Chapter 24: Stacie & Emily

Beca's POV

"I uh I think I'm done…" Beca looked at the screen in front of her and sighed in disbelief.

"Do you want me to look at it?" Chloe asked curiously as she watched at Beca in amazement.

"Would you?" Beca asked, never taking her eyes off of the screen.

Chloe nodded and reached her hands out to take the laptop, that Beca eventually handed over.

She watched Chloe carefully as her eyes scanned the screen, moving back and forth as she took in each carefully, purposefully written word.

Chloe seemed to be taking her time as she read over the paper, not wanting to miss any painstaking detail. After what felt like a lifetime Chloe looked up and smiled at her girlfriend.

"Bec, this is amazing." Chloe explained, honesty lacing her words. "I'm definitely not an expert on this topic but your writing alone… it's incredible."

Beca smiled nervously at her, almost as if she was trying to decide if she should accept the compliment or not.

"Thanks, Chlo." Beca took the laptop back and just looked at it for a moment. "So I have something I need to tell you."

Chloe looked at Beca expectantly, giving her time to say whatever she needed to.

"Mr. Weller called me into his office today." Beca explained. "He uh told me I was the top of the senior class and asked me to give the Valedictorian speech…"

The redhead smiled. She of course already knew this as she was on the graduation board since she was a Senior Teacher. Mr. Weller had informed the board of teachers that he was extending the offer to Beca and Salutatorian would be offered to Stacie Conrad.

"That's awesome, Bec!" Chloe beamed at her girlfriend.

"I don't think I'm going to do it." Beca sighed. Chloe's eyes snapped to her girlfriends.

"Beca…" Chloe began but stopped talking. She knew that she needed to hear Beca out. Whatever her thought process was, she wanted to understand. "Why not?"

"I just… I don't want to stand in front of a room full of people I didn't even get to know and talk about how amazing High School was." She explained with a shake of her head.

"I understand that, but that's not really what a Valedictorian speech is about, Beca." Chloe stated. "It's not about how amazing High School is as much as it's about celebrate what you accomplished. You guys are graduating! That's a big deal! It's a way to send off you and your classmates into a new part of life. It's a closure of sorts."

Beca seemed to really be taking in her words.

"I think you should." Chloe added. "I wont tell you what to do, I'm just saying you should think about it."

"You always do that." Beca said with a short laugh. "You, always make me think about things logically."

Chloe laughed too. "I do my best."

Beca sat and thought for a moment, not bothering to say anything. She knew she would do it. She knew she would give the speech, it was now just a matter of accepting it.

"I'm going to submit my thesis." Beca explained as she grabbed her laptop again and going to her Canvas account.

"So you're going to give the speech right?" Chloe asked as she smirked at her girlfriend.

"Shut up." Beca smirked as she typed away at her computer.

"Alright, there we go." Beca mumbled to herself. She looked up at Chloe and smiled brightly. "Anyway, what time is it?"

"It's 5:46." Chloe explained looking at her. "Why?"

"I was thinking about going to the support group tonight." Beca explained.

"Do you want a ride?" She asked curiously.

"Yeah, if you wouldn't mind." The brunette smiled.

XxX

Beca walked into the room a few minutes before the meeting started. She smiled when she saw Emily sitting down and an empty chair next to her.

"Do you mind if I sit here?" Beca asked as she walked up to her. Emily turned and smiled brightly.

"Of course, all yours!" The girl beamed.

Beca smiled at her and sat down.

The actual support group went well, Beca only did her introduction today and skipped the sharing portion. She really just wanted to listen and everyone seemed to understand that.

It wasn't until later on at the end of the meeting did she and Emily really get to talk.

"Hey, I'm really glad you came tonight." Emily beamed at the older girl.

"Yeah, I wasn't sure that I would come back honestly." Beca stated. "But I'm glad I did."

"So Stacie's going to pick me up and go get some dinner, if you wanna join us?" Emily suggested. Beca looked at her questioningly for a moment.

"I didn't know you and Stacie were close?" She observed with a raised eyebrow.

Emily gave a small laugh. "We're a little more then close. We've been dating since the beginning of the year…"

"You have?" Beca asked in shock. "I really do need to pay more attention to people."

The girls laughed.

"So, do you wanna come?" Emily asked.

"Well, I don't want to intrude…" Beca shook her head.

"No intrusion. I swear." Emily explained. "But if you want I can double check with her just to make sure she's cool with it."

"Um… Okay yeah. Why not?" Beca agreed. This caused Emily to squeal out in excitement.

"Oh this is so awesome!" The girl basically was jumping up and down. "I'll call Stacie."

Beca laughed as she watched the younger woman. She could tell that Emily was a really great person and someone who had an awesome personality.

Not too long after that Beca found herself in the back seat of Stacie's car.

"Sup, Mitchell." Stacie nodded to her in acknowledgement.

"Conrad." Beca nodded back.

"Where you guys wanna eat?" Stacie asked as she pulled away from the Therapy Center.

"I'm good with whatever." Emily explained and looked back to Beca, before adding, "Anything sound particularly good right now?"

"Um I don't know. I mean you can't really go wrong with Mike's I guess." Beca suggested to which Stacie and Emily smiled at that.

"Let's do it." Stacie nodded her head and turned the car to head in the direction of the diner.

As they drove, Beca pulled her phone out to see a text from Chloe.

C: Hey just let me know when you need me to pick you up or if plans change. Hope you have a good experience at the meeting :)

Beca quickly typed out a response.

B: Going to get food with Stacie and Emily. I'll have them drop me off at Amy's and if you would pick me up from our normal spot?

C: Of course! Have fun :D

Beca smiled and put her phone away. She looked up and was met with Stacie looking back at her through the rearview mirror. The look on Stacie's face was one of knowing. It made Beca feel a little weird but decided just to brush it off.

Eventually they made it to the diner, and found themselves into a booth. Beca sitting across from Stacie and Emily.

"So are you excited about graduation?" Emily asked Beca. "I can't wait to graduate. I still have two more years…"

"Two more years? I thought you were a freshman?" Beca looked at her questioningly.

"No, I'm a Sophomore." Emily laughed.

"Oh… Yeah I'm excited. It's kind of a relief that it's so close actually.." Beca explained.

A silence filled the table for a moment and Beca couldn't help but smile as Stacie took Emily's hand in her own.

"So how long have you two been dating?" Beca asked after the waitress walked away with their order.

"We started dating in October." Stacie explained.

"Oh wow, I don't know how I missed that." Beca laughed.

"That's cuz your head's always down or staring at Ms. Beale." Stacie smirked. Beca's heart dropped in her chest.

"What are you talking about?" Beca asked, not even needing to pretend to be confused. She was.

"Oh please, Beca." Stacie laughed. "Everyone's noticed that since Ms. B started working at the school, you've changed."

"It had nothing to do with Ms. Beale." Beca lied. "It was just the timing of everything. That's all."

"So you don't spend the entire class hour staring at her?" Stacie asked with a smirk.

"Everyone's looking at her, Stacie. She's the teacher." Beca pointed out.

"Not everyone is making heart eyes at her the whole time." Stacie explained.

"Stace, drop it." Emily sighed at her girlfriend. "It's not true."

"What's not true?" Beca asked, knowing she was clearly missing something.

Emily sighed and looked over at her girlfriend. "I told you this whole thing was ridiculous."

"You're the one that just said that." Stacie pointed out.

"What the hell is happening right now?" Beca asked in utter confusion.

Emily and Stacie looked at each other for a moment, then Stacie broke the silence. "You brought it up, you tell her."

"It's your stupid idea…" Emily sighed.

"Someone just tell me." Beca grumbled in frustration.

Emily sighed. "Fine, Stacie's convinced you and Ms. Beale are a thing."

Beca stared at her in shock and confusion.

"I'm not convinced, I know you are." Stacie stated very matter-of-factly.

Beca's eyes snapped to Stacie. "Wait, you think Ms. B and I are dating?" Beca's tone was light and there was a bit of a laugh in her voice, one that she hopped didn't make her sound too nervous.

"Dating, sleeping together? I don't know but I know that there's something going on with you two that isn't exactly school related." Stacie stated very confidently.

Beca laughed again. "Oh my god that's so ridiculous."

"Is it?" The other senior asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes!" Beca exclaimed a little too loudly. "I mean yeah Ms. B's great and has been helping me out a lot on my Thesis but that's like it."

Stacie began to mess with her phone while Beca talked. She looked up at her.

"So you kiss all your teachers?" Stacie asked with a raised eyebrow.

What the hell… Beca thought as she stared at Stacie in disbelief.

"What are you talking about?" Beca asked again. "I've never kissed…"

Stacie cut her off by sliding her phone over to Beca, who picked it up and saw a picture on it's screen. It was one taken at the park. You could clearly see Beca and Chloe, sitting in Chloe's car.

"What is this supposed to prove?" Beca asked. The picture was just of them sitting in the car. "Ms. B's given me a ride. So what?"

"Swipe to the next picture." Stacie instructed.

Beca did as she was told and gasped slightly as she looked at the picture. It was of her and Chloe kissing. Still in the same car, wearing the same clothes. You could see Beca's face a little clearer then Chloe's but there was no doubting it.

"You wanna explain that picture away?" Stacie asked. Beca looked up at her with wide eyes.

"What do you want?" Beca asked not sure what she was playing at.

Stacie let out a sharp laugh. "What do I want? That's the question you're going with?"

"Stacie, stop it! You're being a real ass right now." Emily glared over at her girlfriend. It was the most serious Beca had ever seen the younger girl act, outside of the support group meetings.

"I uh…" Beca began, she looked down at the picture and felt as though her entire world was falling apart. People knew. Stacie knew. Emily knew.

That was it.

Game over.

Chloe was going to lose her job. She was going to have to move back to Seattle. It was all over and it was her fault. Chloe had just lost her dream and the only person to blame was Beca…

"I have to go." Beca muttered. She put the phone down on the table, as soon as she was about to stand up she felt someone grab her hand. She looked over to see it was Emily.

"Beca, we aren't going to tell anyone." She promised.

Beca looked at her and Stacie in disbelief. "How the hell do I know I can trust you? This is serious and if anyone found out about this, it could seriously hurt Chloe…"

Emily nodded her head and so did Stacie.

"We know." Stacie explained. The smugness was gone. "We would never turn you guys in. We don't think that what you're doing is wrong as long as it's what you both want and you're both happy."

Beca looked down at the phone that was now blank. "Why the hell do you have those pictures then?"

Stacie picked up the phone, messed with it for a second then turned the phone over, to show Beca as she pushed the delete button.

"I only took them to show Em. I'd seen you and Ms. B meet at the park a few times and Emily didn't believe me, I just took them to prove it." Stacie explained.

"How many people have you told?" Beca asked, her anxiety still running rampant right now.

"Just Em." She stated, still sounding confident. "And I mean now you. But that's it."

Beca didn't know if she should trust her.

"Beca, we know you probably don't trust us, but we love you and Ms. B. We don't want either of you to be hurt." Emily explained. Beca felt like she could trust Emily.

"So you aren't going to tell anyone else?" Beca asked, her chest still tight and her breathing was uneven.

"No, we aren't going to tell anyone." Stacie was the one to speak this time. The conviction in her voice was enough to make Beca trust her. However, there was still a part of her that worries she couldn't. She had been hurt too many times to just immediately accept their words for it when it was about something so serious.

"Are you…" Beca began. "Were those the only pictures you had?"

"Yes, do you wanna go through my picture?" Stacie offered. There was no anger or frustration in her tone at all.

Beca thought for a moment but then shook her head. "No. It's okay. I believe you."

Silence filled the table again as the waitress brought their food. Beca mumbled a quiet thank you and looked down at her food.

"This is awkward now." Beca laughed nervously.

"Not really." Stacie shrugged. "I mean not for us at least. You love who you love and age and gender don't matter."

Emily nodded her head. "It's not like it's a huge age gap. What like 5 years?"

Beca nodded her head.

"And you're 18 so who cares…" Stacie pointed out.

Beca nodded her head. She worried what would happen though if Chloe found out that other people knew. Would she freak? Would she end things?

Yeah, the Beale family all knew basically but that wasn't a big deal. None of them would turn them in. But these were two of Chloe's students that now knew… Would that really fuck things up.

"Just like, please don't let Chloe know that you know." Beca whispered out in defeat. "She uh… I don't' know how she would feel about others knowing while I'm still in school. And still her student."

"Yeah, of course." Emily nodded her head.

Beca sighed and shook her head.

"You love her, don't you?" Stacie asked after a minute.

"More then you know." Beca confessed. It was amazing to speak it out to someone other then Chloe. It was almost like it became real. Other people outside of her and Chloe and Chloe's family knew and she didn't have to hide it or pretend like she didn't have this amazing connection to the most amazing woman.

People actually knew of her love for Chloe Beale and she was proud of that.

"If you don't want to get caught though Beca. You guys really need to stop making out in the park." Stacie said with a laugh.

The table filled with laughter.

"Yeah, we really do." Beca nodded her head as she continued to laugh.

A/N Alright guys we are nearing the end. Just a few more chapters until And Then There Was You comes to an end. I just want to take a moment to thank everyone again for reading and going on the journey with me. It seriously means the world to me.

So until next time please leave a review, let me know what you think so far, and have a fantastic day! Stay safe and healthy and I'll see y'all soon!