"Where are you, right now?"

Aubrey frowned, hesitating from exiting the car she was in, and sat back to look out the window at the front of the Barden Bellas' house. Hesitantly, she answered her girlfriend, "Um, outside?"

"You're the blue car creeping outside?"

"Yes?"

"Has anyone seen you?"

"Um…" Aubrey glanced around, and except for the stray Barden student heading to their own campus housing, she didn't see anyone familiar. It was pretty quiet, even for a week night. "…No?"

"Okay." Stacie said simply before abruptly hanging up.

Aubrey paused, unsure of what she was supposed to do with such a bizarre phone call, when she noticed the front door of the Bellas' house open and Stacie all but ran out, pushing Aubrey further back inside the car, and she could only look on bewildered as Stacie gave the driver directions.

Seemingly content with their escape, Stacie turned back to Aubrey, smiling brightly. "Hi."

"Hi…?" Aubrey asked faintly. She took note of the fact that Stacie was wearing a coat, buttoned high, despite the spring Atlanta weather. "What…"

"I'll explain later." Stacie promised. She patted Aubrey's knee. "So? How have you been? How's the absence of work? Did your boss cry? Have you gone to see George?"

She had no idea what was going on, but Aubrey could take a hint, answering Stacie's questions. "I'm okay, It's been weird, she gave me a book about the empowerment in making your own mistakes, and I'm not allowed to see George."

"What? And your boss gave you what?"

Aubrey shook her head. "Long story. But how about you?"

Stacie gave her a long, discerning look, before she shrugged, allowing Aubrey this momentary reprieve. "I'm set for finals, and if I ace everything I'm guaranteed to be back on the Dean's List; and on the Bellas side, everyone's worked out a schedule for our summer tour, so that's something to look forward to."

Aubrey nodded.

Stacie gave her a hopeful smile. "It'll be traveling mostly in a bus and there'll be a bunch of other girls, but you wanna join us on our summer tour?"

"You, me, and eight other girls. So much fun." Aubrey said dryly.

"Eight?" Stacie repeated before she paused, and then groaned loudly. "Shit. Denise still hasn't told Chloe."

"The clues haven't exactly been subtle," Aubrey pointed out.

"Yes, but it's Denise, and with Chloe you can never underestimate the power of denial," Stacie argued.

Aubrey conceded that point. "You want me to ask someone to hand-deliver her employment contract to the house, so she'll have to tell Chloe? I should still have some pull somewhere."

Stacie had to laugh at such a drastic plan. "That would be amusing, but it's Chloe, so maybe a more gentle approach will be better." She pointed out. "But let's stick a pin on your plan." She glanced out the window, and gave the driver additional directions.

Aubrey frowned. "Where are we going?"

"It's a surprise."

Aubrey looked at her, but Stacie only returned her look with a guileless smile. Aubrey sighed, conceding defeat, and sat back into the car seat.

"Oh, I haven't told you the best part about the tour," Stacie said, grinning. "We're not starting until late, so I have a few weeks for the start of summer to plan."

"I don't see how—"

"So we can do, like, Cabo, and make up for that time we were supposed to go." Stacie continued. "Or we can go on a road trip. Or, and I'm just saying it'd be awesome if we can all wrangle it, you can pretend like you're still in college and lacking in responsibilities and the Bellas can all go somewhere and party."

"I'd love to take a vacation with you, Stacie, but I am unemployed, and between the finances and trying to not be unemployed, I can't just blow off my responsibilities," Aubrey pointed out.

"Aubrey, I'm not saying we have to do any of that," Stacie interjected. "We can do whatever."

Aubrey sighed. "You say that, but I've been in college, and we both know you're gonna want to spend your break with your friends."

"No, I mean, yeah, of course I love spending time with the Bellas, but what matters most to me is that I'm hoping I'm gonna get to spend some time with you, too. And if it's you and the Bellas, even better."

"Have you noticed how, whenever I hang out with you and the other Bellas, I almost always seem to pay for everything?" Aubrey observed dryly.

Stacie's expression momentarily crumbled, but she put her game face on. "That doesn't have to be true."

"But you agree it happens." Aubrey pointed out.

Stacie sighed. "Why are you so against this? Aubrey, I don't want to fight."

"We're not fighting." Aubrey argued.

"But we could be, because I'll have to take the side of the undergraduate and the unemployed." Stacie countered.

Aubrey frowned, the honesty in that assertion striking a chord; as much as she wanted to explore her point, she nonetheless acquiesced, because it wasn't worth the aggravation of fighting with Stacie when their night had barely started.

An awkward silence followed, until Stacie broke it by asking, "Why aren't you allowed to see George?"

"Because my mom thinks I'm going to use him as an excuse to just move in with my grandparents and get some random job." Aubrey related.

"Has she met you?" Stacie asked incredulously. Aubrey, however, didn't answer, only giving Stacie a look that Stacie couldn't quite discern, but before she could press the issue, she noticed where they were and instructed the driver where to drop them off.

Aubrey glanced outside at the mid-sized home, with only a single porch light on, and had to ask: "Where are we?"

Stacie handed the driver some additional cash after he ended Aubrey's ride. She turned to Aubrey, grabbing her hand as she pushed the car door open. "Come on."

They were in the suburbs, that much Aubrey could figure out, although she had no idea how or why Stacie had access to a house in the suburbs in a college town, or what they were doing there. Still, she didn't ask questions when Stacie produced a key and opened the front door, pulling her inside.

Inside, the house looked lived-in, which is why Aubrey finally broke her silence and asked, "Whose house is this?"

"Technically, it belongs to a Smith family, but they don't live here anymore." Stacie answered as she led her into the dining room. "The current owners – the Smiths – have it up for sale, because they've moved to another state and they have a fully-furnished home waiting for them there, so all their stuff stays with the house."

"Why do you know all that and we're here how?"

"Their kid's one of the people in my research group. I asked if I could use it for a night, and he said sure." Stacie wrinkled her nose in distaste as she recalled something related. "He kinda implied that if it's for sex reasons I should do it on his bed, so it's safe to say we're not having sex in any of the bedrooms."

"I have no idea what to say to any of that."

"We could probably do it anywhere else," Stacie mused, glancing over her shoulder in the direction of the living room. She wondered if the couch there was comfortable.

Aubrey shook her head. "And while I won't say no to any opportunity to have sex with you, I'm still concerned about why we're here."

"Aww," Stacie smiled at her, ignoring for the moment Aubrey's expressed reservations about their location and pulling Aubrey close, wrapping her arms around Aubrey's waist. "I'll have sex with you whenever you want, babe."

"Stacie."

Stacie rolled her eyes, releasing Aubrey and playfully pushing her away. "Fine. I needed an oven and the jerks at The Poisoner are too busy mastering their craft for finals and won't let me use any of their kitchens."

"An oven?" Aubrey asked, because while she had a few other questions about Stacie's statement, she hoped she picked up the most relevant one. "Why…"

"For the cookies."

"The…" Aubrey was confused. "What?"

"Can you just relax and let me woo you? I've got my domestic seduction skills going, here."

That, at least, got Aubrey to laugh, and subsequently let some tension go. "Your what?"

"You know," Stacie nodded her head slowly, as if to urge Aubrey on. "Cozy home, a comfort meal, some cookies…"

Aubrey grinned. "Are you being serious right now?"

"How'd my psychotic captain during my first year as a Bella put it?" Stacie mused, pretending to try to recall. "Dixie Chicks serious?"

"What, did you cook?" Aubrey mused.

"Keep laughing, blondie, and see if I'm gonna give you any cookies at the end of the night," Stacie warned.

Aubrey bit her lip, trying to stifle her amusement. "Is that a metaphor, or…"

"Oh my god, shut up, sit down, I'm gonna get the food." Stacie motioned to the table, and started to walk in the direction of the kitchen.

Aubrey caught her arm, and pulled her back towards herself, her smile going from amused to fond as she drew Stacie closer. "I still don't completely understand what's happening here, but whatever it is, you obviously gave it a lot of thought and effort. Thank you."

Stacie smiled back, and let Aubrey peck her lips a few times before she slowly allowed herself to start kissing Aubrey back. She hummed softly, smiling into their kiss. "You just want your metaphorical cookies."

Aubrey chuckled. "Obviously."

"I'd suggest ditching dinner, but I put in some pretty decent effort into all of this," Stacie admitted, kissing Aubrey one last time before she put some distance between them, directing Aubrey to the dining table.

Aubrey did as requested, and noticed for the first time the table setting for two, complete with electric "candle" lights to finish the look. She smiled in amusement, but was still completely endeared by the fact that Stacie had gone through so much trouble to create a mood.

It suddenly occurred to her that she had never seen or recalled Stacie ever cooking, and started to stand to make her way to the kitchen in case Stacie needed help, but she was preempted by the door to the kitchen opening and Stacie walked back into the room, and while Aubrey had to admit that whatever Stacie had in store in terms of food smelled good, her attention was instead diverted to what Stacie was wearing.

She was pretty sure a chef's jacket wasn't supposed to fit that tightly, or have a neckline that low, or, despite its length, be worn without the uniform checkered pants.

"What…" Aubrey started, but had no idea how to continue her sentence. She's almost certain her brain had short-circuited at one point and was not fully operational.

"I'm heating up the food, because, well…" Stacie shrugged. "Full disclosure: I was gonna go with sushi, but you wouldn't say what time you expected to show, and nobody likes old sushi, so I thought I could go with something safe- I mean, simpler." Stacie quickly corrected herself, which was just the right thing to say to get Aubrey's brain to jumpstart.

"Okay…?"

"But, well," Stacie smiled sheepishly, "I can't cook. I was going to bribe any of the culinary arts people to help me, but that wasn't an option, so I got us some stuff from that Greek place you like."

Aubrey couldn't help but laugh at her girlfriend's sheepish expression. She reached out, and took one of Stacie's hands into her own. "And what could I possibly have done to deserve this amount of effort?"

Stacie gazed at her for a moment, enjoying the sight of a carefree Aubrey, before she admitted, "I wanted to do something nice for you."

Aubrey's mirth settled at the earnest confession, and she returned Stacie's gaze with a confused one of her own. "Okay?"

Stacie looked away, avoiding Aubrey's gaze. "I just…" She looked at their joined hands on the table, and blew out a breath. "I screwed up, back in New York. That was our date, and I let the Bellas hijack it, and I didn't try hard enough to stop it when I knew you weren't happy about it."

"Stacie…"

"And I know this isn't exactly some fancy restaurant, and don't get me started with how much Broadway shows cost, so this probably pales in comparison to what you had in store after the ICCAs," Stacie continued, before taking a deep breath and turning back to Aubrey. "But I have Greek takeout and a Netflix account; and aside from the fact that I needed an oven, I wanted us to go somewhere that isn't a hotel room. And away from the Bellas."

"I like hanging out with the Bellas," Aubrey assured her.

"You say that, but you can't possibly like how we make you pay for stuff and ruin your plans," Stacie argued.

"It's not how I'd like to spend our time together, true," Aubrey conceded, "but they're your friends, and I like the idea that I get to make up for what I put everyone through two years ago."

"That may be true, but I've kinda been missing just having you to myself," Stacie admitted.

Aubrey smiled. "This is a really sweet gesture, Stace. And one of the nicest things anyone's ever done for me."

Stacie beamed. "Yeah?"

Aubrey nodded.

Stacie grinned, and leaned forward to give Aubrey a quick kiss. "I'm gonna get the food."

She stood up, and Aubrey got another view of her outfit. "Do I want to know why you have a skintight version of a chef's jacket?"

Stacie's grin turned mischievous, and she winked at Aubrey. "I can't afford Broadway, but I can still give you a show."