Stacie's mother and - reluctant as she was to admit it - even Aubrey, both wanted to believe that there was a reason why Aubrey was staying in the guest room, and that at the very least, Stacie would help them keep up the pretense that she and Aubrey weren't at the stage of their relationship which had them sharing a bed.

They really should have known better.

In Aubrey's defense, she had been coming from a cross-Atlantic flight and marathon make up sex, so she was just glad to have a bed without worrying about a coworker calling her for a midnight brainstorming or an early morning meeting, which had been what had occurred in England, which had made her wonder if it was an elaborate hazing ritual or just a very unusual approach to leadership by the Assistant Vice President traveling with them.

And so Aubrey jerked awake when she realized she wasn't alone in bed. "Stacie!"

Stacie, who was wide awake and had apparently crawled into bed with Aubrey sometime during the night, rolled her eyes at her girlfriend. "Finally. I was wondering if I was going to have to wake you up by force."

"What are you doing here?" Aubrey hissed.

Stacie frowned at her. "I live here?"

"The guest room!"

"Oh." Stacie shrugged. "I decided that I didn't like sleeping with a whole floor between us. If I'm sleeping on top of you, I want it to be more directly."

Aubrey fell onto her back, pressing the heels of her hands against her eyes. "Your mom is going to kill me."

"Not on Christmas." Stacie took Aubrey's new position as an invitation to make do on her intention of being more directly on top of Aubrey, and lay on top of the blonde, Aubrey automatically accommodating the other girl and wrapping one arm around her waist. She brushed a quick kiss on Aubrey's lips. "Merry Christmas, girlfriend."

"What time is it?" Aubrey asked, the drawn curtains preventing her from taking a guess at the hour.

"Four-thirty."

Aubrey groaned. "You weren't kidding about how much you like the winter holidays, were you?"

Stacie grinned, instead of answering.

"Has Santa arrived and dropped off presents?"

"Now you're mocking me."

"I would never." Aubrey said flatly, adjusting her position slightly so that she wasn't bearing the full weight of Stacie's body, and their new position allowed her to lean against Stacie's shoulder, curling into the taller girl's body. She closed her eyes, and hummed contentedly. "How are you so warm?"

"I thought that was obvious." Stacie joked, drifting a hand up the curve of Aubrey's spine and tangling her fingers in Aubrey's hair. She pecked the small confused pout that curled Aubrey's lips. "I'm really hot."

Aubrey smiled into their kiss. "Your mom's still going to kill me."

"Oh, but what a sweet death it would be." Stacie cooed. When Aubrey didn't answer, she poked Aubrey's shoulder. "Did you just fall asleep on me?"

"It's four-thirty." Aubrey whined. "Why are you even awake at this hour?"

"I've been thinking."

Aubrey's brow furrowed.

"That was our first fight."

Aubrey opened her eyes, and met Stacie's own green ones, and saw the weight the younger girl's gaze bore. She acquiesced to Stacie's point. "It was."

"I don't like us fighting."

"It's kind of part of relationships in general, Stacie." Aubrey reminded. "It's how we handle fights that count, more than the fight itself."

"So there'll be more fights in our future?" Stacie asked warily.

Aubrey shrugged. "I'm petty and insecure. You're hot and naturally flirtatious. It's like a Shakespearean comedy in itself. Or at least Austen-esque."

Stacie frowned. "I want to put in a no-fighting policy on this relationship."

"But if you do, you miss out on the best part."

Stacie lifted an eyebrow.

"Making up." Aubrey pointed out.

"Go on." Stacie urged.

"Make up sex." Aubrey added.

"My attention: you have it."

Aubrey pointed at herself. "If I'm at fault, I'll be wildly apologetic and contrite, and be extra-attentive to your needs." She placed her hand on Stacie, right against her collarbone. "And we're still yet to discover your make up sex behavior."

Stacie looked thoughtful. "Last night was our first fight."

Aubrey already knew where Stacie's train of thought was going. "Your mom will kill me."

"I promise to weep on your grave." Stacie replied, grinning, her hand slipping under Aubrey's pajama top to touch skin, in a promise of what was to come.

Aubrey allowed herself the momentary distraction before she caught herself, and grabbed Stacie's hand and pulling it around to her back. "No."

"But… make up sex…" Stacie whined.

"Rain check."

Stacie pouted. "Then why bring it up at all?"

Aubrey smiled, and leaned in close, nudging their noses together before placing a brief kiss on Stacie's pouting lips. "To reassure you that there's a silver lining to fighting."

"I still don't like the idea of us fighting." Stacie mumbled.

"No," Aubrey agreed. "But it's better to be realistic and expect them."

Stacie sighed, and pursed her lips. "New topic?"

"Please."

"Denise and Cynthia Rose know I'm seeing someone."

This time, it was Aubrey's turn to arch an eyebrow.

"They were the ones who convinced me to try and call you." Stacie admitted.

"Your freak out was that bad?" Aubrey asked, surprisingly sympathetic, releasing her hold on Stacie's hand and sliding her hand up Stacie's arm, reaching up to brush a lock of hair from Stacie's face.

"You stopped calling."

Aubrey exhaled. "Yeah. Those international charges were going to be a headache."

"Thanks a lot, Aubrey."

Aubrey shrugged, because there was no defense against international call charges, so she addressed the matter at hand. "Are you okay with them knowing?"

Stacie took a deep breath. "Honestly? I don't know. I have a feeling CR's horrible at keeping secrets, but maybe Denise can keep her in check. But Denise will want me to talk to her about it, this, and I don't know if I can, or if I want to, with anybody yet." She glanced away briefly, as if gathering the courage to say what she had to say next, before finally landing her gaze back upon Aubrey. "Chloe already suspects something."

Aubrey was silent for a long moment, her gaze fixed on Stacie's features, as if months and months of personnel assessment gave her some kind of insight on reading people. Finally, she asked softly, "do you want to tell them about us?"

Stacie sighed. "I don't know."

"Stacie."

"I want to, of course I do. I'm dating this super-hot, super-awesome girl, who can actually pay for stuff, and thinks I'm awesome and amazing and impressive, and we're in love, which is…" Stacie shook her head, unable to find adequate words to capture the sentiment, but then she sighed again. "But you're right, and they still really think of you as the girl who was our captain freshman year. The Aubrey Posen I know and love is the same girl they're terrified of, and that sucks, because I just…" She threw her hand up in frustration. "I want you to be able to visit me, to sleep on my bed at the house, to have some kind of Barden date, for you to be a part of my life in Barden, and I feel like I can't have that, and my friends, at the same time."

Aubrey smiled sympathetically, because as much as she had predicted this exact dilemma from the start, she hated that Stacie was so torn up about it. "We'll figure it out."

"How?" Stacie asked, agitated.

"I have no idea." Aubrey admitted. "But I'm grounded until the end of January, so we have until then to figure it out."

"Super." Stacie said dryly.

Aubrey smiled. "Bet you wish you'd waited until a decent hour so we can have this discussion."

At the reminder of why she'd started the day earlier than what would be considered normal, Stacie perked up. "It's Christmas! You owe me presents!"

Aubrey faltered. "Presents?" Plural?

Stacie nodded excitedly.

"Now?" At more nodding from Stacie, Aubrey sighed, and turned away, leaning over the side of the bed to her bag, extracting a gift-wrapped box and tossing it onto the bed, and then pulled out her organizer and sat back up, facing Stacie.

Stacie waited patiently, although she was looking a little less enthused, seeing only a single gift, but her gaze kept cutting to the organizer, glancing at it with curiosity.

"Okay, coming from London kind of ruined it, but I actually do have something for you in New York," Aubrey began, and handed over the wrapped box. "And I didn't really get to go around, we just went to the usual tourist traps, so—"

Stacie frowned. "Are you seriously trying to make me not want your gift, because you obviously don't know me very well."

Aubrey rolled her eyes, and gestured to the box. "Fine. All yours."

Stacie gave her a pointed look, and ripped open the wrapping on the box, and paused when she saw the packaging the wrapper was hiding. She looked up at Aubrey with pleasant surprise. "No."

"Tourist trap." Aubrey shrugged.

Stacie stared at her for a long moment, before turning back to her gift, and pulled out one of two boxes, lifting the lid, and laughed. "A Marauder's Map?" She lifted the paper, and started unfolding it, revealing the artwork. "Oh my God this is awesome."

"You like it?"

"Are you kidding? I love it." Stacie laughed, turning back to Aubrey to kiss her cheek. "If they send you to England, are you going to send me the entire Harry Potter gift shop, because that's the only way I'll let them take you away from me."

Aubrey sombered at the reminder, and Stacie's buoyant grin faded. "Oh! No? Sorry. We're not dealing with that yet, huh?"

Aubrey sighed. "I keep hoping that if I ignore it, they will, too."

"Never underestimate the power of denial," Stacie acknowledged agreeably. She pointed at Aubrey's organizer. "What's that for?"

Aubrey looked at her, and then at the other box still unopened on Stacie's lap. "Are you gonna open that?"

"Later." Stacie pointed at the organizer again, more pointedly.

Aubrey rolled her eyes, and opened the organizer's pages, before finding what she was looking for and handing it over to Stacie.

Stacie read the receipt print out, and frowned. "What am I looking at?"

"It's a claim stub."

"For-?"

"For an Atlanta pass for the coming year."

Stacie looked up, and frowned at her in confusion.

Aubrey rolled her eyes. "Are they not teaching this in Barden? Is Chloe not telling you anything?" She went through her organizer again, and handed a flyer to Stacie. "Since you didn't win the scavenger hunt, I talked to some of the organizers, and they publish an annual pass for establishments around Atlanta for discounts or free stuff throughout the year. That," Aubrey pointed to the voucher in Stacie's hand, "is proof of purchase when they deliver the booklet to you."

Stacie picked up her Marauder's Map. "I think I prefer my frivolous present."

Aubrey pouted at her.

"Nothing says you love me like a free meal?" Stacie gave her a skeptical look. She knew Aubrey was practical and somewhat of a cheapskate, but to demonstrate it with her Christmas gift? "Aubrey." She turned to the other box on her lap, and lifted the lid. And, oh. She might have to take back her sentiment about how much of a cheapskate Aubrey was. "What even…?"

Aubrey watched her carefully, grinning, because, sure, her practical gift had just been dismissed offhand, but she knew Stacie would learn to appreciate the Atlanta pass. In the meantime, Stacie had two more gifts at hand. "Yes? No?"

Stacie lifted the document inside, staring at the words. And then she looked up at Aubrey. "I got into Hogwarts?"

"Anastasia Conrad got into Hogwarts." Aubrey quipped, pointing to the envelope still within the box, indicating "Ms. A. Conrad", and making Stacie shoot her a glare.

Stacie placed her claim stub with the letter and map in one of the boxes, and set them aside, placing them gently on the floor beside the bed. She turned back to Aubrey, and knelt in front of the blond girl. "Okay, clearly you get off on my given name, and that's fine, because it's Christmas and you got me into Hogwarts. But if you think you can give me presents that awesome and not have sex, you're seriously mistaken and really don't know me at all."

"In which case I'm glad we're doing this without your mom around, because there's one more."

"Aubrey…"

"This is less for you than it is for me," Aubrey started, and found another envelope in her organizer, before she paused, hesitating. She glanced at Stacie, and thrust the envelope forward. "Here."

Stacie didn't touch it. "What is it?"

"It's…" Aubrey exhaled. "I know you joked that eighty percent of our relationship is in hotel rooms, but honestly it feels like it's more than that, and we keep on meeting in states that vote Republican, which made it harder for us to really figure out what this was, which is the only reason I get it, why you freaked out, because honestly, I probably would have, too." She toyed with the edges of the envelope. "The last thing I'd want you to feel, being with me, is that you're a dirty secret I keep in hotel rooms across the southeast."

Stacie tilted her head inquisitively. "I don't feel that way."

"Yeah, but others might." And even though she didn't say it outright, it was clear who, or rather, what group of people, in particular, Aubrey considered when she said that, and Stacie couldn't help but wonder about whether or not Aubrey was right about the Bellas.

Stacie furrowed her brow, before taking hold of the envelope and opening it, pulling out flight vouchers. She cast a brief glance at Aubrey, and then examined the details of the vouchers. "There's no date or destination."

Aubrey shrugged. "You weren't picking up my calls."

Stacie frowned. "But you bought these anyway?"

"I didn't know what was going to happen." Aubrey admitted. "If we made up, then you could use them to see me while I'm grounded in New York. If you decided you weren't ready, and broke things off, well, you could see your mom, or use them for the finals, I don't know. But I wanted to give you something that could take our relationship out of the South."

Stacie stared at her, dumbfounded. "Your gift is a book, oh my God. I'm the worst girlfriend ever."

"I like books." Aubrey was quick to reassure.

"I don't think you like books enough to make up for a Hogwarts letter, a Marauder's Map, free—"

"Discounted."

"-discounted food for a year and plane tickets." Stacie groaned. She pointed at Aubrey. "When my first patent comes through, I'm so buying you a ton of stuff."

Aubrey laughed. "Stacie."

"I don't know!" Stacie exclaimed, clearly flustered, and desperate to level out their dynamics. "You can put it anywhere you want?"

There was a beat, with Aubrey frowning in complete confusion, before Stacie threw up her hands.

"I don't know!" Stacie cried out again, and shrugged. "Why would you give me so much awesome things? You know I'm a poor college student with no income."

Aubrey smiled at Stacie. "Because-"

"What? Sshhhh. No, no 'because'. This is insane, Aubrey. Why?"

Aubrey laughed, because seeing Stacie flustered made her heart do funny things, and she thought it was best to cut to the chase and be honest. "Because you make me happy."

Stacie stared at her. She knew she should be melting at those words, and deep inside, she took those words and let them wrap around her heart, etching themselves into the part of her that Aubrey had claimed.

But outside?

Stacie swept away Aubrey's organizer and the envelope of tickets, kissed Aubrey, and used the force of their kiss to push Aubrey back to the bed, her hands roaming freely, desperate to touch skin. Only breaking the kiss when oxygen became an issue, Stacie refused to lose contact with Aubrey's lips, brushing their lips together as she spoke. "Aubrey?"

"Yeah?"

"You're the best Christmas gift, I swear."

Aubrey grinned, and flipped them over so that she was leaning over Stacie. "I love you, too."