road.
Beca has been doing great and she even seems happier, which could be caused by multiple things.
She earned herself the New Year's Eve gig at Kevin's club, which is so great and exciting. You're so proud of her and you can't wait to see her in action.
Beca has also been hanging out with Stacie more. The two started to become good friends and your girlfriend has also been more open to connect with the rest of the Bellas. She has even personally invited Aubrey to her New Year's Eve show at the club.
Your girlfriend went to take all of her midterms, which isn't to say she studied much for it, but that's in itself a whole step, so you'll accept it.
And last but not least, she's been having weekly lunches with her father. All no longer than an hour or two, but it's a big deal to you and you're glad she's reconnecting with her dad, because that family bond is important.
So you can't really claim to be the reason for the smile on her face, but you hope you contribute to her happiness.
Your happiness is definitely caused by Beca. She makes you feel better about yourself, even with her sarcastic words and downplayed compliments, the way she hides her affection. And you believe because of Beca in your life, everything else has been going better as well.
You think you're falling in love with her.
Which is a strange thing to think, because it's not that much of a revelation as it is a realization you've been feeling this way for a long time now.
And it's also strange to just think it. You usually express how you feel the moment you feel it. You like to put it to words, to admit it, to make sure the other person knows. Just like with any other person, you have no desire to get those words said back to you by Beca. But due to your little, spontaneous confession in Kansas, and the way your friend reacted, you've decided you don't want to ruin what you have with Beca right now.
The fear that she might leave you is still very much present. Not on a daily base, but definitely when you're realize things and feelings of this kind.
And it's okay to not tell her how you feel.
You know that Beca has no need to hear those words. And just because you don't express yourself, doesn't mean the feelings don't exist or that they fade away. If anything, they grow.
But you're okay with keeping things the great way they are right now. And perhaps Beca will someday know how you feel about her.
Today, however, is Christmas morning and you're heading towards the gym where every Bellas practice is held. Upon entering, you see the girls are already gathered in a circle on the floor with a huge pile of wrapped gifts in the center. As you make your way over, you spot your girlfriend talking to Stacie while she rises to her feet. Her mouth keeps moving, words and laughter falling out, but her feet indicate she's leaving the conversation.
"Yeah, that's what I said!" Beca half-yells just before she turns away from the girl she was talking to and meets your eye and her hands connect to your hips gently. "Hey, you." She says with a smile plastered to her face from her previous conversation.
You kiss her lips for the simple reason that you want to. "Christmas even removes the Grinch out of you."
"Oh no, I'm definitely still going to be a Grinch this entire day." Beca responds playfully before taking the bag out of your hands and emptying it with the rest of the gifts. "That big one better be for me."
It became a tradition years ago that the entire winter holiday was going to be spent with all of the Bellas. Since most of the girls went home for Thanksgiving, Christmas seemed to work for everyone. Just like the years before, a schedule was planned by the captains, for the first time that's you and Aubrey.
Aubrey wanted to plan everything herself, but you convinced her to listen to the ideas of the group and you put a list of activities together after that. This year, instead of starting the day after Christmas, you've decided to start Saturday and end with the New Year's Eve party.
Because Beca isn't allowed to work the weekend before her gig, -something about how people don't want to see the same DJ they're paying big money for on New Year's Eve to play the regular Saturday- you've decided to start off the week there. Beca's club is great and even though you're excited to see her play, you don't want the girls' first night in that club to be experienced with your girlfriend working and not with all of you on the dancefloor.
The rest of the schedule includes glow-in-the-dark bowling, a tradition that Aubrey wants to uphold, go-carting at Cynthia-Rose's request, visiting a gentleman's club was of course Stacie's pick and paintball unsurprisingly your own girlfriend's request. Unfortunately, you couldn't put everyone's wish on the list, so Jessica and Ashley's vote for the trampoline park was dismissed, Lilly's request to swim with whales couldn't be met with the financial resources, Amy suggested sumo wrestling in Japan or if that wasn't possible, China Town, which she believes to be the same thing, but that also wasn't currently in the cards for the team. And you didn't put a vote in yourself, because you were fine with whatever the girls wanted to do.
"Hey everybody!" Stacie starts.
"Listen up, pitches!" Cynthia-Rose yells to get everyone's attention towards Stacie.
"I know we all got each other gifts, but eyeline-monster and I had a different plan. What if we go around and everyone can blindly grab a gift from the pile."
"Wait, hold on, I never agreed to this!" Beca yells out.
You think you see a mental conversation happening between your girlfriend and Stacie. Beca just looks threatening and Stacie looks extremely smug and prepared.
"I don't know, Stace." Aubrey expresses her doubts with the plan.
"See! Coach isn't okay with it!" Beca protests.
"It'll be fine, we can trade things afterwards. It will be fun."
This is the first time you're actually physically present and get to witness how Stacie calms your best friend down. Aubrey has always had trouble with spontaneity or anything that catches her off guard. Aubrey has told you about how Stacie's able to relax her, but you're glad you can see it with your own eyes for once.
"Okay! I guess I can let this little thing slide for once." Aubrey says excitedly, but you can see the panic and fear in her eyes, discomfort brought on by the situation she's been put into.
"Alright, how about you go first and we continue clockwise." Stacie decides and Aubrey immediately crawls towards the pile of gifts and starts to examine them.
"That's not fair." Beca mutters with her jaw locked and her eyes on Stacie. "That means you're second."
Stacie shrugs confidently and you can see that something's bothering your girlfriend.
"What's going on?" You whisper in the girl's ear.
"She's gonna steal my gift." Beca speaks defeated and angry at the same time.
You want to ask more, but Aubrey's just opened her gift and the girls all cheer as she holds a vinyl record of the Dixie Chicks up in the air. You clap along with the group even though you know for sure your best friend cheated and took something with her name on it.
"It's got all the hits on it." Cynthia-Rose confesses. "I got it from the place where you work, Beca." The girl speaks almost shy as the girls compliment her.
"Thank you, Cynthia-Rose. I love it." Your best friend speaks and the two of them share a look.
You know for sure that Christmas is going to bring all of you closer together.
"My turn!" Stacie says as she jumps up and walks around the pile, acting like she's reaching out a few times, but then deciding otherwise, making your girlfriend next to you growl every time she does. "This one." Stacie decides on as she takes one of the smallest presents in the center. "Oh, it says Chloe."
You're excited to see what it is, but Beca doesn't even watch Stacie open the wrapping. She just stays seated with her head in her hands and mumbled curse words escaping her mouth, but never looking up to watch the situation.
"Two tickets for an art exhibition in New York including flight and hotel!"
You can't even process the entire thing, because as soon as the words have left Stacie's mouth, Beca jumps her and tries to snatch the envelop out of her hands, all the while Stacie just laughs loudly and her long arms have no trouble staying out of reach for Beca.
"I fucking hate you." Beca mutters as she returns to her place in defeat.
"You got us tickets to go to New York?" You ask when the realization finally hits, a feather flutters through your chest and it warms everything it touches.
"She cheated." Beca addresses the group. "She knew what was in there!"
But the girls aren't impressed and just force her to pick one and move along.
You're still in shock about the amazing gift Beca got you, even after your talk about how she doesn't need to try so hard. You'd have been happy with a pair of socks if it meant Beca got it for you or it made her think of you. Instead, she spent hundreds of dollars on tickets for you to look at some art.
You feel like crying.
Inside, you're already sobbing, but you fight to prevent the tears from slipping out.
"Two can play that game." Beca speaks suddenly arrogant as she makes her way over to the center.
"Don't you dare, Mitchell." Stacie threatens, but all the girls seem to enjoy the little battle that's going on and to be honest, you're excited to see what Beca has in store as well.
You watch Beca search until she finds what she's been looking for, grabbing the item in her hands before she starts to doubt it. You can tell she's hesitant by the way her lip twitches.
"No, that's just gonna look bad on me." Beca says, making Stacie scoff and laugh. "No, I'm taking one of yours. Let's see. This one."
Everyone can tell that it's wrapped by Aubrey, and if this is one from your best friend to her girlfriend, Stacie is going to regret ever taking that envelop with your name on it.
"Stacie, stop her!" Aubrey cries out.
"Mitchell, let's think about this first." Stacie argues, but Beca's already smirking and ripping it open.
"What do we have here?" Beca says as she peeks inside and reaches for what she sees, dramatically pulling out the item. It seems to be some sort of bracelet, nothing of gold or silver, but black beads and weird-looking pearls. It doesn't look like anything Stacie would wear.
The rest of the girls are as confused as you are and Beca realizes her plan to expose hasn't completely worked.
"Okay, that's not what I was expecting." Beca mumbles before tossing it over to Stacie.
Stacie examines the item and you can tell she knows exactly what it is. "A Solar System bracelet." She says excitedly as she puts it on her own wrist.
"Every black bead represents 50 million miles to the sun. The pearls are the planets." Aubrey explains softly, but the room is dead quiet, so everyone's hearing the intimate moment the two girls share.
"And you got this for me, because I'm your sun!" Stacie decides as she jumps forward and kisses Aubrey's cheek.
"No, Stace. The sun is right here!" Aubrey speaks borderline upset as she takes the bracelet between thumb and index finger and shows it to her.
"You guys are adorable!"
"Yeah, I didn't know Stacie was a sex addict during the day and a science nerd at night. Maybe you should try to be ashamed of the sex addiction and not the science thing. I'm just saying."
"Okay, well if you're happy with that weird thing, I'm gonna want it back." Beca says annoyed that her plan didn't work.
"We can't all afford plane tickets to New York, Beca."
You can't help but laugh at your best friends words, but you hug Beca to your chest anyway, appreciative she tried. "Don't worry, babe. I got this." You whisper in your girlfriend's ear before rising to your feet and picking a present.
Unfortunately, it's one meant for Amy and bought by Jessica. It's an Australian flag beach towel and Stacie starts to laugh and makes it clear she has no interest in it.
"Damn it." Beca mumbles sad.
"It's okay, Becs. I appreciate the offer, really."
"This isn't about the offer. This is about us going to New York and you seeing the exhibition. If I wanted credit for an offer, I'd have written you a poem or something." Beca complains annoyed.
"I'd love to hear that." You say jokingly as you run your hand over Beca's thigh and try to get her to cheer up. She smiles weakly at your attempt, which means you didn't succeed. Instead of letting her dwell in her sadness, you take her face in your hands and kiss her until you feel her smiling against your lips.
Jessica pulls one out of the pile meant for Lilly which turns out to be a ketchup-bomb and explodes as soon as the blonde girl has opened the gift. Lilly mumbles something about how it reminds her of her own birth, which you don't quite get, but the girl smiles and you think she likes her present.
Amy surprisingly gets the one you got for her. Cynthia-Rose gets one that was meant for Beca. Ashley gets one that was meant for Jessica. Lilly unwraps one with your name on it.
"We need something they want." Beca whispers secretive as you watch Aubrey unwrap her second present. "Did you get Stacie something good? I got her sex toys. Well, she picked them out and I just paid for it. It'll just be weird if I grab that for myself." Beca literally shudders to make her point.
"You can get the one I got for her and then I will take those toys." You say flirtatious and with a wink.
But Beca looks at you with lust in her eyes and a smirk on her face and it makes you instantly weak. The words may have been just to tease her and get her to smile again, but Beca seems to be into it and you can feel your body burning with great desire.
"Oh look, headphones made of chocolate. I think I got one of Beca's again." Stacie says with a grin.
Your girlfriend curses under her breath before sliding over to the center and grabbing the one you told her to take. Inside are tickets for a convention you know Stacie would want to see.
"The Kamasutra convention?" Stacie asks with actual tears in her eyes. Beca simply nods and they share a beat of silence before Stacie's arms fly towards Aubrey, but she's holding Beca's envelop firmly in her one hand while the other one prevents Stacie from moving.
"We are not giving away tickets to New York for some weird, sex convention!"
"They show the latest hits in positions!" Stacie argues, but Aubrey doesn't seem like she'll give up those plane tickets, so Stacie turns back to Beca and you. "I will do whoever it takes to get those tickets."
"You mean 'whatever it takes'." Amy corrects.
"Yeah, I'll do that, too."
"You know what I want, Conrad. Let me know when you've made up your mind." Beca says before raising her hand and waiting for you to high-five it.
The game goes on for quite some time, but you're all seeming to have a blast. When the final package has been unwrapped, everyone happily scatters their belongings together and starts to look for good trades. Beca stays seated next to you, calm and awaiting while you go through all the gifts you got, like a little kid.
"Well played, Mitchell." Stacie and Aubrey take a seat in front of the two of you and Stacie addresses your girlfriend in a semi-serious voice.
"I didn't want to play at all, but you forced my hand." You hear Beca reply in that same, ridiculous gangster voice.
"Oh my God, you two are insane." You say while cracking up and Aubrey joins you in your laughter.
The looks on your significant others' faces isn't helping and you end up rolling over the floor from stomach pains with your best friend.
"You have any plans late January? I need someone to join me on a trip to New York." Beca asks Stacie. "I got this pretty girl a ticket, but we're not together anymore."
"I feel you. I'm in the same situation, actually. I'll go with you to New York and you can come with me to the Kamasutra convention."
"Dude.. I know we're doing a roleplay thing, but I'm not agreeing to go to a sex convention with you."
The whole conversation only hurts your stomach more and eventually both you and your best friend have to calm each other down, because there's no air coming into your lungs anymore.
A/N: Thanks for the continuous support, guys! I see and love all the messages you guys leave!
