She had known, ever since she'd confided in Denise and Cynthia Rose about her relationship status, that things would be different. Being in an official relationship with Aubrey meant everything was different. Sure, her friends suspected something, but it wasn't like they would ever have figured out exactly what was going on.

It wasn't like her dating Aubrey was anything out of the realm of possibility, or that anything about it was out of this world, especially when she considered the fact that they had spent most of the week between Christmas and New Year's Day watching old movies and cartoon specials, and Stacie had taken the opportunity to try and educate Aubrey on the finer points of the Lord of the Rings movie trilogy, with bonus The Hobbit viewing. (Aubrey would learn to love her again eventually. Probably.)

But the break had to end, and it brought Stacie back to Georgia while Aubrey returned to New York, and this time, Aubrey couldn't promise when she could see Stacie next, because she was stuck at the office, and Stacie had Regionals coming up.

So Stacie focused on her schoolwork and the Bellas, pointedly ignoring her friends' curious looks on how much different she was since their winter tour, and just laughed along to the crude jokes from Fat Amy about how many people she must have banged to get out of her pre-Christmas funk.

But she could feel it: the way Cynthia Rose always seemed at the brink of wanting to spilling the beans, and just barely kept in line by Denise; and the way Chloe and Beca kept casting upon her an analyzing look whenever she stayed with any of the other Bellas when they went to campus parties.

She could feel the truth practically clawing its way to the surface, desperate to be heard, and she wondered if it was inevitable that she would suddenly blurt it out, or if she would be given the opportunity to plan the announcement.

"What happened to figuring this out slowly?" Aubrey questioned, when Stacie told her about her dilemma.

"I can't." Stacie shook her head, even though Aubrey couldn't see her. "I want to, I tried, but I can't wait. I got here, and all I could think of was why can't I tell my friends? And it's… I want to be able to answer your calls when you call, and text you just because. When you start flying out again, I want to be able to tell them why I was skipping out on rehearsals."

"You've been skipping out on rehearsals?" Aubrey asked sharply, making Stacie roll her eyes, because really? That's what Aubrey was concerned about?

"Once or twice." Probably more, but Stacie wasn't about to tell her former Bella captain that.

"Stacie…"

"It's fine." Stacie said dismissively. "Those weren't really serious, anyway, and we practice every day."

Aubrey could only grumble in response since she couldn't really object, being the direct beneficiary of Stacie's truancy, but she could still demonstrate some disapproval. She opted to change the subject. "How are rehearsals for Regionals?"

Rehearsals were great. Despite their still-tense relationship, renewed now that competition time was actually here and Beca had helped put together the song list for the Treblemakers' set, Beca and Chloe really were a formidable team. And if they could put together a Barden Bella set that was good when they weren't on the best of terms – which would probably be a forgotten rift once they won Regionals – Stacie could pretty much predict their victory in the finals.

But Regionals came first, and knowing that Aubrey had been in North Carolina and watched the quarterfinals the previous year made Stacie hope for an impromptu visit, but those hopes were dashed when Aubrey got sick and absolutely could not travel. The Bellas won, as Stacie expected them to, and she begrudgingly acknowledged the fact that she would have to wait until Presidents' Day to see Aubrey again.

But maybe she should have been more careful about the things she wished for.

Because as she'd feared and worried about, Chloe hadn't entirely dropped the matter of Stacie possibly dating someone behind the Bellas' collective back, and had been observing Stacie since their previous conversation, watching her mope through Thanksgiving and the winter tour, and then coming back from Christmas break all recharged and ready to face the world, all pretty and witty and bright, but only a few short weeks later, around Regionals, there was some obvious disappointment in her features.

It was a pendulum of emotions, and Chloe knew exactly what could be causing it, because she had been the same, way back when she had not yet known, and been emotionally invested in, one Beca Mitchell.

And watching Stacie's hopes start an upswing once more, nearing the 14th of February, Chloe decided to take matters in her own hands, because for all of Stacie's sexual experience, she knew that the younger woman lacked a level of maturity when it came to certain aspects of dating. And if the person on the receiving end of Stacie's affections could manipulate her feelings as easily as they had been, well, clearly Chloe had to intervene.

Which is why, one week before the date, while all the Barden Bellas were gathered in their house's kitchen, Chloe declared Galentine's Day.

"In English?" Beca asked blankly.

"More accurately, Galentine's Weekend." Chloe corrected, and, yup, Stacie's head snapped up, with just a barely-noticeable amount of alarm. "Valentine's Day weekend. No boys. We're going to celebrate the female friendship in the best way possible."

"Chloe, you're hot, but you're not really my type, and that really goes out to all of you," Fat Amy told her teammates, and Chloe rolled her eyes at her. Fat Amy continued, nonplussed. "I know you'd all want to get up on this, but this wonderland is not for the female persuasion."

Stacie glanced around, willing someone – anyone – to point out that they had a date, and Galentine's Weekend had to be a no-go, but in the group, very few were in relationships: Fat Amy was on-again/off-again with Bumper Allen, but from the upswing in her social life lately, they were obviously on one of their "off" periods; Cynthia-Rose had met someone over winter break, but that relationship was still in its earliest stages, so Stacie wasn't sure what to make of it yet; Lilly had been kind of dating Donald, but after he had graduated the previous year, she hadn't heard anything on that front anymore. Denise mostly just dated casually, and who even knew what Flo was up to socially. And Ashley and Jessica were happy in their discreetly-official relationship. Which left Beca, who was her best bet, but knowing the girl, she was probably hoping to get out of what was sure to be a cliché Valentine's Day outing with her Treblemaker boyfriend.

Well, she did hope to break the news to her friends inevitably. Stacie raised her hand. "I can't."

She should have known to be worried about the glint in Chloe's eyes. "Why is that, Stacie?"

Stacie shrugged. "I have plans."

It was exactly like the movies, without the audible record scratch, because it was like time stopped, as the girls all stopped to turn and look at Stacie, because she'd previously made it clear that Valentine's Day was making a promise that she didn't believe in, and now she had plans for the day?

"Whoa." Jessica breathed, and her single whispered exclamation put life back to the frozen tableau, the Bellas started whispering among themselves.

The speculation had commenced.

Chloe raised an eyebrow at her roommate. "Are you sure?"

Stacie frowned, because that was a really weird question to have. "Um… pretty sure." She confirmed.

"Because I think you had plans for Regionals, too, and that didn't happen." Chloe went on.

Stacie bit her lip, wondering what trap Chloe was setting up, and yet feeling like she was walking into it, anyway. "Those weren't definite plans. This one is."

"Oh?" Chloe ignored the curious looks she was getting from the other girls, because she had Stacie, the girl just didn't know it yet. "What plans are those?"

Okay, damn it, Aubrey hadn't told her what the exact plans were, only that she was setting something up and would send Stacie details on when and where, and Stacie wished she hadn't made fun of Aubrey being so dedicated to planning and examining the fine details, because the teasing was what had led Aubrey to declare she was keeping Stacie out of the loop until she'd finalized their plans. "Um…"

"You know what?" Chloe smiled, and her usually warm and winning smile sent a chill right up Stacie's spine, because she could practically hear the "hook, line, and sinker" in it. "We'll make an exception for you."

Stacie glanced at her friends, who were all watching the exchange with what she could only describe as morbid curiosity, and she could see Fat Amy, Cynthia-Rose, and even Flo, watching the proceedings while sharing a bag of chips. "What do you mean?"

"Invite your date over." Chloe suggested, in a very thinly-veiled threat that it wasn't so much a suggestion as it was a command. "As your friends, we should vet whoever had managed to tie down Stacie Conrad."

Stacie scoffed, except it sounded a lot more like a sputter. "You really don't have to do that."

"I know." Chloe pulled her lips into a smile that could only be described as manic. "That's what makes me so nice."

Stacie forced herself to smile back, hoping it looked more calm than anxious. "No, I mean, it's really very unnecessary."

She knew, from the moment she stopped speaking, that she had oversold how unnecessary it was.

"Oh," Chloe shook her head, gazing pointedly at her, "but it is."

Maybe she and Aubrey could mutually agree to break up for a week, and avoid this, but Stacie didn't want that to happen, even as a joke. Stacie bit her lip, and tried to dissuade Chloe from her line of thought. "It hasn't been that long, so it probably isn't that serious, so…"

"You have a date for Valentine's Day and it's not serious?" Beca asked curiously, with just a hint of incredulity.

Stacie shot her a betrayed look to convey her disappointment, because clearly Beca had forgotten about their previous truce from her phone call that summer.

"You've never mentioned dating anybody." Ashley noted, and that was when Stacie knew for sure that her friends have been talking about her behind her back, and evidently this was open season now.

Fat Amy nodded. "Explains all the disappearing."

Oh. Stacie hesitated, because she was only now realizing that she hadn't been that discreet about it, and the Bellas had just let her off the hook. "It's a little more complicated than—"

"Complicated?" Chloe echoed, picking up on the word. "How complicated is it to pick you up here and meet your friends?"

Beca glanced at Stacie, who looked like she was ready to bolt in a panic, and sighed, wanting to keep the peace among her friends. "Guys, if Stacie wants to keep something private, we should let her."

"Yeah, Chloe, maybe you should-" Denise began, but Chloe shook her head, cutting her off.

"No. I'm sorry if I'm coming off harsh, but it obviously sometimes makes her sad, and I want to know what their intentions are with my friend, because this kind of tip-toeing around can't go on forever." Chloe declared.

"And you don't like having to lie to us." Cynthia Rose added, a declaration which made both Denise and Stacie turn to glare at her. She paused, and then observed, "I wasn't supposed to say that."

Chloe pointed at Cynthia Rose. "My point exactly."

What sucked the most, probably, was that Stacie really wanted it. She would have preferred to have it done on her own terms, but as Aubrey had already once pointed out, nobody said no to Chloe. She just hoped Aubrey wouldn't mind the sudden change in plans.

"Aubrey Posen's—"

"We have to cancel our plans next week." Stacie interrupted, because she needed to get the news out as soon as possible. Making sure she was alone, Stacie glanced around the empty hallway of the Science Department's Anatomy Lab, where nobody not in a pre-med course dared to hang out. Once she had confirmed she was alone in the hallway, she restated in a softer tone, "we can't do what you have planned for next week."

"Oh." Stacie could practically hear the Aubrey's frown, and she definitely heard the disappointment. "I guess I could get a refund, or move things around…"

"You have to come to Barden."

This time, there was an obvious pause, and Aubrey hesitated before asking, "Why?"

Stacie told her about the confrontation instigated by Chloe, in all its excruciating detail, and by the end of it Aubrey sounded more than a little piqued.

"They ganged up on you?"

Stacie sighed and shook her head, even though Aubrey couldn't see her. "No, it was more of… Chloe was bad cop, and the others were beat cops who stood by and threw in their own commentary."

Aubrey picked up on the defeated tone of Stacie's voice, and dropped her own ire, opting instead to address the matter of "Galentine's Day". "I guess I can change some of my travel arrangements. But do you want me to?"

"Yes."

"Then I'll see what I can do."

Stacie quirked an eyebrow. "Just like that?"

"Did you expect me to put up a fight? We have plans, Stacie."

"Yeah, but all you do when I talk about the Bellas is hem and haw and duck and dodge about telling them about us."

"Yes. But I've lived with Chloe for four years. She's not going to drop this until she gets what she wants." Aubrey told her. "And the whole point is to see you, so it'll be weird, but at least I get to see you, right?"

"Did you miss the part where they think you make me sad and probably partly hate you already?" Stacie queried.

"But that's justifiable." Aubrey pointed out. "At least they hate me for a reason I can defend myself against."

Stacie conceded that point, and sighed, taking a seat on one of the benches outside the laboratory. "I'm sorry I'm springing this on you."

"I thought we saw this coming back in December." Aubrey commented.

"Not like this."

"But it's not like the way our relationship's been going has been anywhere near planned or organized." Aubrey admitted.

Stacie had to smile at that, because the fact that Aubrey was still trying, despite her obvious aversion to anything spontaneous and outside her control, was a feat in itself. "Bring layers, it gets really cold at night."

Aubrey laughed. "You think I'm going to sleep in the same building with your friends? And your probably-will-be-livid roommate?"

"I want to have you on my bed, Aubrey Posen."

"You have a roommate."

Stacie chuckled. "Such a one-track mind. We're just gonna cuddle."

"You overestimate my self-control when it comes to you." Aubrey observed.

Which was not quite a declaration of love, but when Aubrey Posen, who took pride in her impulse control and will power, spoke about an absolute lack of control when it came to her? Stacie grinned, and didn't think she would stop smiling anytime that day. "Maybe you should tell me more about this lack of control."

"I love you too. But I should be finishing this workforce plan for a client, so rain check?"

Stacie made a face. "Not soon. Chloe has everyone on lookout to make sure I don't find a way to get out of Galentine's Day."

Aubrey's voice conveyed her smile. "You're sure you don't want me to book a room?"

"No." Stacie admitted. "But I think they'll believe your intentions are pure if you stay at the house."

Aubrey laughed. "It's not my intentions they should be questioning."

Stacie rolled her eyes. "Get back to your workforce plan."

"I'll call you for details."

Stacie smiled, and hoping her voice communicated the tenderness that she wanted to evoke, declared, "I love you."

"I love you too." Aubrey answered, before they mutually hung up.

After a moment, Stacie's phone beeped with a message, and upon opening it, read: And I still love you, even if you're cutting class right now.

Stacie laughed, responding with: Business Math.

Gross.

Says the girl who graduated with a business major.

Is that why you want me to make the trip and come over? Because I'm not doing your homework.

Then why am I dating you?

There was a long pause between Stacie's text and the reply; and the answer, when it came, read:

Multiple orgasms.

Stacie laughed, because – while only partly true – it never failed to amuse her that her girlfriend, who communicated with her and sent these ridiculous messages, was Aubrey Posen. And wished her friends would understand everything that meant to her.