Wow, this came out to be longer than I expected. I need to write less or something. But here's chapter 2!
The next day...
A very sleepy and hungover Chloe awoke sprawled out on top of her girlfriend. She had a vague memory of how she ended up like this but that was about it. She slowly and carefully got up trying not to wake Beca and also because she wasn't sure if she was going to be dizzy or not. She walked into the kitchen to see a wide awake Aubrey loading up the dishwasher and tidying things up. "Morning Aubs."she yawned as she put herself on the counter.
"Good morning, I thought you guys were going to be sleep forever." she joked.
"Oh they probably are, I'm the only one up." Chloe answered handing some more glasses to Aubrey to put inside the washer.
"Not surprised." she replied taking the glasses. "OH, you're going to help me cleanup this time? Lovely." She tried to keep a straight face but ended laughing knowing she couldn't really be mad at her for something as little as that.
"Whatever do you mean by that?" the red head batted her eyelashes playfully. "I'm always here to help you clean up."
"Not yesterday after the reunion you weren't. I was left by myself." she said back to her friend.
"That was one time. And no you weren't by yourself! Stacie was there too!" Chloe rebutted. It may or may not have been the best idea to mention that part seeing as she just blew her cover but in the spur of the moment it couldn't be contained.
"That's tru-... Wait how did you know that?" Aubrey stopped was she was doing to turned to face her best friend. Chloe was silent at first as she tried to turn away. "Chloe Beale, you answer this question!"
"I was accidentally eavesdropping. I came back because I noticed you weren't behind us when we left so I came back and I saw you two. It seemed like you were having a good time right after she offered to hang out with you." Chloe winked. "So I decided not to be a bother, that's how I know. So you're welcome."
"Don't wink at me, there's nothing to wink about, keep your eye twitches to yourself. And what exactly should I be thanking you for?" Aubrey was a little ticked off that Chloe had been eavesdropping but it wasn't anything too big to really eavesdrop on, was it?"Oh don't give me that. You can't tell me you weren't at least a tiny bit excited when she offered to hangout." The smaller girl crossed her arms as she tried to look Aubrey in the eye. "Besides that, you totes had a toner for her when she first auditioned. Don't think I forgot about that."
"You're delusional. It's normal for anyone to be excited in this situation. And even if I did have a toner for her, that was a while ago, and I'm way over that."Aubrey tried to defend herself but Chloe knew far too much and most of it was true. Whether or not she would admit to anything was a different story."I don't believe you one bit, but whatever you say Aubrey, whatever you say." Chloe laughed and shook her head as she walked out of the room.
Chloe's words danced around in Aubrey's head, and as much as she didn't want them to be true, they were. She did indeed have a slight toner for Stacie when she first auditioned and when Stacie became a part of the Bellas she tried to put that aside for the sake of the group because Aubrey, unlike Chloe did not want to get romantically involved with group members. But now, it was over. Aubrey was no longer a Barden Bella, so was she free to pursue something with the sexy soprano? This thought had never even crossed her mind, it was one thing to be attracted to her but the thought of anything more was beyond Aubrey's mind.
A couple days later
After a few days of thinking and Aubrey still had no answer to her lingering question. She was starting to think it was best that way. Even though she was stumped with an answer to her life questions, it didn't stop her from questions pertaining to every other topic in the world. She burned through her schoolwork with ease as usual which left her plenty of time to think about other things. Did she really need to try to start something when she would be graduating from college within the next couple months, especially with someone whom she didn't even know had reciprocating feelings or toners in her case? Having all these questions and no answers drove Aubrey crazy but not as crazy as being alone in her apartment when he best friend was gone yet again with her girlfriend. All she could do was sigh as she lay on the couch watching Lifetime movies. Suddenly her phone buzzed and she eagerly checked it with curiosity. To her surprise it was from Chloe.
C: Going to be out later than expected, don't wait up for me.
A: Oh, whatever will I do without you?
C: Try not to miss me too much, k? Maybe you should give Stacie a call. ;)
A: What did I tell you about those winky faces? And she's probably busy with some guy, you know Stacie.
C: Oh stop, you like my winky faces. Well you'll never know unless you try, so at least try. Or I will and I don't think you want me to do that!
A: Whatever. I guess you have a point and no thank you, I can do it.
C: Yay! Let me know what happens!
Aubrey locked her phone for a moment as she stared at the ceiling. For some reason it was hard for her to work up the courage to do this, perhaps because it was something new for her. Unfortunately staring at the ceiling wasn't going to get anything done. So with that she sat up and opened her contact book to search for Stacie's number. Looking down at it, she hesitated to press call and when she finally did, her heart stopped for a moment while she stared at it. She must have dazed off for a moment because it wasn't until she heard faint hello that she put the phone to her ear.
A:"Hello..Stacie?"
S:"Aubrey, hey! What's up?
A:"Oh nothing I was just calling to see what you were up to?"
S:"Um, not much. Just hanging around. Why? "
A:"I was wondering if you wanted to hang out, like right now?"
S:"Oh, yeah, totally. Should I come to her your place or shall we meet somewhere?"
A:"You can come here and then we can figure it out from there."
S:"Alrighty, sounds good! See you in a few!"
Aubrey dropped the phone on the couch as she inhaled and exhaled deeply. That wasn't as bad as she thought it would be. But the most nerve wracking part was yet to come. "What am I so worried about? It's just two girls hanging out. Nothing to worry about." she said aloud to herself. Taking a deep breath she stood up and made her way to the bathroom to take a quick shower. Knowing Stacie was the kind of person to arrive tardy to anything, she figured she had some time to get ready. However she still wasted no time being sedentary under the hot water. Once she was out and all dried up, she dressed herself in a simple blouse, a cardigan and some jeans. She got ready faster than normal which could have been out of nervousness or excitement either way she left herself plenty of time to relax before Stacie got there. She returned to the couch and chose to digress with some more lifetime movies. Feeling a little bored and anxious she decided to make some popcorn. While the popcorn was in the microwave she checked her phone for the time seeing that it had been about forty five minutes since she spoke with Stacie. Not that she was worried she wouldn't show up, more so she was eager for her to show up. As the beeper on the microwave it was almost synchronized with the doorbell sounding as well. Aubrey's heart stopped for a moment before she elected to answer the door first. She slowly reached for the doorknob, turned it and opened the door revealing the tall brunette wearing a long shirt, leggings, and boots. "Hey Aubrey, ooh, do I smell popcorn?" Stacie asked as her lifted when she sniffed the air. "Hey, ah, yes you do. Come in." Aubrey offered opening the door more to give her room to get by. After she was in she closed the door behind her and lead her into the kitchen to get the popcorn.
"You came at a good time, it's freshly popped."she mentioned as she opened the microwave grabbing the still steaming hot bag. "I was watching a movie before you came and what's a movie without some popcorn?"she chuckled while she pour the remains of the bag into a bowl.
Stacie reached for some popcorn and quickly popped it into her mouth, letting the pieces melt in her mouth. "Mmm, is this extra butter? I love extra butter!"
"It is and I'm glad because you're going to have to help me eat this."Aubrey smiled looking down at the big bowl that was full and nearly overflowing."Come on, in here." she motioned as she walked back into the TV room and sat down on the couch.
"I'm going wherever that popcorn is going."Stacie followed behind Aubrey and took the seat next to her. After grabbing some more popcorn she looked at the tv and noticed what they were watching. "Lifetime movies? Seriously Aubrey? The only time you can resort to Lifetime movies is after a bad breakup, and I mean really bad." she shook her head as she looked for the remote. "Unless of course you are coming off a bad break up then I totally get it but you won't be needing Lifetime movies if I'm here."
Aubrey couldn't help but feel a little bit embarrassed for her choice of movies but she found nothing wrong with Lifetime movies. There were times when even Chloe had told her to change the channel but she never caught on. "Hey! These movies are classic, you don't know what you're missing."she proclaimed. Stacie's next words took Aubrey's mind and feelings for a spin. What did she mean by 'you won't be needing lifetime movies if I'm here?' Aubrey could have taken it in many ways but in this moment she wasn't sure how to take it. "I wish I could say I was coming off a bad breakup but I haven't been in relationship or been anywhere close to one in quite awhile."She decided not to comment on the last part as she wasn't sure what to say about it anyway.
"Really? I find that hard to believe. Correct me if I'm wrong, but you're Aubrey Posen. You're like perfect. You're beautiful, smart, you have an amazing voice, and you're not too bad of a leader." In Stacie's eyes, Aubrey did indeed seem perfect and she thought everyone else had to have seen it too.
" Wow, thank you Stacie, but I'm far from perfect." She blushed as she was a little taken back by the girls kind words. It was nice for Aubrey to hear that someone thought she was perfect but she wished that her dad had thought so too. "Last time I checked, perfect people weren't lonely and single."
"Oh please, perfect people always say they're not perfect. That just makes them more perfect for being humble about it." Stacie concluded. "You just haven't found the right person yet. A perfect person needs a perfect match." She turned her body so that she faced Aubrey as she tried to look her in the eyes. "And you're not lonely anymore remember. I'll be taking care of your loneliness."she assured her as she reached for Aubrey's hand.
"I guess you're right." the stubborn blonde agreed squeezing Stacie's hand lightly. "And thank you, I appreciate the kind words, and this, you know hanging out with me."
"I know I'm right."Stacie laughed. "Its no problem really. But since we are hanging out, I think its time for a scary movie. These Lifetime movies blow." And with that, she surfed through the channels until she found Insidious. "This is a good one!"
"I...ok." Aubrey hesitated to speak at first, scary movies were her least favorite type of movies because well, they were scary. But before she could object to it, Stacie had already put the movie on. There was no way out now. She pulled the blanket that was in the corner of the couch and spread it over both of them. Aubrey reached into the bowl in between the two girls to grab some popcorn but instead she grabbed Stacie's hand that had reached at the same time. "Oh, sorry." Aubrey said pulling back immediately though she didn't want to.
"Its fine, don't worry about it." Stacie assured her again flashing a sweet smile.
For the first thirty minutes, Aubrey managed to keep her composure, either because she was more nervous than scared or because none of the super scary parts had happened yet. The popcorn bowl had found a nice spot on the table and Stacie had subsequently scooted over to fill the space in between them. They were having a nice time together even though they weren't really talking but for Aubrey it was just nice to not be alone. And for Stacie is was nice to hang out in a non-sexual way. "See, this movie isn't event that scary." Stacie whispered. She tried to make eye contact with Aubrey but the room was too dark to see anything but what the screen lit up. Aubrey shrugged keeping her eyes on the screen. She might have agreed but she was too busy jumping and letting out a squeal at a rather frightening scene. "I guess I spoke too soon."Stacie affirmed. "But I'll be right back, I need use the restroom."she added as she got up.
"Yeah..a little too soon."Aubrey sighed. "Its down the hall and to the right."She paused the movie and decided to wait for the girl to come back knowing that she hated when she missed parts of movies. She glanced at the empty popcorn bowl and thought to go make some more. So she got up and tried to navigate her way in the dark to the kitchen. Somehow making it there, she turned on the kitchen light and threw a bag in the microwave. Once it was done, she emptied it into the bowl, turned off the light and tried to navigate her way back in the dark. As she walked back into the room , she somehow tripped on a shoe (that was probably Stacie's) but luckily she was in front of the couch. Unluckily the popcorn went flying as she flew on to the couch on top of Stacie who had gotten back before her.
"Oof!"she yelled as she went down landing on the other girl.
"Oof is right. I mean if you wanted to cuddle, you didn't have fall on me in order to do it. But it was very creative." Stacie joked looking back up at the girl. She could just barely see her face from the light of the television but she could feel her light breath as their faces were inches apart.
"Very funny, but I tripped. Besides, is this even cuddling?" Aubrey could feel her heart rate pick up and because they were chest to chest she was sure Stacie could feel it too which meant she would know she was nervous. And she didn't want that but she wasn't ready to leave this position just yet.
"Well I'm pretty comfortable. To me, cuddling is being close to someone in a comfy position." Stacie raised her head and got it even closer to Aubrey's face as she whispered. "We're pretty close right now." At this point their lips were probably centimeters apart.
"We are, aren't we?" Aubrey responded not moving any closer or any farther. The two were quiet for long moment before Stacie made another move closer but their lips still hadn't touched. They must have been so lost in the moment that they didn't hear Chloe along with Beca come in. It wasn't until Chloe called for Aubrey that the two snapped out of it and returned to an upright position.
"Why is it so dark in here?" Chloe asked aloud as she turned on the light. "Aubrey! There you are! And Stacie, hey!" Chloe smirked looking more so at then Beca walked in and looked around. "What's with all the popcorn everywhere?"
"Hey Chloe!" Stacie responded cheerily. "Oh, Aubrey was being little clumsy, that's all."
"Yeah, I'll go get the vacuum and clean it up right now." the nervous blonde got up and walked off to get the vacuum. "I'll help you." Chloe offered following the girl.
As the two reached the closet where they kept most of the cleaning supplies, Chloe stood in front of the door and looked at her best friend. "Dark room, and popcorn everywhere, what were you two doing?" she asked curiously.
"Nothing happened, we were watching a movie, I tripped and spilled the popcorn. That's all." she answered moving past her friend to get the vacuum. "Oh, and we almost kissed." After that minor detail Aubrey quickly hurried off with the vacuum before Chloe could say anymore.
This is such a tease to write, but I'm only doing it try to build some chemistry. But the good stuff will come soon!