Considering the amount of time she and Stacie have spent in hotel rooms, and how the relationship even started, Aubrey had never seriously given any consideration to the fact that she should be used to the sight of Stacie packing near the end of their hotel rendezvous.

Because the startling revelation she acquires, watching Stacie begin the process of packing up her stuff to prepare for the Bellas' flight home on Saturday, is the insight as to why there are so many sad songs about lovers packing their bags.

It's depressing, for one thing. And it takes an awful lot of willpower for her not to beg Stacie to stay; but she knows the Bellas have school to get back to, classes to attend – Stacie is an honors student and her classes weren't exactly the kind to be inconsequential in the long run.

But she wants to.

And if she hadn't already known the story of the circumstances of the Bellas being at Coachella, she would question why they got passes for the first weekend and a flight only for the following Saturday morning.

But she digressed.

"Okay, you're kind of depressing me." Stacie declared, dumping some of her clothes into her bag and turning to Aubrey. "Stop giving me sad eyes."

"But I'm sad." Aubrey said petulantly. "And do you really have to hang out with the Bellas tonight?"

"Yes, because when they talk about that time we went to Coachella in the future, I'd like to know some of the stuff they're talking about."

"But you attended listening preview parties," Aubrey reminded.

"That none of the other Bellas went to."

"Considering how Chloe treated Jill the one time they were in the same room together?" Aubrey reminded. "And don't think I didn't notice how everyone took their cue from her."

"To be fair to Chloe, that was kind of your fault." Stacie pointed out.

"You know they could've joined us anytime, right?"

"You could have invited them."

"Or you could have." Aubrey countered.

Stacie rolled her eyes, and joined Aubrey on the bed, looking at the blonde seriously. "Okay, now you're just being really weird."

"I'm not being weird."

"Uh huh. What's this really about?"

Aubrey pouted, but she expressed, "I'll miss you."

And Stacie knew Aubrey wasn't just talking about that evening. "We'll figure this out, Aubrey."

"I know, I just," Aubrey let out a forlorn sigh. "I just got you back."

Stacie gave her a wry glance. "I didn't go anywhere."

"You know what I mean."

They both did, but for all the time they had spent together the past week, they hadn't been able to resolve the issue of maintaining their relationship when Aubrey's job – and the amount of travel it required her to do – was still such a major factor. It was easy for Aubrey to promise to be there for the ICCA Finals in Lincoln Center, since she could always find a reason why she had to stay at her main office, or to try and visit Stacie in Barden more often, but the operative part of that sentiment was that she could only promise to try.

And since Stacie had already expressed her frustration that the distance and Aubrey's absence made her feel left out of Aubrey's life, Aubrey knew it was up to her to resolve that problem.

Jill rolled her head to the side and eyed Aubrey warily. "Then get her involved more, you love-struck idiot."

Beside Aubrey, Trina chuckled, because from her experience, Aubrey got called a lot of things, but love-struck or idiot were not among them. She and Aubrey hadn't been particularly close back in Barden – save for the solidarity that came from being Bellas together and the kinship shared by people who survived Alice's rule of terror (barely, in Aubrey's case, and bailed, in Trina's) – but given the opportunity to hang out with the girl, Trina wasn't about to say no.

Besides, Aubrey's girlfriend was leaving with the other Bellas, and that meant there was a backstage pass up for grabs.

Aubrey ignored Trina's laughter to address Jill's assertion, "What do you mean?"

"I mean stop just being her girlfriend and let her be yours." Jill said flatly.

"I don't—"

"Has she even been to New York?" Jill questioned.

Aubrey's jaw clacked shut, because that was a good point.

Trina glanced over at her. "She's never gone to see you in New York?"

"She's in school." Aubrey reminded, defending Stacie's lack of travel arrangements to her current home state. "And I travel regularly to the area, she's never had to."

"Does she know about your roommate?" Jill challenged.

"I've told her about Wes," Aubrey nodded.

Trina lifted an eyebrow. "Your roommate's a guy?"

Aubrey rolled her eyes. "It's not as salacious as it sounds."

"So you admit it sounds salacious." Trina pointed out.

"It's rent-free." Aubrey said flatly. "I pay for utilities, and we live separate lives. Stacie knows this."

"How did you manage to find a rent-free apartment in New York City?" Trina pressed.

"Long story." Aubrey replied. "But I helped him sell some software, and in exchange he lets me live rent-free." She turned back to Jill. "What's your point?"

"My point is you're involved in her life." Jill said, not dropping a beat on the Aubrey-and-Stacie situation. "Even beyond having already been friends with the Barden Bells-"

"Bellas." Aubrey and Trina automatically corrected.

Jill shook her head, not bothering to amend what she'd said. "But she's not involved in yours."

Aubrey frowned.

"And I get it, it's mostly work, and it's boring, and there's maybe one or two people you'd rather she never know about—"

"Oh?" Trina asked, intrigued. She looked at Aubrey. "Are there deep, dark secrets in your New York closet, Aubrey?"

"It's not that," Aubrey interrupted, trying to divert the conversation away from where Trina wanted to bring it. "It's not that I don't want her more involved in my life, or that she's too busy to come and see me; I like that when I'm with her, all those other things aren't as important. I like that when I'm with her, it's just me and her."

"But that's unrealistic." Trina pointed out.

"And that's a hell of a lot of avoidant baggage to put on her," Jill added.

Aubrey sighed. "I know." She shook her head, mostly in self-recrimination. "I know, and I'm trying to ease her into it, but I'm afraid that at one point the baggage that's basically my life will be too much for her, and—"

"And nothing." Jill reminded. "It's a relationship. And she gets to be the one to have a say if she can handle the baggage that is being the girl in a relationship with Aubrey Posen."

Aubrey paused, before a smile started tugging at her lips, "I do like that she's the girl in a relationship with me."

"Obviously not as much as you like being the girl in a relationship with Stacie." Jill pointed out. "But maybe you should be."

Aubrey frowned, giving that assertion some consideration.

Trina shook her head. "I'm still a little surprised by this-" she looked at Aubrey, "—but were you always into girls in college?"

Aubrey scowled at her. "Yes."

"But she didn't really do anything about it until after she graduated," Jill added.

Trina lifted an eyebrow, and indicated them both. "Were you the one who-?"

"No." Aubrey said shortly.

"She wishes." Jill retorted.

"I really don't," Aubrey shot back.

Trina frowned. "Did the other Bellas know?"

"Not really." Aubrey admitted. "Well, Chloe did, obviously. And Laura." She said, mentioning their Bella captain when they had been freshmen.

"And you and Stacie were a thing when you were Bellas together?" Trina pressed. "Is that even allowed?"

"We weren't. Not until last summer." Aubrey answered. "And there's nothing written in the handbook."

Jill frowned. "There's a handbook?"

"Some Bella captains took their job very seriously." Trina explained. She pointed at Aubrey. "Exhibit A."

"It's collegiate a cappella." Jill reminded, confused as to how anyone could take that seriously.

"It's not entirely about the singing," Trina admitted. "A lot of the reason why we stuck with it was because of the friendships."

"Until they quit." Aubrey remarked, still a little peeved that Trina quit, and that she never returned to the Bellas even when she knew Aubrey and Chloe had been struggling to get a new team together.

Trine turned to her. "I was trying to keep my head above water so I can graduate on time, Aubrey. And besides, Alice was a bitch, and you know it. And a lot of us don't have your resiliency."

Jill glanced at the two girls, and noted, "It's not just her innate stubbornness?"

Aubrey rolled her eyes when Trina agreed, but she knew there was some truth to the assertion. Becomes sometimes she just didn't know when to quit.

And sometimes, even if those moments were rare, that was a good thing.

Later that night, Aubrey looked up from her tablet, having been going through a work email chain she was copied but not yet actively involved in, and smiled when a clearly-inebriated Stacie Conrad stumbled through the doorway of the pool house. "You're drunk."

"I'm—" Stacie began to correct, but rolled her eyes and shook her head as she shut the door behind her. "Nope. Yup, I'm drunk."

Aubrey watched with amusement as Stacie tossed her purse aside and started removing her clothes. "A little presumptuous, aren't you?"

"Psh," Stacie waved her hand dismissively, "You're my girlfriend. You're totally willing to get up on this." She motioned to herself, and Aubrey had to admit, even at Stacie's state of clumsy dishabille, the girl was hot.

"Did you enjoy your night out with the Bellas?"

"We went drinking." Stacie told her, and then her eyes widened. "Don't tell anyone we were doing some underage drinking."

"At least you don't have to date a bartender to do it anymore."

Stacie snorted at the reminder, and then giggled when she remembered why Aubrey knew that, saying, "I can't believe you slept with an intern."

"I can't believe you slept with a corporate superior," Aubrey returned.

Stacie laughed loudly. "She was really hot."

Aubrey rolled her eyes good-naturedly, and set aside her tablet as Stacie sat down on the edge of the bed and turned towards her. At first Aubrey thought Stacie was going to crawl over in a seductive move, but then when she got closer to Aubrey, she merely slumped over and placed her head on Aubrey's lap, grabbing her hand and holding it in her own against her stomach.

Stacie groaned. "I'm so drunk."

Aubrey chuckled, running her hand over Stacie's hair, occasionally raking her fingers through her dark tresses. "I can tell."

Stacie pouted. "Don't make fun."

"I'm not." Aubrey replied, smiling down at her. "Did you have fun?"

"The funnest." Stacie nodded. "Would've been moreso if you'd come along."

"Babe you know that could go either way." Aubrey pointed out.

"Because you were a bitch." Stacie commented.

Aubrey blew out a breath and concurred, "because I was a bitch."

"Still hot, though." Stacie assured her.

"Glad you think so."

Stacie hummed contentedly, before she suddenly stopped and a frown crossed her features. "Were you frowning at your pad thingy again?"

"Yes."

"You're on a vacation."

"Which is why I'm still here and not yelling at people elsewhere."

Stacie gave this thought, and nodded. "Good. Because I like you here."

"Yeah." Aubrey agreed. "Me too."

They fell into a comfortable lull in their conversation, Stacie humming and occasionally softly singing along to a song Aubrey didn't recognize, while Aubrey occupied herself with smoothing out Stacie's hair.

Aubrey glanced at the girl, and because there was a feeling of foreboding that came from the email thread she had been reading – a feeling she had ignored the last time her time with Stacie was interrupted by an email – she asked, "what will you be up to, in the next few weeks?"

"School. Bellas." Stacie made a face. "More school. More Bellas."

"Practicing for finals?"

Stacie lifted her free hand, and made a "so-so" gesture. "We have a bunch of awesome sets backed up from semis. We might just work on one of those." She shrugged, as much as she could given her lying position. "What's up?"

"Think you can take some time off?"

"Co-caps owe me one, so maybe." Stacie opened one eye to peer up at the blonde. "We gonna hook up in a hotel somewhere?"

"Maybe."

"Cool." Stacie nodded. "I can make that happen."

Aubrey smiled, and returned her gaze to Stacie's hair.

"Babe?"

"Yeah?"

"I'mma little drunk," Stacie started. She squeezed Aubrey's hand she was holding to allay whatever witty retort Aubrey was going to say, and continued, "I'm drunk, and it sounds out of nowhere, but hear me out, 'kay?"

"Okay…?" Aubrey prompted.

"Yeah, so you think it'd be cool if I come up and come see you in the city one day?" Stacie asked. "I have tickets and stuff, and I won't even make a mess or anything, I have finals to study for anyway and you can ignore me if you have to work and stuff."

"Stace—"

"I just really like being around you and sleeping with you and not-sleeping 'sleeping with you', if you know what I mean." Stacie furrowed her brow, and looked at Aubrey seriously. "Do you know what I mean?"

"I know what you mean." Aubrey confirmed.

"Good." Stacie nodded again, and bit her lower lip nervously, looking up at Aubrey. "What do you think? Can I come up sometime?"

She was so in love with this girl she didn't know how she had thought she could willingly not be in a relationship with her. Aubrey smiled at her, "I'd like that."

Stacie smiled back. "Awesome."

Aubrey grinned, because now they had a plan.

Stacie glanced down her body and her state of undress, and then looked back up at Aubrey. "I'm already almost naked, wanna celebrate how awesome we are?"