She knows – she knows – she and Aubrey still have a lot of issues to unpack, there were still factors to their erstwhile separation that needed to be examined, things they still needed to talk about.

But Stacie had woken up that morning on the same bed with Aubrey beside her, and all she could think of was how much she had missed the other woman. It had already taken everything in her to not reaffirm their commitment and connection to each other physically, definitely not the night before, not when everything still felt so raw. In a total contradiction from her usual mode of operation, Stacie had been reluctant for the intimacy of sex, but she had needed to feel their physical connection, and had simply asked Aubrey to hold her.

Because Stacie understood that sex was the easy part. She'd always known it, and it had been the breadth of her romantic relationships for so long; she and Aubrey had even fallen into that trap as recently as two weeks ago, after Aubrey's ill-conceived trip to North Carolina, and back then it had been easy to use their physical relationship to pretend everything between them had been fine.

Since then it had become obvious that their momentary reconciliation had only covered up a deeper problem, and in the aftermath of what could so easily have been the end of their relationship, Stacie wasn't so willing to fall back to that old pattern.

Even if she really wanted it. But wanting it and needing it were separate things, and she needed to just be with Aubrey.

Because as much as she needed that connection, Aubrey needed it too. Stacie had seen how Aubrey had held on to Chloe when they had first seen each other in California. Unlike Stacie, who could ask any of the Bellas for a hug and get it without questions or any hesitation, Stacie doubted there were a lot of people in Aubrey's life she could really go to just for physical – and platonic – comfort.

(The platonic part, Stacie wasn't ashamed to admit, was very important.)

And she hadn't been kidding when she'd told Aubrey she looked like she hadn't slept for days: maybe Aubrey seemed okay to almost everyone else, but Stacie could discern the underlying exhaustion in the lines of her body and even if Aubrey could conceal the dark circles under her eyes, the fatigue evident in her eyes gave her away.

So waking up beside Aubrey had caused a rush of feelings Stacie hadn't expected, including the beginnings of repair to the part of her that had been injured when she'd woken up a few weeks previous and found herself alone in her bed, with Aubrey's things gone and finding out only later that she'd had to leave when her company called for her to be in Nevada.

(Yes, the part where she wasn't crashing on sleeping bags or couches with the rest of the Bellas helped foster the warm and fuzzy feelings she woke up with.)

She could have called Aubrey out about watching her sleep, be playful about the inherent creepiness in people watching other people sleep, but the silence that had reigned between them in the early moments of their morning had been nearly sacred, neither of them willing to break it, and both of them still a little talked out from their conversation mere hours earlier.

It was a little hard to pinpoint on who had moved first, but one moment they were looking at each other, basking in each other's presence, and the next Stacie's hands were tangled in Aubrey's hair while Aubrey's own hands ran the length of Stacie's body as they got reacquainted.

And that was how they ended up missing breakfast with the Bellas, as well as more phone calls on Aubrey's phone from Jill, earning her a round of questions from Stacie.

"Why is she calling you?"

"I think she's not happy about me ignoring her messages." Aubrey admitted.

"The message last night was her?" Stacie asked. At Aubrey's nod, she pressed, "What could have been so important at one in the morning?"

"She wanted to see me last night," Aubrey confided.

Stacie arched an eyebrow. "At one in the morning?"

"I called in a favor." Aubrey confessed.

Stacie quirked an eyebrow.

"It's a surprise." Aubrey told her.

Stacie groaned, because sometimes Aubrey was just so pleasantly annoying. "Ugh, fine. But for the record, I'm still a little jealous; and I hate and love you for knowing I love surprises."

Aubrey laughed, because of course that was partly why she had called in another favor with Jill.

The larger part was that after returning from England, and before she'd gotten on a plane to California, she had felt keenly the physical and emotional distance between herself and Stacie. They had been apart for longer than two weeks before, but their last conversation made Aubrey feel Stacie's absence a little more strongly than she had before.

She had considered the possibility that maybe Stacie needed something a little more tangible, a more physical reminder of their relationship instead of just phone calls and text messages and promises Aubrey tried but wasn't always certain she would get to keep; but had backed away from the possibility when she would remember, viscerally, that even if Stacie thought she was supposed to be in England, there had been no attempts at calling her despite the international long-distance rates.

And maybe she should have swallowed her pride and reached out first, especially now that she knew exactly how her actions had been perceived, but at the time, letting Stacie dictate how their relationship to continue had been the important thing.

But a mere twenty-four hours ago, seeing Stacie again, and having her feelings magnified when the physical distance between them was no longer a factor, and Aubrey had felt… Well, she'd needed to make things right. Whatever outcome Stacie ultimately decided for their relationship, Aubrey had been in a position to do something nice for Stacie – and maybe as a reminder that Aubrey wasn't a complete dolt in their relationship – and she'd asked Jill for a favor.

Yes, she knew Stacie would likely have had questions, like how was Aubrey repaying the favor, but what Aubrey had told her about Jill was true: they were friends first, and Jill had always known Aubrey still held out hope for the girl she'd left behind in college.

And whether she admitted to it or not, Aubrey wasn't above bribing her way back into Stacie's good side, whatever their romantic relationship may be.

She really did love Stacie's expression when she had been presented with it, though, as well as the look on her face the entire time they had been at the concert grounds.

"I know I should be more concerned about what you must owe to get backstage passes, but," Stacie smiled widely at Aubrey. "That was awesome, so I won't care for now."

Aubrey laughed. "I'm glad you liked it."

Stacie beamed. "How do you even score passes on short notice?" Before Aubrey could answer, she continued, "I mean, I know, Jill, but how does she score passes? And how are you in a position to even know someone cool enough to get passes?"

Aubrey paused, and then protested, pouting, "I'm cool."

Stacie chortled, but upon seeing Aubrey start to glare at her, immediately covered it up with a small cough. "I mean, sure. Okay."

"You suck."

"Baby, I love you, but…" Stacie gave her a doubtful look.

Aubrey rolled her eyes, conceding defeat. "If you must know, she used to work at a recording company that wanted to buy patented technology that one of our subsidiaries owns. It was a long process and we became friends mainly because we both didn't want to be there. She wanted to be in A&R and I was just put there because they wanted me to learn how to handle a negotiation."

This time, Stacie gave her look that spelled out her wariness.

Aubrey admitted, "She's the one who basically gave me a social life."

"So I can't hate her?"

Aubrey smiled. "You can't hate her."

Stacie rolled her eyes, but didn't challenge it. She did, however, leave her poolside chair and make her way to Aubrey's.

Aubrey watched her approach, and warned, "We won't fit."

"Oh, ye of such little faith," Stacie remarked, momentarily scrutinizing the chair and the physics of it, before joining Aubrey on the chair.

After a lot of contorting, and finding the most likely position they could share the chair, Aubrey laughed at the tight fit. "This is ridiculous, go back to your chair."

Stacie lifted herself on one elbow to look down pointedly at Aubrey. "We just spent a day with a girl you slept with twice. You are letting me squeeze into this chair and you're going to enjoy it."

Aubrey grinned at her. "I haven't said a word about not enjoying it."

Finally settling on lying half on top of Aubrey, Stacie arched an eyebrow at the blatant flirtation, and smiled seductively as she leaned in to kiss Aubrey. "I loved my surprise. Thank you."

They were just starting to really get into their kiss when it ended abruptly once a bag of chips was thrown at them, hitting Stacie's back and making Stacie break the kiss to glare at the culprit.

"Get a room." Fat Amy told them as she and the rest of the Bellas joined the couple by the pool. She turned to her friends. "Who bet one day?"

"Nobody was stupid enough to take your bet." Beca reminded, taking the bag of chips Stacie held out to her. "Where have you two been?"

"You really want to know?" Stacie said coyly, implying something far more licentious with her tone and the way she darted her eyes in Aubrey's direction.

Beca glared at her, and shook her head. "No."

"Yes." Cynthia Rose piped in. She gave Denise a look of innocence when the other girl gave her a look of exasperation.

Stacie grinned, because she had no doubt that the Bellas were doing their best to act as normal as possible, especially around Aubrey, considering how miserable Stacie had been the past week. She also knew they were all in a way making fun of her and Aubrey at their relationship's expense, but the Bellas were trying, probably at Chloe or Beca's behest to be more welcoming and open to the relationship in general (and having Aubrey around, specifically) and she couldn't fault them for that.

Chloe sat on the chair Stacie had just abandoned, and glanced over at them. The answer was obvious, but she still felt compelled to ask, "Did you kiss and make up?"

"Something like that." Aubrey sat up, and gave Stacie a pointed look when the brunette pouted at her. "We have company."

"They don't mind." Stacie protested, but also sat up to lean back against Aubrey's front.

"We do." The group said in direct contradiction.

"Didn't Chloe say you were supposed to be in England?" Jessica asked Aubrey, curious.

"Just for a few days." Aubrey replied.

"What's in England?" Ashley asked.

Aubrey grumbled, "Work."

"So what are you doing in Coachella?" Denise queried.

Stacie pat the side of Aubrey's head sympathetically, and said alongside Aubrey, "Work."

"Is that all you do?" Flo asked curiously.

Stacie's playful, teasing response was quickly cut off by Beca with, "Don't even go there, Conrad."

Stacie laughed, acknowledging her friend's ability to know where she was going with her possible answer, and instead turned to Lilly as the other girl handed over drinks. "What have you girls been up to?"

As the Bellas caught up, Aubrey glanced over at Chloe, who caught her glance and smiled faintly when their gazes met, a silent understanding passing between them.

After all, Stacie was Chloe's roommate, and Aubrey had shared with Chloe all her reservations about pursuing the continuation of her relationship with Stacie; Chloe knew as well as Aubrey and Stacie did that one conversation did not resolve everything that had caused the pause in their relationship. Yes, Chloe had insisted that the couple just needed to talk and believed that they could work things out, but the thing that stood between them – the distance that constantly kept them apart – was not something easily remedied, and Aubrey felt a little guilty under Chloe's gaze, because Chloe had been her most steadfast supporter in recent years, and even at her worst, Chloe had believed in Aubrey ultimately knowing the right thing to do.

And this time, Aubrey felt like a fraud, because she didn't know what that was. She knew she needed to figure out a way to be more available to Stacie, to be more present and accessible, but as she had insisted to Chloe, she couldn't just quit her job.

Maybe Chloe didn't know the more intimate details, like the exact depth of affection Aubrey and Stacie shared and how long their relationship had been going on, or the fact that maybe they didn't know exactly what they were doing, but Chloe knew enough, just from having been Aubrey's roommate for four years and being privy to Stacie's growth since her days as a promiscuous and hypersexual freshman, so she knew the insecurities that prevailed between her two friends.

And Aubrey also felt guilty about the accusation she had leveled at Chloe, about putting her life on pause for a crush, because that was an oversimplification of why Chloe was reluctant to graduate, and a part of Aubrey felt bad that after years of Chloe's unwavering support, she still could find it in herself to find a positive note in Chloe's decision to stay in college.

"Hey," Stacie's gentle voice called her attention, and Aubrey diverted her attention to her girlfriend. Stacie wasn't sure what had Aubrey looking so pensive, but they were in public, so instead she asked, "Some of the girls want to check out tonight's headliner. What do you think?"

Aubrey smiled faintly. "I think I'll still be here next week, so you're free to go."

Stacie pouted at her, but turned to the Bellas. "We've been there the whole day, I'm beat."

"Or are you trying to get rid of us?" Beca asked suspiciously.

Stacie scoffed. "Would I do that?"

A mixed chorus of "yes" and "maybe" answered her question.

Stacie glared at them, and turned to direct her pout back at Aubrey. "Baby, they're picking on me."

Aubrey gave her a knowing smile. "You're the one who wanted us to hang out with your friends."

"That hurts." Fat Amy told her, interrupting. When Aubrey and Stacie glanced over questioningly, she elaborated, "I thought we were bonded, you know? Me and you, all of us: Bellas all the way, or Bellas are forever, or something."

"Bellas for life." Both Aubrey and Chloe automatically corrected.

"And I drank whiskey shots with you," Beca recalled.

Aubrey gave her a wry look. "We all drank whiskey shots together."

"You're our cap, Posen," Cynthia Rose told her, followed by a chorus of agreement from the rest of the Bellas. "

"Our authoritarian and frightening and more-than-one-nightmare scary captain." Fat Amy added. When the Bellas gave her a look, she innocently defended herself, "I'm just keeping it real."

Beca rolled her eyes, shaking her head at the complete lack of self-control Amy had.

"And Chaubrey is forever." Chloe reminded, resuming an earlier point in the conversation.

Aubrey turned and they shared a smile, because everything else in their relationship might not be what it once had been, but their friendship was exactly that: forever.

"But I still don't know who you are." Flo admitted, breaking the moment.

Stacie shot Flo a wary look, which Flo returned with a look of innocence.

"You know if you want to catch the headliners you should be going back to the grounds." Aubrey reminded.

"Now she's trying to get rid of us." Jessica announced, even as she and the rest of the Bellas were already getting to their feet. Everyone exchanged good nights, as those who weren't heading back to the concert grounds opted to call it a night and made their way inside the house.

As Beca passed, however, Aubrey caught her arm. "Jeez, Aubrey!"

Aubrey handed her the backstage pass. "Now you can't say I never gave you anything."

Beca looked down at the pass, and then back up at Aubrey in amazement. "I think I want to hug you," but was promptly pulled away by Lilly towards the exit, preventing anyone from closely examining that declaration or try to make it happen.

Once everyone had gone and they were once again left alone outside by the pool, Stacie glanced at Aubrey, amused. "Aww, they like you!"

Aubrey rolled her eyes, but Stacie could tell the Bellas telling Aubrey she was still considered to be one of them, still unofficially their captain, had been a pleasant surprise to Aubrey.

"They're our friends now." Stacie added. "You're in this."

Aubrey groaned. "I know."

Stacie grinned. "And Beca wants to hug you."

"Don't start."