Chapter 4

Running. She had been running for hours, always out of breath but able to keep on. Several people were chasing her but she was too afraid to look back. She heard a bullet whiz by her head, inches from her ear. She choked out a sob but stopped it, knowing she didn't have time to be crying.

She felt the sense that someone was gaining on her. She tried to run faster but it seemed like she was slowing down. She yelped as a hand grabbed her wrist. Everything faded away.

Aubrey's first waking realization was that she was pleasantly warm and comfortable, her second was that there was an arm around her and a hand on her own, curled a little as if it had been holding tight before sleep relaxed it. Aubrey didn't move as she slowly remembered through her own tiredness that Stacie slept with her last night. Aubrey's heart started racing; she liked this feeling a lot - which she didn't understand because in any past relationship (not that this is a relationship, Aubrey quickly thought) she's never liked anyone touching her like this.

She racked her brain for any memory of her nightmares. She usually remembers them pretty well, which she always thought was more of a curse than anything else. She doesn't remember anything from last night - maybe a whisper of a recollection of something but that could have been left over from the night before, she's really not sure.

Aubrey felt Stacie shift in her sleep. She closed her eyes and tried to calm her breathing, kind of hoping Stacie would stay asleep for just a little longer. Aubrey felt Stacie's arms tighten around her for a second before relaxing again; she wasn't sure if the brunette was still sleeping but she still felt the deep, even breathing of Stacie's chest on her back.

Stacie woke without opening her eyes. Sleep still had too much hold on her to make her able to stop herself from automatically snuggling closer to whoever her arm was around. She opened her eyes with the dawning realization of where she was. She prayed that Aubrey was still sleeping. She must be though, right? She would have moved away or woke Stacie if she wasn't. Stacie stayed still for a second, trying to collect her thoughts, and it was then that it dawned on her that it was another soundless night.

Aubrey realized the moment Stacie woke up and tried her best to keep her breathing deep and even. She expected Stacie to move immediately but nothing happened, her arms remained where they were. Maybe Aubrey was mistaken and Stacie hadn't woken up.

After a minute, Stacie carefully lifted her arm off of Aubrey and gently laid on her back. She felt an instant chill to the front of her body and seriously debated returning to her previous position but was afraid she'd wake the blonde.

Aubrey felt the chill too but also, more keenly, felt the absence of the arm around her and the body against her back, felt the comfort go away. Aubrey's stomach tightened. The last thing she wanted was a crush on anyone, let alone someone she sees every day who is a girl and already has a million boyfriends, one of which Aubrey was sure was the crush Stacie had admitted to having last night.

They could have probably laid there for quite some time, both refusing to be the first to move, if not for a sharp knock on the door that startled them both. Seconds later the door flew open and Amy was standing in the doorway.

"Wake up or you'll never get my world famous breakfast!"

Stacie rose on her elbows to look at Amy. "What is it?"

"Donuts."

"You made donuts?"

"No, don't be stupid. I bought them."

Stacie rolled her eyes as Amy turned to leave, shutting the door behind her. Aubrey sat up in bed, not sure how to act but not wanting to be awkward either. She starting rubbing the back of her neck with one hand, a nervous habit.

"Ughh, I'm so tired," Stacie groaned, letting her arms collapse so she was laying down on the bed again. "Leave me," she said, playfully dramatic. "I'm going to stay here and sleep forever." Aubrey chuckled. She didn't know how Stacie always managed to act like nothing happened but she was glad for it.

"Hey, this is my bed!"

Stacie gave Aubrey a pout. "You won't share with me?"

Aubrey grabbed a pillow and smacked her with it, laughing.

"Oh, you tryin' to start something with me, Posen?" Stacie sat up quickly, hands going to Aubrey's stomach as she started tickling her. Aubrey squealed and began laughing, trying to squirm away from Stacie and when that didn't work, reaching out to tickle the brunette in return. Stacie is extremely ticklish and once Aubrey started tickling her, she could only twist her body and try to defend herself by blocking Aubrey's hands, laughing hysterically.

When she couldn't take it anymore, she finally caught Aubrey's wrists and overpowered her, ending up on top of the blonde while pinning her hands slightly above her head. They both immediately stopped laughing and the room turned silent except for their breathing, heavy from the exertion. Stacie's face was over Aubrey's and they were both staring at each other. Aubrey's heart was racing, and not just from being out of breath.

"I win," Stacie said quietly after several moments, moving off of her and letting her hands go. Aubrey let out a slow breath. "Don't even think about a sneak attack later; I always win," Stacie smirked, trying to normalize things.

Aubrey quirked an eyebrow. "Oh really? That sounds like a challenge." Stacie shrugged and then flashed Aubrey a grin. She got up and stretched, yawning.

"I was wondering.." Stacie said slowly, like she was contemplating if she was going to finish the sentence. "-if you wanted to watch a movie with me tonight at my place? It's just.. you've hosted me like three times now and I don't know.. I thought it might be fun?"

"Yeah, let's do it." Aubrey smiled, excitement hitting her only to be immediately followed by a fear that spending too much time with Stacie would only result in trouble - trouble as in she'd get herself in too deep with no hope of anything coming of it. She tried to shake off the feeling.

"Wait. You're going to hang out with Stacie tonight?" Chloe asked, sounding slightly on edge.

Aubrey's brows furrowed in confusion. "Yes. You just told me you're hanging out with Beca, so what's the problem?"

Chloe shrugged and looked down at the ground. "That seems, I don't know, different. I like Beca - like I like like her. She's not another friend who will replace you."

Aubrey laughed, "I'm not worried about anyone replacing me." When she saw Chloe's dejected expression, the realization hit her. "Oh... Chlo, listen," she said gently, touching Chloe's arm. "No one is replacing you either. There's not a person on this planet who could replace you."

Chloe gave her a half-smile, not truly convinced. "I'm sorry. I don't want it to be like you can't have friends who aren't me… but that would be nice," she laughed and Aubrey gave her arm a playful smack.

"So can we talk for a second about you saying you like Beca because…" Aubrey raised an eyebrow.

Chloe's face turned red. "Yeah, well," she said, looking at her hands, "it's not like she likes me back or anything."

"You're blind. She's totally into you."

"It doesn't seem like it."

"That's because she's Beca - but I'm not sure she would have agreed to game night for anyone else. Maybe she just needs a little help."

Chloe sighed. "I don't know, maybe."

Aubrey was standing in front of Stacie's door trying to control her nerves. She wiped her palms on her jeans and took a deep breath before raising her fist and knocking. She heard Stacie yell for her to come in and she opened the door. She'd never been in Stacie's room before and was surprised by how neat and girly it was. Stacie was sitting at her desk and turned around to grin at her. Aubrey waved.

"How did you get a single room?"

Stacie laughed. "I won it." Aubrey raised an eyebrow at her. "This really cocky senior girl bet me that she could get this guy in bed before me. She didn't stand a chance." Stacie smirked. Aubrey forced out a laugh, not entirely comfortable with the idea of Stacie getting any person in bed.

"What would she have got if she won?" Aubrey asked as Stacie handed her a bottle of water,

"I would have had to sleep with her." Aubrey choked on her water. "I'm kidding!" Stacie laughed. "The bet was $500 but I didn't want money so she bet her room. I don't think this sort of arrangement is technically allowed so if anyone asks, my name is Brittany." Stacie winked, making Aubrey chuckle.

Aubrey sat on Stacie's bed. It seemed bigger than a twin but wasn't as big as a full which confused her. She looked at the paintings all over Stacie's wall - they were abstract but amazing, dark paintings with splashes of bright color. Stacie noticed the blonde staring at one in particular.

"That one was a real pain to get the layering right. I'm still not sure it turned out how I wanted it," she said.

"You made these?" Aubrey asked, wide eyed.

Stacie shrugged it off, her face coloring a little. "It's just something I do for fun."

"These are really amazing. I mean, I know nothing about art but I know I like these."

"Well, thanks," Stacie smiled.

"So what movie are we watching?"

"I haven't picked one out. But over there on the shelf are a bunch of the movies I already own and then of course there's Netflix. See if you can find one."

Aubrey made her way to the shelf and saw a pretty impressive collection of movies. As she was scanning through, Stacie came and stood beside her.

"I haven't seen most of these."

"Really? Do you not like movies? We don't have to watch a movie."

"No, no, I love movies. I just don't watch them all that much. That's why Chloe and I started our weekly movie years ago. I feel like I'm still so behind. See - like, I've never seen Harry Potter," Aubrey said, pointing at the movie on the shelf.

"WHAT?" Stacie shouted. "Tell me you're joking, please."

Aubrey chuckled, "No, I'm serious. I read the books but didn't get around to the movies."

"That's it, then," Stacie said firmly, shaking her head. "Stop looking, we're watching Harry Potter. We need to fix this immediately." Stacie pulled the first movie off the shelf and went back to her bed.

Aubrey returned to the bed, too, and sat next to Stacie, back up against the wall. Stacie set her computer on a little table with wheels that went over the bed. "Are you ready for this awesomeness?"

Aubrey nodded. "Totally ready." She was definitely ready for the movie to start, if only so that she could hopefully focus on something besides how close she and Stacie were. The brunette started the movie and reached over Aubrey to turn off the light.

It was past 8 when Aubrey first got to Stacie's place and almost midnight when the the movie ended. Aubrey had managed to get absorbed into the movie, which she was thankful for. Stacie, however, had seen Harry Potter a million times so she found herself a little more distracted. She tried to sneak glances at Aubrey but didn't want Aubrey to notice. By the time the movie was coming to an end, Stacie had formulated a plan.

"That movie was great! Maybe next time we can watch the second one?" Aubrey said, excited that she had an excuse to bring up them watching a movie again.

"Definitely, it's a date." Stacie grinned and Aubrey felt butterflies in her stomach, which she was kind of annoyed about.

"Thanks for inviting me over."

"I was just thinking, well, it's kinda late," Stacie said and Aubrey nodded. "I don't really think you should be walking home right now."

"It's okay, Stace. I'll be fine." Aubrey waved her off.

"Why don't you just stay here? It's no big deal and I'd feel a lot more comfortable," Stacie met Aubrey's eyes and watched the blonde furrow her brow just slightly and bite her lip. It's not that Stacie didn't think Aubrey would make it home, campus is pretty safe, but she didn't like the idea of sending her away to just go have a nightmare by herself. The brunette knows she can't be there every night to stop them, or even most nights, but tonight she seemed to have a good enough reason and she didn't want to pass it up.

"Um, I don't have any pajamas," Aubrey said lamely. She couldn't think of a reason not to stay and it probably didn't help that she actually wanted to stay, but she really thought it best that she didn't.

"You can wear some of mine, silly." Stacie flashed Aubrey a smile. "So, will you stay?"

Aubrey took in a deep breath. "Okay, sure, I'll stay." She smiled at Stacie. "Let me just text Chloe so she doesn't worry."

Stacie was trying to force herself to stay awake. She wanted to try to stop Aubrey's nightmare right when it started, if possible. She's not sure it would work, another nightmare might just replace that one and short of keeping Aubrey awake all the time, there wasn't much she could do about that. But she had to try.

Stacie felt herself growing drowsy, fighting sleep was never something she was good at. Just as she was about to drift off, she felt Aubrey's body jerk quickly and then still. Stacie wasn't sure if it was a twitch or the beginning of something so she waited. After 20 minutes, though, she couldn't fight sleep any longer.

A shout woke Stacie over an hour later. Aubrey was whimpering and shaking, her arms straight at her sides, fists opening and clenching and opening again. Her face was in a grimace of pain. Stacie immediately sat up and shook her shoulder. She noticed that Aubrey's whole body was tensed so tight that she's pretty sure if she picked her up, her body would stay completely rigid.

Stacie grabbed Aubrey's shoulders and shook them forcefully, more than a little frightened and wanting to get through to her. Aubrey bolted up in bed, gasping lungful after lungful of air as if she'd been underwater for too long. Her eyes opened but weren't focused and her body was still trembling, tears were running down her cheeks.

Stacie pulled her into a hug, wrapping her arms right around her. She was surprised when Aubrey turned into the embrace, placing her face in the crook of Stacie's neck. Aubrey's body slowly stopped trembling. Stacie looked down and Aubrey's eyes were closed and she thought maybe she was sleeping. But then the blonde shifted her head and Stacie took a sharp breath when she felt Aubrey's lips on her neck. She felt one gentle kiss and then the older girl's head lifted.

Aubrey eyes opened but they still weren't clear; Stacie wasn't sure if Aubrey could see her or not. Stacie's arms were still around the blonde and Aubrey lifted her hand and put it on Stacie's cheek. Stacie watched Aubrey close her eyes and lean in until her lips met the brunette's. Stacie could taste the tears on Aubrey's lips. Aubrey lightly scraped her nails down Stacie's cheek and moved her hand to the back of Stacie's neck. The younger girl felt Aubrey take her bottom lip in her mouth, gently scraping her teeth against it.

Stacie's heart felt like it was going to hammer out of her chest. She didn't know what to do - she wanted to be kissing Aubrey but not if Aubrey didn't know she was kissing Stacie. Just as Stacie was debating pulling away, Aubrey ended the kiss and nuzzled back into Stacie's neck, placing one more gentle kiss there before letting the weight of her head rest on the brunette's shoulder. A few minutes later, Aubrey was fully asleep again and Stacie was left trying to figure out exactly what had just happened.