"We have to break up."

Well aware of how cold that sounded, and taking advantage of Aubrey's obvious stunned silence, Stacie quickly explained herself: "I mean, it's really our best option, since we both know how the next few months are going to go, and it would be great if we can just fast-forward to next summer, but we can't, and I don't want us to start resenting and hating each other with all the time we're not going to be able to give each other, and if we break up now, we're going to have this awesome summer to look back on, and know we just wanted the best for each other, and—"

Aubrey raised her hand, and Stacie abruptly stopped talking, wondering what Aubrey would say as a response, and was surprised when Aubrey stood up and walked away from the couch.

"Hey, wait—"

Aubrey shook her head, and continued her way towards the kitchen.

Stacie frowned. "Bree, we've got to talk about this."

Aubrey only shot her a look, before she got herself a glass of water and in a show of utmost dramatics that Stacie couldn't help but find riveting, drank the water while Stacie held her breath. When she was done, she pursed her lips, and took a deep breath. "Stacie."

"Yes...?"

There was a pause, and then Aubrey looked at her with not a small amount of incredulity. "Are you out of your mind?"

"No, Bree, listen—"

"You want us to break up now, so we don't break up later?" Aubrey reiterated what she understood of Stacie's reasoning.

Stacie stopped short, and allowed, "Sure, it sounds insane when you put it that way, but—"

"That's what you said!"

"I'm not saying it's the best idea, but—"

"You literally said it's our best option."

"Aubrey, we both know we're making this relationship up as we go along." Stacie reminded. "And, seriously, it's not like we can skip the next few months altogether."

"Yes, but you're suggesting breaking up now so we don't later." Aubrey returned petulantly.

Stacie groaned. "It's not like I want to!"

"Then what the aca-fuck, Stacie."

Stacie threw her hands up in frustration. "I don't know! But I do know we're both going to be really busy and it'll be hard for us to maintain this relationship the way we have been. And I'm going to want to see you, and you'll want to see me, but you have a business you're gonna have to look after because I know you're gonna be great at it and you shouldn't have to risk something that big and important, and I have to make sure I graduate, hopefully with honors, and we both know this relationship is going to have to take a back seat. So I don't know."

Her tirade was followed by a lengthy silence, and Stacie allowed herself to sulk, because she knew she was right, and she knew Aubrey knew it, too. They hadn't been through the exact situation, but they had been through similar situations, and they had bent to nearly breaking, each time. And they both knew they could only go through it so many times, for them both to withstand the pressure so many times, before they would be caught in a weak moment and give up.

It would be easy, to say giving up wasn't an option.

They both knew differently.

Aubrey looked at Stacie, regarded this young woman she was in love with, who she had tried so hard to scare away from a relationship with her and had only succeeded in making herself fall harder for.

With a sigh, Aubrey made her way back to the couch, and Stacie watched as she sat back down, unable to read Aubrey's expression or demeanor given their conversation.

"Stacie."

"What?"

"I love you, you know that?"

Stacie narrowed her eyes at her.

"And I say this with all the love I have for you." Aubrey continued. "And with all my heart, I'm gonna say it again: what the fuck?"

Stacie glared at her.

Aubrey only smiled back in return. "For the record, you know, you're not wrong."

Stacie visibly paused, and she quirked an eyebrow at Aubrey.

Aubrey still only smiled, and laced her fingers with Stacie's, looking down at their now-entwined hands, smiling at how well they fit together.

She knew Stacie was right, knew the logic was sound. It would be easier, if they broke up now. Before they grew to resent each other, before they disappointed each other, before their flaws manifested and the cracks began. While they still liked each other, while they still loved each other and still believed the best in each other.

But.

Aubrey paused, something Stacie had said finally permeating through her previous indignation that Stacie was suggesting breaking up, and for the first time since Stacie brought up the difficulties they were sure to face, Aubrey thought she could see some kind of light through the darkness.

Gathering her thoughts, Aubrey managed to blurt out, "But."

Stacie's eyebrow arched higher, because she had not seen a way out of her proposition.

Aubrey looked up from their entwined hands, and met Stacie's gaze.

She, too, knew who they were. She, too, had seen how they have handled this relationship, had seen how it had grown and evolved, how they had both grown and evolved as the relationship did.

"What if we didn't?"

Stacie opened her mouth, as if to retort and answer, before she shut it again and gave careful consideration to this shorthand of a counter-proposal. Finally, she asked: "But what about..."

"Hear me out." Aubrey told her. "You're right, long distance relationships are hard; especially considering what we're going to be up against the next few months, it's gonna be really hard. So maybe – just maybe – we can not break up, but really only be in a relationship when we're in the same place at the same time."

Stacie paused, recognizing the proposition, and slowly smiled. "And the expectations?"

"Pretty much just sex." Aubrey replied, knowing Stacie had caught her drift, and laughed when Stacie's face broke into a grin and she moved as close as she could to Aubrey without sitting on her lap. "And, you know, food."

"You're terrible."

"So that's a yes?"

Stacie kissed her, conveying her amusement at the proposal being presented, and let the kiss linger for a moment before she pulled back slightly and asked softly, "Are you sure about this?"

"Am I sure I want to keep having sex with you and us having food?" Aubrey said lightly, hoping to insert some levity into the discussion, and got a playful glare for her efforts. She smiled at Stacie. "I'm sure I want to keep what we have going, Stacie. And if it means slowing down a little and going back to something simpler, then yes, I'm sure."

"That's all this is? Slowing down and simplifying things?"

"Yeah, I think so." Aubrey admitted. "It's weird to think about, but we did pretty great when we did it before. Maybe it's what we need."

"You know, I'm not ashamed to say I was talking out of my ass before, breaking up is obviously the worst thing, and the total opposite of what we should do if we want to stay together." Stacie told her.

"Stacie."

"I mean," Stacie laughed awkwardly, and pouted as she pointed out the caveat of the proposal, of what their relationship had once been: "I like what we have."

"As do I."

Stacie gazed at her, and acknowledged the truth of the situation: If they were going to make their relationship work, knowing how they were and their shared history, they were going to have to ease the pressure so they wouldn't break. She sighed. "So we're only really gonna be together when there's no distance between us?"

"Yeah. That sums it up."

Stacie lowered her gaze briefly before she looked back up at Aubrey, and projected her own concerns upon Aubrey. "And you're gonna be okay with that?"

Aubrey smiled at her, using one hand to reach up and brush a stray lock of hair from Stacie's face. "Like I said: you're not wrong."

"Aubrey..."

"I know." Aubrey nodded. "And as much as we both know better, or how much we want to believe otherwise, we both know how hard it's going to be." She kissed Stacie briefly, and continued. "You don't want me to have to prioritize you, or our relationship, over my job. And I don't want to have to choose between you and the job. But sometimes I'm going to have to, and I don't want you to ever doubt I will always want to choose you, even if I won't always get to make that choice. And that goes for you with school and the Bellas. So this is the compromise."

Stacie sighed. "There's that mature relationship thing again, that compromising."

"I know."

Stacie chuckled softly. "I would have preferred other ways we'd be in a compromising position."

"I bet." Aubrey observed.

There was another brief pause, because as much as they were on the same page and agreed on this compromise, this redefinition of their relationship, it was still not everything they wanted, but their best shot at making it work.

"I can still see you whenever I want?" Stacie asked.

"Will you still want to see me when I can't give you the time and attention that you deserve?" Aubrey volleyed a question back.

Stacie smiled faintly, and admitted, "It'll suck. But sometimes I just really want to see you."

"Then you can do that." Aubrey nodded.

"So the rest of the time..." Stacie paused, and asked: "So I still get to call you my girlfriend? None of that changes?"

"It doesn't change if you don't want it to," Aubrey nodded. "Just... less pressure, I guess?"

Stacie looked at her, gazing into Aubrey's eyes, and she bit her lip nervously before she whispered, "We can make this work, right?"

"We made it work before," Aubrey smiled weakly. "And do we really have an option?"

Honestly? Stacie wasn't sure. She could see the logic of it, she and Aubrey had survived the early stages of their relationship this way, taking away the pressure of the more rigid definitions of what being in a relationship meant, and maybe they really did fare better when they allowed themselves to make mistakes, when they let each other off the hook. But as Aubrey had once pointed out, Aubrey could be petty and insecure, while Stacie was naturally flirtatious and apparently had a jealous streak that could rival her girlfriend's, and maybe it shouldn't work, but they did, and she admittedly had to agree with Aubrey that this very well could be their best chance.

"But we're not breaking up, right?" Stacie pressed.

"I really don't want us to break up," Aubrey admitted.

"I never said I wanted to," Stacie insisted.

Aubrey shook her head, already moving on from that thread. "So we're gonna do this?"

Stacie nodded. "Whatever 'this' is."

They kissed again, as if to seal the deal of whatever it was they were agreeing to, but also with the intent of reminding each other what was at stake, what they weren't willing to lose, what it was they both had on the line and why giving it up was not an option.

Aubrey had little recollection of how they had navigated their way from the couch in the living room to her bed, but they spend the rest of the afternoon negotiating the terms of their new relationship, sealing those terms with the physical affirmation of why said terms had to exist.

Renegotiating and redefining their relationship was the last thing Stacie had expected she would be doing, her remaining days in New York with Aubrey, and she had an epiphany of an understanding of just what Aubrey meant whenever she said all she had ever wanted from their relationship was more time when she found herself waiting for her ride to the airport and feeling like she never wanted to leave any place Aubrey was.

Stacie glanced at Aubrey, who sat beside her on the couch in the lobby of her apartment building, studied her features, taking a mental picture she knew she would have to tide her over until they next saw each other. "When are you heading south?"

Aubrey glanced at her briefly before returning her attention to her phone. "Pretty soon. I just need to get a bunch of meetings and briefings over with."

"How soon can I come and see you?"

"What time is it now?" Aubrey joked, and turned to smile at her. "Anytime you want, Stace. I've already checked out an apartment and talked to the owner, so you can drop by whenever."

"And, like, it's okay, right, we're not going to do that stupid awkward thing where we pretend we're just really affectionate friends because it's the south, and—"

"It's fine, the camp's near a college town and it's done this for tons of companies, they know diversity exists." Aubrey assured her.

Stacie nodded, relieved, because she doubted she would be able to keep her hands off Aubrey if they were going to go without for any period of time. She glanced at Aubrey, bit her lip, and seemingly coming to a decision, mused aloud: "You know, I've heard people who graduate from college tend to have some kind of thing that this girl I slept with once called an emotional paralysis."

Aubrey had to smile. "You only slept with her once?"

"Okay, we're kind of dating and I'm in love with her but she's insane."

Aubrey snorted, but she didn't argue the point. "So some post-graduation ennui, huh?"

"Yeah." Stacie nodded. "So I'm thinking, right, like, I don't want to completely go off the rails when I graduate."

"Touché."

Stacie looked at her. "So maybe you can help me through that? Show me the ropes, keep me from losing my mind?"

Aubrey returned her gaze, equally amused and endeared, and elaborated, "You want to hang out next summer?"

"And, you know, the next two after that." Stacie added. "Because of grad school."

"Of course," Aubrey concurred. "Because of grad school."

"And then maybe every summer after that?" Stacie suggested. "Just to make sure I'm on track, and everything."

"Of course." Aubrey smiled, and nodded. "Yeah. Totally. We should check in. It's a date."

Stacie grinned, the forced levity helping keep her emotions from overwhelming her. "And, you know, you still owe me a ball drop in Times Square."

"And we still should have that trip to San Jose del Cabo," Aubrey agreed.

Stacie gave her a smile, which was so much less the seductive grin she was aiming for and more of a watery sad smile. "We should totally have sex in a foreign country."

"We never got to join the mile-high club," Aubrey mused.

"Or even have sex on a boat," Stacie nodded.

Aubrey quirked an eyebrow at that random statement. "You want to have sex on a boat?"

Stacie shrugged. "I've never had sex on one. And that's got to be easier to talk you into than a plane."

Aubrey laughed softly, and nodded. "Fair enough."

"Boats have cabins that have beds."

"And how big does this theoretical boat have to be?"

"Does it have a bed?"

Aubrey laughed. "Okay. A boat."

"So we should totes keep hooking up, right? We can't not have checked those sex boxes." Stacie pointed out.

Aubrey chuckled. "Yeah. We should do that."

"We should do everything." Stacie added.

Aubrey's amusement faded, her fondness showing on her features, and she smiled affectionately at the other girl. "We should."

A lengthy silence followed, until Stacie once more broke it. "You're gonna be at graduation, right?"

"I wouldn't miss it for the world." Aubrey promised.

Whatever Stacie had to say in response to that got lost when her phone sounded the notification that her ride was waiting, and they both looked out the glass windows to see a car waiting outside. She sighed. "I guess that's my ride."

They stood up, and Aubrey followed Stacie outside, holding the door open while Stacie stashed her bags inside. They stalled, not wanting to say goodbye yet, but the Bellas were waiting for Stacie and Aubrey had to stay for her meeting with her former boss.

It was weird, how much Stacie couldn't look at Aubrey, worried that if she did she might start crying; worried that she would see in Aubrey the same sadness that she felt, and lose any resolve she had, resolve that she had built up, resolve that she had developed as she and Aubrey negotiated the redefining of their relationship and reaffirmed what they knew it to be.

Aubrey looked at her, her heart going out to this girl who had captured her heart so completely, and while she worried they were possibly in over their heads, also knew they would be okay.

"Hey." When Stacie looked up and met her gaze, Aubrey smiled at her. "Aren't you even going to kiss me goodbye?"