Beca waved her hand in front of Stacie's face. She had stopped responding a block away from their building. "Are you even listening to me?"

Stacie jumped and looked at her. "What? Sorry, I was thinking about something else."

"No shit. Is there something you'd like to share with the class?" Beca raised her eyebrows. Stacie scrunched up her face. Beca rolled her eyes. "Fine, don't tell me. How did your afternoon with Bitchsen go?"

"Don't call her that." Stacie grumbled.

"Whoa! When did you start defending her?" Beca turned to face her while they waited for the light to change and gasped. "Is that who's distracting you? What happened yesterday?"

"Nothing. She met me at my shoot, we went to that cafe in Williamsburg to work, and then I took her home." The light changed and she crossed the street.

Beca stood there gaping for a second before she ran to catch up. "You took her to the place you go to when you want to get away from everyone?"

Stacie shrugged. "We were in Red Hook, it was the closest place I knew."

"Right." Beca narrowed her eyes. "And what do you mean you took her home? Doesn't she have a driver?"

"Yeah, we took the subway."

Beca started laughing. "Are you serious? I would've paid to see Aubrey riding the subway. Please tell me you saw a rat and she cried."

"Dude, don't be an ass." Stacie glared at her and sped up.

Beca rolled her eyes and had to run to keep up with Stacie. "Come on! You would've laughed at that last week." Stacie didn't slow down. "Fine, I'm sorry I made fun of your girlfriend."

"She's not my girlfriend." Stacie smiled at the thought of Aubrey being her girlfriend.

Beca noticed and smirked. "But you're thinking about it." Stacie blushed and Beca laughed patting her back. "I'm glad you're not denying your feelings anymore, Stace."

"Fine." Stacie looked around, they were only a block away from school so there was a good chance someone would overhear. "I like Aubrey. But it doesn't matter, she still hates me."

"I wouldn't be so sure."

It was Stacie's turn to hurry up to catch up to Beca. "What do you mean?"

Beca shrugged. "Chloe said Aubrey told her she didn't think you were that bad." Stacie stopped and smiled. She thought about Aubrey holding onto her on the train and her heart sped up. "Dude, you're gonna be late!"

"Hey!" Stacie sat next to Aubrey. Aubrey smiled up at her before turning back to the notebook in front of her. Chloe and Beca exchanged a look but didn't say anything.

"Finishing homework during lunch, Posen?" She clicked her tongue and shook her head.

Aubrey chuckled. "I'm starting the calculus homework since you're coming over later and I don't know how much time I'll have for this."

"That's not due until Friday, you still have time."

"I know, but calculus isn't really my thing so I like starting early in case I have questions." Aubrey bit her lip and looked down at her notebook.

Stacie straddled the bench to face Aubrey. "I can help you if you want."

Aubrey looked at her and smiled. "Really?" Stacie nodded. "Can you look at my first question? I'm not sure my answer's right."

Stacie scooted forward and leaned over to look at Aubrey's notebook. Aubrey leaned back to let her through, holding herself up with a hand on Stacie's thigh. Stacie tried to keep her breathing normal and focus on the numbers on the paper. "You changed the sign here but everything else is right."

Aubrey moved forward letting go of her leg and looked at her notebook. "Oh yeah… Thanks, Stace." She smiled and turned to look at Stacie. Stacie's breath hitched in her throat when she realized how close their faces were. Her eyes moved to Aubrey's lips for a millisecond.

Beca coughed making Aubrey turn away. Stacie leaned back but kept looking at Aubrey. She noticed her cheeks had a slight red tint and her stomach flipped.

The bell rang and Stacie frowned. "Ugh I need to go to the library to return a book." She stood up and hesitated. She didn't know if she was pushing her luck but she bent down and kissed Aubrey's cheek. "Bye, guys."

Chloe and Beca looked at Aubrey questioningly. "What? You wanted us to get along, we're getting along."

"Do you want something to drink before we start?"

"I'm good." Aubrey led Stacie upstairs.

"Do you mind working in my room? It's more comfortable and we can focus better." She stood holding the doorknob hoping Stacie would say yes. She would usually work with people in the study downstairs but she wanted to be alone with her.

"Sure." Stacie smiled. Aubrey smiled back and opened the door.

Stacie stepped in and looked around. This was not how she imagined Aubrey's room would be like. The walls were white except for the one behind her queen sized bed, which had a flower patterned greyish brown wallpaper. There were a series of ballet themed prints hanging behind the bed. In front of the bed, there was a large mahogany desk and a bookshelf. Everything fit perfectly together, like one of those interior design magazines her dad had in his office. It was classy and perfect and it screamed Aubrey. Stacie walked up to look at the prints. "Do you dance?"

"I did. I don't really have time anymore with school and extracurriculars." Aubrey shrugged.

"Do you miss it?" Stacie turned to her. She wasn't sure where she was supposed to sit.

"Sometimes, I guess. It helped me relax." Aubrey noticed Stacie standing awkwardly in the middle of the room and motioned for her to sit on her bed. Aubrey sat on the chair in front of her desk leaning on the back to face Stacie.

Stacie pursed her lips. "What do you do to relax now?"

Aubrey chuckled. "Do I look relaxed?"

"You do, actually. At least you've looked more relaxed than usual this past week." Stacie wanted to think she had something to do with it but she was too afraid to ask directly.

Aubrey thought about it for a second. "I guess I have been less stressed. I don't really know why though."

Aubrey smirked at Stacie. They stayed in silence for a while, Stacie trying not to read too much into Aubrey's smile and Aubrey wondering why she spent so much time pushing Stacie away. Aubrey looked down. "We should probably start."

Stacie nodded and kicked off her shoes. She grabbed her notebook and lay on her stomach on Aubrey's bed. After a while, Aubrey joined Stacie on the bed. She sat with her back on the headboard and her computer on her lap, her feet brushing Stacie's hip.

They were putting the finishing editing touches to their project when there was a knock on Aubrey's door. Aubrey told whoever it was to come in and her mom entered the room. "Hey mom."

Stacie jumped to her feet and stretched her hand out to Aubrey's mom. "Mrs. Posen, it's really nice to meet you. I'm Stacie."

Aubrey's mom smiled at her. "It's really nice to meet you too, Stacie. I was just coming over to ask if you wanted to stay for dinner."

"I'm sure Stacie has better things to do." Aubrey said curtly.

"I'd love to stay." Stacie beamed at Aubrey's mom who smiled back.

"Perfect! I'll get another place set." She walked to the door. "I'll see you girls in a bit."

Aubrey frowned. "You don't have to stay for dinner."

Stacie's heart dropped when she saw Aubrey's face. "You don't want me to stay?"

"No, it's not that." Aubrey sighed and gave her a small smile. "It's just that dinners here aren't exactly fun. My parents are really strict and not entirely pleasant company."

"Your mom seemed okay." Aubrey shrugged. Stacie sat on the bed next to her and took her hand. "If you don't want me to stay I can go, I'll tell your mom my parents called me or something."

"No, it's okay. Stay." Aubrey squeezed her hand.

"Are you sure?" Aubrey nodded. "Okay, I'm gonna go wash my hands then." Stacie pressed a kiss to Aubrey's cheek and squeezed her hand before standing up and walking into the bathroom.

Aubrey touched her cheek where Stacie kissed her and smiled. It was the first time Stacie had kissed her outside of the cafeteria and it felt different. Most of the other times, Aubrey knew she was just doing it to annoy her. It was a quick, loud smack. The last couple of times, Stacie's lips had lingered longer on her cheek. Aubrey had dismissed it as Stacie just being distracted, but she couldn't use that excuse this time. She had been looking at Stacie and saw the moment she decided to do it, she felt her hesitate just before her lips touched her skin, and felt her lips linger there. Aubrey had stopped breathing and she felt her heart hammering in her chest.

Stacie came out of the bathroom and smiled at her. "Ready?" Aubrey nodded.

Dinner started well enough. Stacie asked Aubrey what her parents did on their way down. As soon as introductions were made, she asked her dad about the upcoming Ferrari IPO, apparently she read the Wall Street Journal, and he'd talked all the way through the first course. Her mom had made him stop when the chicken arrived and they moved on to school. Aubrey told them about the project they'd been working on and other school stuff. The dessert arrived and Aubrey caught herself smiling at something Stacie said. She didn't remember the last time she had smiled during dinner.

"So, Aubrey, when is that math tournament you tried out for?" Aubrey whipped her head around to look at her dad.

Stacie smiled. "I didn't know you were in that too!"

Aubrey looked down at her plate and pushed her ice cream around. "I'm not, I… I didn't get in."

"Oh." Her father frowned. "Well, Stacie, congratulations."

"Thank you." Stacie answered halfheartedly. She looked over at Aubrey, she was still looking down at her plate. Stacie reached out and took Aubrey's hand under the table, squeezing it.

"Well, if you'll excuse me, I have some phone calls to make." Stacie let go of Aubrey's hand and stood up to shake her dad's hand. "It was lovely to meet you Stacie, I'm sure your parents are really proud of you."

Stacie nodded. Aubrey's mom excused herself too and left them alone. Stacie sat down and took Aubrey's hand again. "Bree, I'm sorry, I didn't know."

"It's okay, Stacie, it's not your fault." Aubrey shook her head and pulled her hand away from Stacie's standing up. "You should go home, I need to work on my calculus homework."

"Oh, yeah. I should get on that too." They walked in silence to Aubrey's room so Stacie could get her things. Stacie felt her chest tighten when she remembered they had been joking around there just a while ago.

Aubrey walked her to the elevator and waited with her. Stacie stepped up to Aubrey and considered taking her hand again but she didn't want Aubrey to think she felt sorry for her. "I'll see you tomorrow at school."

Aubrey nodded. The elevator dinged and Stacie was about to lean forward and kiss Aubrey goodbye but she took a step back, crossing her arms across her chest, as if she knew Stacie was going to do that. "Goodbye, Stacie."

Stacie spotted Aubrey by her locker and she hurried to her. "Hey."

Aubrey looked up at her briefly before looking back into her locker. "Hello, can I help you with something?"

Stacie was taken aback by Aubrey's response. "No, I just wanted to make sure you were okay."

"Of course I am, why wouldn't I be?" The bell rang and Aubrey closed her locker. She started to walk to her first class and Stacie fell into step beside her. "Why are you following me?"

Stacie exhaled loudly. "We have the same classes, Aubrey, I need to get to the classroom too."

"Oh, right…" Aubrey walked a little faster.

Stacie reached out and tugged her forearm. "Aubrey, wait."

Aubrey rolled her eyes. She had stopped and turned but she was looking everywhere but at Stacie's eyes. "Stacie, we have class, can this wait?"

"No, it can't! Can you please talk to me? I thought we were friends."

"I'm sorry I did anything that could have led you to that conclusion, Stacie, but we've never been friends. We were working on a project together; it's done, we can go back to the way things were now." Stacie opened her mouth, she could feel tears stinging in her eyes and she swallowed to keep them at bay. She dropped her hand from Aubrey's arm. As soon as she removed her hand, Aubrey turned and walked away.

Aubrey rushed from class to class, managing to avoid Stacie even though they had all of the day's classes together. Stacie figured she'd have a chance to talk to her during lunch but Aubrey sat with her friends from the debate team instead of with them. Stacie sighed and picked at her food. She looked so sad it was bringing Chloe and Beca down too.

"Dude, come on, it couldn't have been that bad." Beca poked Stacie and she barely looked up.

"You don't know Bree's dad, Becs." Chloe moved to sit next to Stacie and wrapped an arm around her shoulder. "Stace, it's going to be okay."

Stacie shook her head. "She hates me again."

Chloe rubbed her arm. "She doesn't hate you, she's just hurt. She needs time."

"Time for what? Stacie didn't do anything, she's insane." Both Chloe and Stacie glared at her. "What? She is! Stacie shouldn't suffer because of her daddy issues. I say good riddance."

"Beca, you're not helping." Chloe said through gritted teeth. She squeezed Stacie. "I'll talk to her, maybe she'll listen to me."

"Thanks, Chlo, but I think you should leave it alone. I doubt there's anything you can do." She dropped her fork on her uneaten lunch and stood up. "I need to be... somewhere else. I'll see you later."

"What are we going to do?" Beca frowned and looked at Stacie leaving the cafeteria. "I've never seen her like this."

"I don't know." Chloe sighed and shook her head. "You try to cheer her up and I'll talk to Aubrey."

A/N: This is shorter than the other chapters but ACamp-toner said I should stop there so if you wanna yell at someone, yell at her.