A/N: Well, this one isn't flowing as smoothly as I'd like, but hopefully it's getting us to the place we need to be

Disclaimer: Nothing Pitch Perfect (1, 2 or 3) is owned by me. I mean no offense by playing in their universe.

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The Bellas stood just outside the boarding area that they had just disembarked from, sharing hugs as they prepared to head to their connecting flights home. Beca gave Emily a hug, noticing that she felt a little stiff at first, then she melted into the hug like she usually did. She gave the taller brunette a squeeze, "Now don't be a stranger, I expect to hear from you at least twice a week."

Emily blushed at the attention, "Yes Ma'am."

Aubrey followed it up with a hug of her own, "Don't forget to keep writing Ems, you're so good at it."

Emily blushed again, "I won't, I promise."

Beca and Aubrey watched the rest of the Bellas walk away, Beca already missing those awesome nerds. Finally she turned to her girlfriend, "Alright beautiful, which gate am I escorting you to?"

Aubrey smirked without saying anything, leading the confused brunette towards the baggage claim. Beca stopped just before the 'Point of no return', "Ummm, Bree? You know it's a hassle to get back in if you go any further."

Aubrey turned her head and raised her eyebrow at the stammering girl. Then she started walking again, dragging a very confused Beca behind her. When they stopped at the assigned baggage carousel for their flight, Aubrey finally decided to clue Beca in on what was happening. Aubrey started by brushing a light kiss over Beca's lips, "I hope you don't mind, but I changed my flight plans so I could stay in New York a few days."

Beca looked disinterested before breaking out into a big grin, "I don't mind at all. What made you decide to change your plans?"

Aubrey shrugged, "Well, you don't expect me to live in that little one bedroom apartment you share with Amy and Chloe, do you? I thought we could look around and try to find a nice three bedroom place."

Beca smirked, "You know this makes us those stereotypical lesbians, right? Should we rent the U-haul while we are at it?"

Aubrey just glared playfully at the smaller girl, "Well, you don't have to move in with me if you don't want."

Beca kissed the glare off of her face, "Oh hell no Posen, I'm not spending more time away from than necessary. I've got over three years to make up for."

Aubrey laughed into the kisses, "Good."

Beca suddenly stopped, "Wait, why three bedrooms? Not that I'm being presumptuous about us sleeping in the same bed, but yah, I'm being presumptuous."

Aubrey shrugged, "Well I had assumed we'd be sharing a room, one for your mixing equipment and my office stuff and..," she shrugged again, "one for whatever."

Beca looked down at the floor, "Ummm, I can't afford that big of a place Bree."

Aubrey saw their bags come down the luggage carousel, "Hold that thought." She quickly moved up to the edge and pulled Beca's bag off and handed to her before grabbing her suitcase. She led the smaller girl over to a quiet (ok, relatively quiet) area away from the baggage claim. She took Beca's hands in hers, dipping her head down to catch the smaller brunette's eyes, "I know you can't afford it, yet, but I can. I know you're independent and I love that about you, but please let me do this while we are both getting our feet under us in this new path we're taking."

Beca looked hard into Aubrey's eyes, trying to look for something but she didn't really know what. After a moment she seemed to find what she was looking for, so she sighed, "You know I hate relying on other people."

Aubrey leaned down and rested her forehead against the smaller girl's, "I know, but I'm your girlfriend not just 'other people'."

Beca shook her head slightly, "I'm still going to pay part of the rent."

Aubrey smirked, "I wouldn't expect any less."

A ghost of a smile started across Beca's lips, "And I'm sure I can find some way to earn my keep around the apartment."

Aubrey kissed Beca's nose as she pulled back and grabbed the handle of her suitcase, responding over her shoulder as she started to walk away, "Perfect, you can do all of the dishes and laundry." Her laugh rang through the terminal as Beca sputtered about how that wasn't what she meant while running to catch up to the blonde.

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The next three days were a blur for Beca. Aubrey didn't even want to stay in the tiny apartment while looking for a place to stay (she still couldn't figure out how Beca managed to room with Amy for five years), so the two women found a moderately priced hotel in the area that Aubrey wanted to focus their search in. They then spent most of two days walking through apartments and talking with building managers until Aubrey found one she was satisfied with. While they were walking through the place on their own, the manager waiting by the front door, Aubrey pulled Beca into the master bedroom, "I really like this one, what do you think?"

Beca half whined, "Bree, I was okay with the second one we looked at, so yes, I'm okay with it."

Aubrey gave a small pout, "This isn't just about me Beca, it's going to be both of our place so I want to know what you really think."

Beca stretched up and brushed a quick kiss over Aubrey's lips, "Alright, I'll be serious. The Master is good sized and we should be able to fit a nice bed and dressers for both of us. I've managed to live off of a clothing rack for three years, so the closet space will be nice. Although I don't know how much stuff you actually have." Aubrey just gave a smirk and a shrug. Beca continued, "The second bedroom should be alright for our work room, but it might get a little tight depending on what exactly you'll want in there. I can see a nice 'L' desk and a couple of bookshelves for you and a space for my mixing stuff on either a nice desk or table. The bathroom and kitchen are probably the nicest we've looked at so far, so yes baby, I'm good with this apartment."

Aubrey smiled at Beca, "Thank you. That's about what I was thinking too. Should we get it?"

Beca took Aubrey's hand, "I'm game if you are." And just like that, the two women had an apartment.

The two women spent Aubrey's last day in New York shopping for their new apartment. Beca really didn't have all that much stuff and Aubrey only had her stuff from the small efficiency bungalow she lived in at the retreat. The first thing the two women purchased was a bed, they spent a couple of hours laying and bouncing on different mattresses, arguing about it being too hard or too soft. After the fifth store and sixteenth mattress, Beca looked at Aubrey with a thoroughly frustrated look, "Are we sure about this? We can't even agree on a mattress Bree."

Aubrey laughed at her girlfriend, "Yes, I'm sure and I know you are too, you just don't like shopping." Beca just huffed at her. Aubrey grabbed the smaller girl's hand as they left the current shop, "Alright, let's take a break and get the angry hobbit something to eat."

Beca groused at Aubrey, "So not the time to make fun of the tired, hungry girlfriend." But she couldn't hide the small smile that curled her lips.

The two women stopped at a small restaurant next to their last unsuccessful stop. They enjoyed a quiet lunch, talking about some of the things that needed to be done both before and after Aubrey left to finish up at The Lodge. Beca's mood improved significantly with the food and non-shopping down-time and the two women were actually able to get most of the things off of their list, including a bed that they were both happy with.

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Aubrey set her bag down just outside the security check point, turning to the smaller brunette that was holding her hand. She let go of the hand and opened her arms, feeling a peace settle over her as her girlfriend settled between them and wrapped her arms around the taller woman's waist. Aubrey followed suit and wrapped her arms lovingly around Beca, just allowing the soothing feeling to wash over her, knowing it would be at least another month before she'd be able to do this again. Aubrey murmured against Beca's hair, 'I know we've been friends for a while now, but for as new as 'us' is, being in your arms just feels so right, it feels like home."

Beca leaned back and pulled the taller blonde in for a chaste kiss, "That's just indigestion Bree."

Aubrey scowled at the smaller girl, giving her shoulder a push, "I pour my heart out to you and that's what I get?"

Beca took her hand, holding it even tighter when Aubrey tried pulling it away, "Sorry Bree, I'm just dreading this. I mean I finally get the courage to tell you how I feel, okay, well actually you 'told' me, but I reciprocated, and now you are going away. What if you decide not to come back?"

Aubrey couldn't help herself, getting her own little shot in, "Well I already put a deposit down on an apartment, I kind of have to come back." Beca gave her a look like 'Oh really?' to which Aubrey just shrugged her shoulders. Aubrey then pulled Beca back into a hug, "I'll be back before you know it, and yes it is going to be tough for me too. I've, we've, spent too much time not being brave enough to go after our feelings and now that we have, we're going to be separated again. I'll hurry up and get things situated at The Lodge so I can get back here as soon as physically possible."

Beca mumbled into her shoulder, "You promise?"

Aubrey reached up and cupped Beca's cheeks, pulling her in for a soft kiss, "I promise."

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Well it turned out that DJ Khaled and Theo didn't just want Beca for her singing talents, they also wanted to use her production skills on a couple of projects. So while they were working on finalizing Beca's contract they offered to pay her a flat daily rate to come in and work a few days on a couple of projects at the label. Beca had just gotten home from the studio when she got a text from Aubrey asking to Skype.

Beca plopped down at the 'kitchen' table, pushing aside some of Fat Amy's snacks to make room for her laptop. After waiting an eternity for her computer to wake up (okay, it was only about half a minute, but it felt so much longer), she finally connected and saw Aubrey's beautiful face smiling back at her. Beca felt the stress of the day leaving her body as she greeted her girlfriend, "Hi there gorgeous, how was your day?"

Aubrey shrugged, "As good as can be expected. I think I've gotten the last of the administrative things moved over under Mary. I swear it took forever to get her authorized with the payroll company, but she now has full authority over electronically signing paychecks and doing payroll. How was your first day there as a producer?"

Beca mimicked Aubrey's shrug, "Nothing really spectacular. It was really just getting acquainted with their equipment and going over what projects they want me on."

Aubrey smiled at Beca through the screen, "You'll be taking over the place soon. But I wanted to Skype with you because I wasn't completely truthful when I told you what I wanted the third bedroom for."

Beca looked at the screen curiously, "Oh, do tell Miss Posen."

Aubrey held up her finger, "Hold on one second."

Beca heard the tones for a call, which was odd because she was already on the call. All of a sudden Emily's face popped up on her screen next to Aubrey's. Emily was smiling and gave a small wave at the screen, "Hi Aubrey…oh, Beca you're here too. Hi!"

Beca looked at the picture of Aubrey on her screen (she really didn't think Aubrey would know she was staring at her, but she did it anyway), "Okay baby, what is Legacy doing here?"

Aubrey raised her eyebrow at the camera, "It's Emily and if you pipe down for a second you'll find out."

Beca looked at the younger girl's picture on her screen, "Sorry Ems."

Emily laughed at the two older girls before responding, "It's alright!"

Aubrey started, "Emily, have you found a job yet? What are you doing for the summer?"

Emily sighed, "Well, funny story there. I missed the fact that if I want to go home and work in a school, I have to have a course in the history of the state. It turns out that a school can't hire you until you are at least taking the course, as in having already started it. So, I'm taking it online over the summer, but I can't really start looking for jobs until then."

Beca frowned, "That sucks Em."

Aubrey agreed, "It really does suck, but what are your plans for the summer then? Besides taking the online course."

Emily shrugged, "I was probably just going to go home and find some kind of summer job."

Aubrey smiled, "How would you like to come to New York and stay with us?"

Emily gave a kind of grimace, "It's not like I wouldn't love to spend time with you, but you'll both be working out there and I really should earn some money, just in case."

Aubrey nodded, "That's why you should come to New York. I have a job for you."

Both Beca and Emily looked at the blonde like she had gone crazy. Beca spoke first, "Bree, how are you going to hire Emily for anything?"

Aubrey shrugged, "I'm not, you are."

Now both girls really looked confused. Aubrey laughed, "Beca, remember when I told you that it was my job to find you original songs?"

Beca nodded remembering the conversation when all of a sudden another conversation flashed through her mind. She playfully pointed at the camera, "Oh you bitch, you've been planning this since day one, haven't you?"

Aubrey just shrugged at the screen. Emily piped in, "Ok, what is going on?"

Beca chuckled under her breath before responding, "Apparently, Aubrey is looking out for both of us. Would you like to come to New York for the summer and work with me on some original songs for my album? I'm assuming Aubrey would love to be your manager and we'll work out some kind of contract for you to be paid for each song that makes the cut for the album."

Emily's hands started flailing around excitedly, "Oh my God, are you serious? I'd love to work with you on some songs. I've actually been writing again and I think a couple of them would be perfect for you."

Aubrey clapped her hands to get everyone's attention again, "Perfect. We have a spare room in our new place so you can live with us."

Emily hoped that the other two girls couldn't see her blush, "Oh, you meant actually stay with you guys."

Beca chuckled, "Of course Ems, we wouldn't expect you to get your own place for the summer. Besides, blondie over there has been planning this for weeks. She picked our place specifically so you'd have a place to stay."

Aubrey shrugged, "So I like to be prepared, sue me."

The girls continued to talk about their plans for the summer and work through the logistics of getting Emily's stuff to New York. When everything was basically worked through and the conversation started to drag a little, Emily disconnected from the call leaving Beca and Aubrey 'alone'.

Beca looked at Aubrey fondly through the lens, "Thank you baby."

Aubrey's forehead crinkled, "For what Becs?"

Beca smiled and ran her fingertips over the image of Aubrey on her screen, "For looking out for me."

Aubrey smiled back, "Always."