Hey guys! I got a chance to write again, so here's the next chapter! I don't know when Chapter 11 will be up, but I'll try to do it as soon as possible. Hope you enjoy!
Chapter 10
Aubrey's POV
I glance over at Chloe from across the table, who has her nose stuck in a book. "So I'm thinking about talking to Stacie today." I'll never admit it, but I've sort of really fallen for the tall brunette. We've gotten to know each other a little better over the past couple of weeks. I hate that this is for the mission, but…
"That's a good idea." Chloe's response brings me back to reality. "Your dad's going to call at some point, possibly very soon."
It's been a month since General Posen last called. Chloe and I have both tried (me through making her pissed and Chloe through being overly nice) to get information out of Mitchell, but to no avail. She's all but shut Chloe out, and she just yells at me about the stupidest things. Chloe keeps getting more and more upset, even though she tries to hide it from me.
"Probably." I nod in response to her comment. We have absolutely nothing to tell my father; that's why I need to talk to Stacie today. "Ready for Bellas rehearsal?"
From across the table, she gives me a sad pout. "My throat hurts." After SBT, Chloe and I had a long talk about what her nodes means, and for now, we're not going to do anything about it. After the mission, we'll be gone anyway.
"I know." I give her a sympathetic smile. "Just take it easy today, ok?"
"Don't I always?" She mutters slightly bitterly, but returns my smile nonetheless. "I guess we should go then?"
"I guess so." I grab my keys, then follow Chloe outside. "How should I approach Stacie?"
This brings a much more genuine smile to her face. "Just ask her if she wants to get lunch with you or something. See what happens from there."
I nod, getting in the driver's side and pulling out of the parking lot once she's also in the car. "Seems easy enough." But my hands are already sweating just thinking about it. "What if she says no?"
Chloe laughs. "She told me the other day you're the hottest blonde she had ever met. I think you're fine."
I feel the blood rising to my cheeks in a blush. "Are you sure she wasn't just saying that?"
"I'm positive. You're going to do aca-awesome, Bree." She laughs again as I cringe. "You started this war."
"Ugh."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
"That…" I groan, shaking my head and staring out at everyone. They all look tired except Mitchell, who just looks like she would rather be anywhere but here. "That was a little better than last week."
"Another couple of days and it'll be perfect." Chloe adds cheerfully from next to me, and I notice Mitchell roll her eyes.
"We'll see about that." The brunette mutters, her glare directed at me. I open my mouth to argue back with her, but Chloe laying her hand on my bicep stops me.
"Hands in, Pitches." I say, giving my best false smile as everyone does so. "On three." They all nod. "One, two-"
Half of the girls cut me off as they start singing, and I don't even try to mask my groan. "Why can't we do this?!" Stacie says in frustration.
"Alright ladies… we'll pick this up tomorrow." With a final nod, the girls all walk away. I glance over at Chloe, who gives me an encouraging smile and tilts her head in Stacie's direction. "Stacie, a word."
"Sure." She turns around and walks back over to me, a small- yet obviously shocked- smile on her face. "What's up? Was it the choreography, I know it's bad-"
"No, no, not that." I ball my hands into fists by my sides, attempting to stop myself from fidgeting with anything and giving myself away. "I was actually wondering if you would like to get some lunch with me?"
"Oh." If Stacie looked shocked before, words can't describe how awed she looks now. "I'd love to."
"Really?" I almost squeal, and she raises an eyebrow at me. "I mean, cool."
She laughs. "I'll let that one slide, Posen." Her smile fades as she notices my cringe. "What?"
"Nothing." I shake my head and start walking outside.
"I don't believe that." Our feet fall in sync as we walk down the road. "What's bothering you?" When I don't respond, she adds, "You can trust me, Bree."
I let out a small sigh and look up at her. "It was just weird, being called Posen. People only call my dad that."
She must sense my discomfort, because she grabs my hand and gives it a small squeeze. "I'm sorry."
"It's fine." I laugh humorlessly. "It's not like he's dead or anything."
"Tough relationship?"
I nod, deciding she doesn't really need to know much more than that. "Yeah."
"I'm sorry." She repeats, squeezing my hand again. It's weird, how perfectly her hand fits in mine. Almost as if it were made just for me.
"Thanks." I look away from her, and it snaps me back into reality. This is a mission, Aubrey. Pull yourself together. Carefully, so as not to hurt her feelings, I pull my hand out of hers. If she notices, she doesn't say anything. Not about that, anyway.
"So, what's up with you and Beca?"
"What?" I cough, the question catching me off guard. "Nothing, she just gets on my nerves."
"I can tell." She laughs again. "Sometimes it looks like you want to kill her."
"Really?" I muse, this time playing it off nonchalantly. "That's rather violent."
"I see it though." She adds, her face betraying her serious tone; she has a smirk Mitchell would be proud of. "You're totally the type of person to hang someone."
"Really." I raise an eyebrow to hide my sudden shock and nerves; I have hung someone before. Maybe this is a bad idea, if she can read me this easily…
"Uh-huh." This time, she laughs. "If someone didn't follow your rules…" She suddenly looks at me with a mischievous look in her eye. "Among other reasons."
"Oh." I can't help but gulp as her eyes maintain contact with mine for a solid minute before lazily traveling down, then back up, my body.
"Be honest with me, Aubrey Posen." She takes a step closer, her eyes glued to mine again. "Why did you ask me to get lunch with you?"
Thankfully, both my heart and my brain seem to be thinking the same thing, to. If I push her away now, I may ruin my chances at anything, mission or otherwise. My brain is also saying that this is dangerous. That I can't fall for Stacie like Chloe did Asher. But my heart argues that I've never felt this way about anyone before. Even if it is just for a mission, shouldn't I get to enjoy it a little bit? But no, General Posen would be pissed…
"Aubrey." Stacie's voice snaps me out of my thoughts. "You zoned-" I don't give her a chance to finish her comment before I press my lips against hers chastely. She immediately kisses back, taking another step closer and pressing our bodies together in a way that is definitely inappropriate for where we're at. Again, though, my heart ignores my brain as I run my tongue along her bottom lip, grinning when she shivers and allows me access.
This is better than porn, not gonna lie. I jump back as Chloe's voice floats through my ear, and Stacie gives me a weird look.
"What's wrong?"
"I just…" I shake my head, vowing to myself to murder Chloe when I get home as she laughs through the ear com. "This isn't me." Stacie just gives me a confused look. "I've never been in a relationship."
"Oh." Stacie laughs lightly. "It doesn't have to be a relationship if you don't want it to be."
"What do you mean by that?" I can't help but get a little excited. Well, my brain is, anyway. Part of my heart just sank.
"We can do just sex. You know, no strings attached."
Take the offer. Chloe sighs.
"Alright." I respond to both of them. To Stacie, I say, "Not here though."
"Follow me." She grabs my wrist and whirls us around, literally dragging me behind her.
"Where-" but I cut myself off when I realize I know exactly where she's taking me. "Oh. Smart."
"We just have to hope no one's there." She turns and pulls me in for another quick kiss before walking into the amphitheatre, dragging me behind her still. As soon as I close the door behind me, I'm being pressed up against it. Stacie's lips press against my throat, emitting a small and rather embarrassing squeak from deep in my throat. She chuckles as her kisses become more frantic, and I lean my head back to give her more exposure.
Suddenly, my phone rings. Stacie sighs before pulling away, and I give her an apologetic smile. "Sorry."
"No worries." She grins lightly in return, and I talk a couple steps away to answer it. "Hello?"
"That is a terrible idea, I didn't mean right now!" Chloe immediately hisses into the phone. "She's going to see your ear com."
"You think I don't know this?" I whisper back slightly harshly.
"Just get the fuck out of there." With that, she hangs up.
When I turn back around to look at Stacie, she immediately nods. "You have to go, don't you."
Slowly, I nod. "I'm sorry, family emergency." I lie.
"I get it." She walks over to me and places a small kiss against my lip. "There's always next time."
"Thank you for understanding." With one last nod of reassurance, I exit, groaning when I realize Chloe took the car.
"Need a ride?" Stacie asks from behind me, and I turn to see her smirking and dangling her keys in the air. "I can drive you there. As friends." Her smirk turns to a caring smile.
Thinking fast to keep up my lie, I say, "Can you take me to my apartment? I can get my car there."
"Sure." She shrugs and leads me to a black 2013 Mercedes.
"Nice car." I comment, walking in a circle to admire it.
"Thanks. It was a gift from my grandpa when I graduated high school." She unlocks it, and we climb in. "So, where do you live?"
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXx
"Thanks again." I tell Stacie for possibly the millionth time in the past five minutes when she pulls into the parking lot of the apartment complex.
"Any time." She gives me a soft smile. "Let me know how everything goes, ok?"
"Sure." I nod easily and climb out of the car, turning to watch her leave until I can no longer see her. Once she's gone, I let out a sigh of relief and enter the building, opting for the stairs instead of the elevator to get up to our apartment.
"What the hell?" Chloe asks as soon as I open the door; she's perched on the island, a book in her hand and a glare on her face.
"Do you have a problem?" I immediately retort, resting my hands on my hips and raising an eyebrow at her. In reality, I'm shocked; Chloe has never gotten this upset with me before.
"As a matter of fact, I do." She stands up and crosses her arms, never once looking away from me. "That didn't look like mission work."
"It was-"
"Bullshit." She cuts me off with a bitter laugh. "I told myself the same thing with Asher." Her voice cracks, but she maintains eye contact. "You can't get attached, Bree! It's dangerous."
"I'm not!" I lie once again. "It was for the mission and the mission only, you know that!"
"Then why did you kiss her first?"
"Because I didn't want to lose my only option of getting close enough to her to get information out of her!" It's not really a lie, but it's not the truth either. I can't admit to her how I feel for Stacie, or she'd kill me along with Mitchell.
"Bullshit." She says again. "You didn't have to kiss her first."
"What was I supposed to do, wait for her to make the first move?! And why we're you even watching?"
"YES!" She throws her hands in the air before crossing them again, ignoring my second question.
"Ok, you can't even yell at me for this! You fell for Asher, even though you killed him in the end! That was your choice, not in the mission you were assigned." Both of our jaws drop as soon as the words escape my tongue.
"Ok, you and I both know I had no choice there." Her eyes fill with angry tears for the first time since I got back. "You know what, I'll see you later." She storms out of the apartment, slamming the dole shut behind her.