The breakfast, Stacie realized belatedly, had been an admittedly stroke of genius on her part, because in a way it acted as bribery, a way she and Aubrey had bought the Bellas' silence, reminding them of their part in the mess that had been Galentine's Weekend; it kept them from pushing the issue of the hows and whys of Stacie and Aubrey dating, all the details that their relationship entailed. After all, Stacie knew they had questions, and she couldn't blame them: She had never been shy about the topic of sex, the people she hung out with, dated, or had sex with, and her aversion to long-term relationships… and then she'd gone and pulled the rug out from everyone, and of all the people she could have turned out to be dating, she had gone and started a relationship with Aubrey, no less. She was under no delusion that her fellow Bellas didn't have questions.

She was also pretty sure someone – she was going to assume Beca, because despite her stature and desire to stay out of any kind of drama, Beca's strength as the leader of the Bellas was in her desire to keep the peace among her friends – had talked to the Bellas and probably pleaded with them not to push Stacie any more than they already had. Because, yes, breakfast with Aubrey had thawed relations somewhat, and reminded them that for all their fear and trepidation when it came to Aubrey Posen, Aubrey had still been a Bella, had been their teammate, and by stretching its very definition, had actually been their friend.

The Bellas had questions, and sometimes they couldn't help themselves and would ask Stacie questions about the relationship, like how long it had been going on or just how serious was the relationship. Some had taken to teasing Stacie about it, making jokes at her expense, but as long as she felt it was good-natured and merely the teasing banter of well-meaning friends, she was willing to take it.

And then there was Chloe.

Maybe it was because Aubrey was her best friend. Maybe it was because Stacie was her roommate. Maybe it was because all three of them had had plenty of opportunities to talk about certain subjects, and each of them had opted to stay quiet. But two people close to Chloe had kept her in the dark about their relationship, and even though that secret was out, there were still so many unanswered questions; and while the rest of the Bellas knew they weren't in the position to ask questions, by virtue of her relationship with Aubrey and Stacie, Stacie knew and understood why Chloe would be emotionally affected by the Galentine's Weekend reveal. Maybe Chloe and Aubrey had started talking again, but by Aubrey's own admission, they hadn't really fixed anything.

And Chloe was avoiding her.

Okay, to be fair, the avoidance wasn't too blatant, not like when Chloe had been avoiding Aubrey over the doomed weekend that had been Galentine's, but considering they were both known for their sometimes-complete disregard of people's boundaries and personal space, it was kind of hard for Stacie to ignore how she and her roommate were tiptoeing around each other. Sure, they shared the same space, and they talked, but their topics of conversation were completely mundane, and shallow, and Stacie was more than aware of how they both carefully avoided the topic of Aubrey Posen.

Deep down, Stacie had to admit, she sort of understood where Chloe was coming from. Because whatever the other Bellas felt and thought about her relationship with Aubrey, Chloe's had to be magnified, by the very fact that it had been her best friend and her roommate, and they had kept something as big as a serious relationship from her.

Because she and Aubrey had wanted to figure out their relationship before they told their friends.

Because for all her blunt and straightforward attitude when it came to talking about sex and dating, Stacie had never been as confident when it came to relationships. And she knew she and Aubrey had muddled through the very act of establishing that they even were in a relationship.

A relationship that was now public knowledge, something the Bellas now had an interest in, something she and Aubrey no longer could merely stumble through and make mistakes on and fix later.

Now that it was a relationship, that came with expectations not just their own, and as Aubrey once noted, the Bellas protected their own, which meant that while she was dating Stacie, for all intents and purposes, she was also kind of entertaining the entire group of Bellas in the process.

"You know how you're going to be in Atlanta this weekend and we're supposed to hang out?" Stacie asked distractedly, lying on her stomach on her bed as she read through and highlighted a paragraph in her text book.

"…Yes…" Aubrey intoned slowly.

"That's Flo's birthday and you have to bring a gift."

"I don't even know Flo."

"Sure you do. Short, one-time gymnast, sings bass?"

"Pretends to be an illegal immigrant stereotype, I know. I don't understand why I have to bring her a gift."

"It's her birthday." Stacie repeated.

There was a pause, and then Aubrey abruptly hung up.

Stacie waited, and when her phone rang again, she answered pleasantly. "Hi, baby, what's up?"

"I'm going to be in Atlanta this weekend, do you want to come up and enjoy room service, or should I drop by Barden?"

Going along with the pretense, Stacie shrugged, even though Aubrey couldn't see her. "It's Flo's birthday on Saturday, so I can't leave until after the party. But you should come by."

"I see. Should I bring a present?"

"She likes shows on The CW and The X Factor."

"Or you can just tell me what to get, and save us the trouble."

Stacie laughed. "I've ordered something online, you can just help me pay for it."

"Better." Aubrey agreed.

"And bring drinks."

"I'm going to guess you mean something with alcohol, which brings up the question of if you're just using me for my ID."

"Of course not." Stacie responded, smiling. "I'm also using you for your body, haven't I made that obvious?"

"You're lucky you're so hot." Aubrey told her placidly. "I have to go. But I'll see you Saturday."

"Yeah. And, Aubrey?"

"Yes?"

"Dress down?"

"I was going to wear the leather and lace I use when I conduct training, but I guess that's out of the question."

"I love you too." Stacie quipped, before what Aubrey had said registered, and she sat up abruptly as she asked, "Wait, do you really have a leather outfit, or…"

"Love you too. I'll see you on Saturday." Aubrey told her.

It had only been a few weeks since Galentine's, and Stacie had warned the Bellas that Aubrey was going to visit that weekend, with the warning that they would have to be a whole lot more welcoming than they had been that previous visit.

The alcohol helped.

As both a present, and an icebreaker.

The speed with which Stacie opened the door after Aubrey knocked - because that was the polite thing to do, even in a house party - indicated to her that Stacie had been standing near the door, possibly in anticipation of her appearance, and the older girl quickly found herself with an armful of Stacie Conrad. She hastily broke the kiss Stacie had greeted her with, and quirked an eyebrow. "Drunk already?"

"We pre-gamed."

Aubrey glanced around the Bella house, packed to capacity, before glancing back towards her girlfriend. "You're hosting the party."

Stacie shrugged, giggling. "Whoops." She took note of Aubrey's outfit, which was basically a more expensive and classier take on her outfits back in college, and grinned at her. "And - hey! - you don't even look slightly evil!"

Aubrey rolled her eyes. "Offer me a drink, Stacie."

"I can do that." Stacie agreed, and grabbed Aubrey's hand before leading them through the crowd of people towards the living room. Once there, she announced with a flourish, "Look who's here!"

"Aubrey!" The Bellas assembled there greeted, all evidently inebriated. Around them, also drunk, several other partygoers echoed the exclaimed greeting.

Stacie turned to Aubrey. "You promised to bring alcohol."

Aubrey shook her head. "I really didn't."

"No, you…" Stacie scrunched up her face, thinking, before she gasped in horror when she realized the truth in Aubrey's words.

Aubrey laughed. "I'm gonna go get something to drink."

"I'll come with." Stacie said, and startled when she realized she hadn't let go of Aubrey's hand. She lifted their joined hands, and showed it to Aubrey. "Hey, look."

Being in her second college party in so many weeks, but the first one in ages since she'd graduated, Aubrey was quickly reminded how much she disliked cheap beer - a dislike that had only grown since being introduced to decent beer - and after nearly spitting out the drink from the keg Beca's boyfriend was manning, Aubrey made a call and followed through on Stacie's instruction to provide alcohol. The new kegs came half an hour later, and even though she was willing to guess that the she was the only one who really noticed the difference in quality, at least the Bellas wouldn't be known for having terrible beer.

She also hadn't eaten since lunch, which was why the next time Stacie found her, she was in a corner of the kitchen eating a buffalo chicken wrap, conversing with a guy Stacie had never seen before. "Where'd you get food?"

Aubrey, in the middle of chewing, pointed beside her at the unknown entity.

Stacie glanced at him curiously, but smiled nonetheless. "And you are…?"

"Kevin." He answered, which offered very little by way of explaining his presence.

Stacie blinked, and glanced back at Aubrey questioningly.

Aubrey pat the guy's shoulder. "Super-super-senior and almost-four-degree Kevin runs a concierge service around Barden. He brought the good beer."

Stacie frowned. "Barden has a concierge service?"

Both Aubrey and Kevin laughed, making Stacie confused in a way that went beyond her inebriation.

"It doesn't, and I actually really shouldn't, either." Kevin admitted.

"And you support this?" Stacie asked Aubrey curiously.

"He runs errands for a small fee. I was a very busy student. I couldn't complain."

"You actually did. A lot." Kevin reminded. He shook his head, and looked at Stacie, mouthing the words with exaggeration, "a lot."

Aubrey shot him a withering glare. "Are you enjoying the view of a bunch of undergrads dancing like there's no tomorrow?"

Kevin glanced at Aubrey, and the way she and Stacie were standing closely together. He smirked at his friend. "Are you?"

He laughed as Aubrey shoved him away. "Jerk."

Having tired of the conversation, Stacie focused on Aubrey, who had finished her wrap and chasing it down with her beer. "Are you done here?"

"Actually we were—"

"Shut up and dance with me."

Aubrey snapped her mouth shut and nodded immediately, before she remembered her company.

"I'll be fine. We'll talk later." Kevin assured her. He grinned. "I'll be here, enjoying the view."

Aubrey pointed at him in warning even as she let Stacie pull her away. "Don't touch any of my Bellas."

He raised his hands in a show of innocence and surrender.

Finding the smallest possible amount of space in the middle of the living room that acted as the dance floor, Stacie immediately pulled Aubrey close, pleased when Aubrey didn't object to how closely they were dancing together. After a while, Stacie grinned and asked, "Your Bellas?"

After Aubrey's hesitation to even address the subject of the Bellas early in their relationship, this was certainly an interesting turn of events.

Aubrey looked away. "Shut up."

Stacie's grin grew even wider.

Aubrey looked back at her and saw the grin, and shook her head, even as she was unable to keep herself from smiling, as well. "Shut up!"

Stacie laughed, and, lifting her hand to cup the back of Aubrey's neck, pulled her in for a kiss.

It was supposed to be playful, a quick kiss to convey to Aubrey her appreciation for the fact that Aubrey was looking out for the Barden Bellas as a natural reaction. But it had been weeks since they last saw each other, and seeing Aubrey in the context of a college party, with her hair down and looking more like the girl who had attended Barden and less the young professional who was only in Atlanta to conduct a training seminar for a company subsidiary, only served to remind Stacie how much she craved Aubrey.

And from the way Aubrey was responding to the kiss, the want was clearly returned.

An eruption of cheers and applause broke their lustful haze, and Aubrey broke the kiss to duck her head while Stacie glared in the direction of a congregation of her friends, who had caused the commotion.

"Get a room!" Fat Amy hollered at them.

Stacie didn't need to be told twice, and when a quick glance at Aubrey earned a subtle nod, they quickly made their way up the stairwell and towards the room she and Chloe shared.

"Occupied!"

"Chloe, seriously?"

"What-"

"…Just stay out of my side of the room."

Stacie pushed Aubrey back out of the room and closed the door behind her, leaving them back in the hallway and Chloe and some guy inside the room. She hazarded a look at Aubrey, who was frowning at the door. "What?"

"Chloe's dating someone?"

Stacie grimaced. "Uhhh… sex isn't dating."

"That wasn't a Treble, was it?"

"No," Stacie shook her head, waving that question off. "That's Pete, Chloe's flavor of the week."

Aubrey arched an eyebrow.

"She's kind of been avoiding the house, what with me and the 'you' thing, and Beca with the Jesse's-mom-being-in-town-and-met-Beca thing." Stacie explained.

Which answered Aubrey's unasked question of whether or not there had been headway made in regards to Chloe's reaction to Aubrey's relationship with Stacie.

Stacie bit her lower lip as she averted her gaze, unsure of what to do next now that she'd revealed how Chloe was reacting to recent matters in her life, and welcoming Aubrey back with some distractive reunion sex was out of the question.

"Hey."

Stacie turned back at Aubrey's gentle voice, and let Aubrey's thumb release her lip from the nervous biting she had been doing. She smiled as Aubrey pressed a kiss to the lip she had been abusing, and parted her lips and turned her head to deepen the kiss, closing her eyes as Aubrey pressed closer to her, reveling in the sensation of having Aubrey leaning into her.

Aubrey gently eased off their kiss, sighing softly. "I've missed you."

Stacie sighed as well. "I missed you too." Her eyelids fluttered open, and she gazed at Aubrey. "Back to the party?"

Aubrey nodded.

Stacie sighed again, pressing a quick kiss to Aubrey's lips before she took back Aubrey's hand to head back downstairs.

"What are we going to tell everyone?" Aubrey asked, concerned, because she was pretty sure people would wonder why she and Stacie were returning to the main floor after the little display they had put on earlier.

Stacie shot her a look. "That we decided it was rude and want to continue drinking and dancing."

Aubrey glanced behind them in the direction of a certain door.

"Everyone in here are college students with healthy sex drives, Bree. We don't need to draw them a diagram." Stacie paused when they reached the first floor landing, and smiled wryly at Aubrey. "Even if I really wanted us to get a room."

Aubrey smiled at her. "Luckily, I have a hotel room."

Stacie knew she really shouldn't have looked so buoyed by that statement, but she was.

They stayed at the party until late, Stacie staying by Aubrey's side as they hung out with the Bellas, with Aubrey even playing nice with the Treblemakers in attendance. They left after one in the morning, the party abruptly ending due to the campus curfew, but not before Stacie was forced to promise her friends that they would be back early the next day with breakfast and to help clean up.

Once in the back seat of the car Aubrey had ordered, she leaned back and closed her eyes, letting her exhaustion of the day catch up with her.

Stacie glanced at her. "You want to talk about it?"

Aubrey groaned, which was a clear indicator of how she felt. "Everything's classified highly confidential and even if they weren't, saying it all out loud is bound to make me throw up and cry, so tell me about your life."

"One of my professors picked me to be part of his research group." Stacie told her. "It's boring, mostly picking apart previous studies and finding studies that support his own thesis, but so far it's been okay."

"It'll look good on paper." Aubrey acknowledged.

"And if he gets published my name will be attached, so that'll be cool."

Aubrey opened one eye to peer at the other girl. "Awesome?"

"So awesome." Stacie nodded, grinning. "And Beca's finally finished the mix we'll sing for semis, so that's working out."

"Is Beca still helping the Trebles?"

"I don't…" Stacie paused, and shook her head. "I don't think so. One of the reasons she even agreed to meet Jesse's mom was because she felt guilty she hasn't really been spending time with him."

"And she fixes that by meeting his mom?" Aubrey asked curiously.

"I guess." Stacie shrugged. Neither of them followed up on that, though, because to do so was to bring up the matter of Beca, and Chloe, and the fact that Chloe was keeping busy and distracting herself with boys that Stacie, who not too long ago considered random sex as her raison d'être, described as Chloe's "flavor of the week". Instead, she looked at Aubrey, who gazed back at her questioningly. "Yes?"

Instead of immediately answering, Stacie merely smiled at her, making Aubrey smile back in return despite her continued confusion on why Stacie was staring at her. "What?"

Stacie grinned, and covered the distance between them, capturing Aubrey's lips in a kiss that she hoped accurately conveyed her intentions on what was in store for them when they got to the hotel. Despite her obvious exhaustion, Aubrey reciprocated, meeting Stacie's passion with her own. When they parted, Stacie whispered, "I'm happy you're here."

It's a close call, but they managed to make it to Aubrey's hotel room without causing a scandal - even though Aubrey suspected that the Uber driver who had taken them to the hotel cared less about getting paid than the free show happening in the backseat - and it would have been embarrassing how quickly their coupling proceeded if they hadn't been so desperate to touch and feel each other.

In the morning they'll have to go back to Barden, play nice with the Bellas, bring them breakfast and help them clean up the house; face Chloe and the rest of the Barden Bellas and probably have to answer an awkward question or two, and by the end of the day Aubrey would have to fly out again.

But until then, they had a few hours to enjoy their hotel room bubble.