A/N: And World's are finally here! Yay! There is another A/N at the bottom (even though I'm not supposed to, but I don't want to give anything away). Maybe there's some angst, maybe not…who knows (what would be the fun in knowing)?
Disclaimer: If wishes were fishes, PP and PP2 would be goldfish and I'd have them in a tank in my room. But they aren't so I don't own anything having to do with them. There is another disclaimer at the end of the chapter.
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After the retreat, Stacie started getting acceptance letters into Ph.D. programs from the schools she applied to. She got offers from most of them and Beca was so proud of her girlfriend. She was also worried about how they were going to handle graduate school. She didn't want to give up her dream of working in the music industry but she couldn't live with herself if she kept Stacie back because of it. She was mentally preparing herself for a few years of a long distance relationship when they sat down to talk about which schools Stacie was seriously considering. The two girls sat in room 312 of the library and Stacie took out all of the offers and spread them out on the table in front of them. Beca couldn't help herself, she pulled the taller girl to her and kissed her firmly before telling her, "I am so fucking proud of you Stace."
Stacie smiled and blushed a little, knowing Beca was proud of her meant the world to her. Nobody had every accepted her as fully and without reservation as the tiny alt girl she had come to love so much, so knowing she was proud actually meant something to her. She started pushing the letters around, looking for two of them in particular. She pulled the two out and set them in front of Beca, "These are my first two choices."
Beca picked up one, then the other, reading them. She looked confused at Stacie, "University of Washington and University of Minnesota? I didn't even know you applied to these two. Why? Are they any good?"
Stacie took Beca's hands in hers, "Well, the University of Washington has an excellent chemistry program and they work closely with Pacific Northwest National Lab in central Washington. It's located in Seattle, which everyone knows has a halfway decent music scene. And Minnesota has a pretty decent program and it's in the Twin Cities. Prince is all I have to say about that."
Beca looked like she was about to cry (which she was, nobody had ever thought about her like this). She kissed the back of Stacie's hand, "Are you sure about these? I mean I see a letter from Berkley in there, they have a great program don't they?"
Stacie pulled Beca in for a hug, resting her head on top of the smaller girl's, "More sure than I've ever been about anything. I couldn't live with myself if I took you away from your music and I know you wouldn't keep me from pursuing my dreams. This way we both get to live our dreams and we get to do it together."
Beca ran her hand up and down Stacie's back, "So do you have a preference?"
Stacie nodded against Beca's head, "Washington actually makes the most sense for what I want to do and it was actually one of my top choices anyway. Plus they gave me one of the best assistantship offers, I'll only have to teach freshman labs for one semester there before I go on a Research assistantship. But if you really have your heart on the Twin Cities, we can do that instead."
Beca sat back and thought for a second, "Not a chance. Seattle has the type of music scene I'm looking for. I think that actually makes sense as the place for me to get my feet wet in the music industry. And besides, if I can actually work in either place then the school that makes the most sense for you is where we go." And just like that, Beca went from stressed out about their future to happy anticipation of what the future would bring them. And that's when the idea first popped into her head.
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Three weeks before Worlds, Beca skipped one night of their library time. Stacie didn't think much of it as she was working extremely hard with Chloe and the other girls to get everything done in time for the competition. Two weeks before Worlds, she missed two nights. Still, Stacie wasn't two concerned as Beca didn't seem to be too stressed out and explained about needing to coordinate with all of the legacy Bellas.
However, now Stacie was a little worried. Beca missed every night this week, even their Thursday night 'date'. They hadn't missed a Thursday night in room 312 since they started doing this that fateful night over a year and a half ago. Even Olivia mentioned something as Stacie returned the key later that evening, "Where's Beca been? I hope she's not sick."
Stacie just mumbled something about, "She's just been working really hard on the routine for Worlds." But she wasn't quite convinced that that was all it was.
That night as the two girls lay in bed, Stacie wrapped around the smaller brunette, she whispered, "Is everything alright Becs? I mean are we ok? It almost seems like you've been avoiding me and you missed our date night."
Beca flipped over and kissed her girlfriend on the nose, "Shhh, I'm not avoiding you and we are definitely doing good, really good if you ask me. I've just been working so hard on this thing for Worlds and it's got to be perfect. I'm sorry I've been so stressed lately and I'm really sorry that I missed our date night. I promise to make it up to you right after Worlds." She pulled Stacie into her arms, stroking her back and the two girls fell asleep holding each other.
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The Bellas walked off the stage after the last notes died. Everyone was proud of their performance and now all they had to do was wait for the judges to finish their scoring and decide the winner. As they walked into the staging area they were supposed to wait in, Beca took Stacie hand and led her to a chair, "Sit please."
Stacie looked up at her confused, but sat down in the chair as all of the Bellas gathered behind Beca. She looked up in shock as Ashley, Jessica and Cynthia Rose started with the 'instrumental' lead-in, followed by the rest of the Bellas before Beca stood in front of her starting the lyrics. She took Stacie's hand in hers as she began singing, after the first few lines Aubrey and Chloe joined in, harmonizing with Beca:
When I was younger
I saw my daddy cry
And curse at the wind
He broke his own heart
And I watched
As he tried to reassemble it
And my momma swore
That she would never let herself forget
And that was the day that I promised
I'd never sing of love
If it does not exist, but darlin'
You are, the only exception
You are, the only exception
You are, the only exception
You are, the only exception
Stacie looked up at Beca with tears in her eyes, the mixture of Chloe's and Aubrey's voices with her Beca's during the chorus was absolutely beautiful. She knew the lyrics to this song and she knew Beca was singing about herself, baring her soul to Stacie again. She couldn't believe Beca was doing this here, now, but she was more in love with this wonderful girl than ever before.
Maybe I know, somewhere
Deep in my soul
That love never lasts
And we've got to find other ways
To make it alone
But keep a straight face
And I've always lived like this
Keeping a comfortable, distance
And up until now
I had sworn to myself that I'm content
With loneliness
Because none of it was ever worth the risk
But, you are, the only exception
You are, the only exception
You are, the only exception
You are, the only exception
I've got a tight grip on reality
But I can't let go of what's in front of me here
I know your leaving in the morning, when you wake up
Leave me with some kind of proof it's not a dream, oh
You are, the only exception
You are, the only exception
You are, the only exception
You are, the only exception
Beca stopped singing and let the rest of the Bellas harmonize the last chorus. She reached into her pocket and knelt in front of Stacie.
You are, the only exception
You are, the only exception
You are, the only exception
You are, the only exception
The Bellas faded out and Beca sang the last two lines solo, holding the ring out.
And I'm on my way to believing
Oh, and I'm on my way to believing
Stacie couldn't stop the tears from flowing down her face as she looked into Beca's eyes. Beca smiled at her as the song ended, "Stacie Conrad, you've made me believe in love again. I've fallen so deeply in love with you that I can't imagine a day without you. Will you marry me so I never have to?"
Stacie nodded happily, "Yes, of course I'll marry you Beca."
Beca happily slid the ring on her fiancé's finger, leaning in for a slow kiss. As she pulled back, she smirked at the taller girl, "I told you I'd make it up to you right after Worlds. I hope this made up for me being a little 'distant' the past couple of weeks but our library time was the only time I could rehearse with the rest of the Bellas without you potentially walking in on us."
Stacie pulled the smaller girl into a tight hug, "This is what you've been doing for the past three weeks?"
Beca nodded shyly, "I hope you don't mind me missing our date night now that you know what it was for."
Stacie kissed her soundly, "I don't mind at all."
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A/N: Pretty much ever since I started writing these fanfics I've had the idea of using "The Only Exception" for a story involving Beca. It just never felt quite perfect, until now. I've known it was going to go here ever since I wrote about Stacie talking about her growing up and knowing that Beca would do the same. I hope you all found it as fitting as I did.
As of now, there might just be a short epilogue for this story. I don't have any bright ideas to keep it going…sorry
Disclaimer: I do not own "The Only Exception" written by Hayley Williams and Josh Farro, performed by Paramore, produced by Rob Cavallo under the label Fueled by Raman and only use it here as a representation of their work and hope I have cited it sufficiently.
