A/N: So if you haven't noticed today is not Thursday, why am I posting a new chapter then. Well I wanted to post twice for the week of Christmas, but then realized that the second chapter would have been Chapter 14. Which would have been really shitty right before Christmas. Now I started writing chapter 16 and it's super long and really easy to split. So this is the first half and I'll post the rest on Thursday. (I still have to finish it) It's kind of fitting anyway because it's my birthday. I know that some readers have requested that I post twice a week, especially given that I have mentioned that I have some chapters pre-written. Which I would love to do, but I only have a few chapters after this one written. (This one connects what's posted to what's pre-written.) My concern is that if I post them all I will get behind, then school will start, and I will not be able to post anything. So to make sure that I can continue posting once a week, this will be a onetime thing. Or what I could always do is if I have an extremely long chapter again I can do a double post and split it. (There will probably be one more.)

Another commonly asked question is if there will be a Chloe POV. For this fic, there will not be one. It would ruin the whole layout of it. Chloe's background will eventually be touched on, which will explain some of her actions, but not from her POV. Some readers have suggested a companion piece once this one is finished that would involve the same story from Chloe's POV. I would be more open to that. I'm currently on the fence about it just because I find it easier to write for Beca. If by the end of this fic there is still an interest, then I will definitely seriously consider it and see if what I come up with would be worth posting.

Now I am going to reply to a few guest comments below so feel free to skip ahead. As always thank you all for all of the reviews, follows, and favorites! They really make my day. I did a quick proof read of this, so I might have missed some mistakes. I hope you enjoy the new chapter! If not there is always Thursday. (Sorry this is so long!)

*** I had to re upload this to fix a really big mistake. Sorry for any confusion.

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Fleurhermione: OMG! All of your comments about everything that happened made me laugh. Stacie's confusion might be clarified a little this chapter or can at least be inferenced. Thank you!

Emsbutt: Sorry about the mental image. Hopefully there will be images in the future that can replace it. ;)

Neongreenhat: Sorry, no Komissar. Chloe is going to have enough as is to be jealous of without a German goddess walking around.

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Chapter 16

It had been a full week since the love confession and Beca was doing better. She no longer felt like crying and those gaps during the day that were meant for a certain redhead seemed smaller. Well not exactly smaller, but easier to ignore. They had been filled with music, Bellas, Jesse, and long naps. Sure nothing really filled the gaps, but if she squinted just so, Beca could pretend they did. At practices she had resumed her on slaughter of berating side comments directed towards Aubrey. The blonde seemed just as perturbed as before, but there were no extra laps. Beca wondered if it was compensation for the day she was late for practice or if maybe she felt bad for Beca. Neither option really seemed right, though. She didn't really like to think about it too much. After all the idea of Aubrey caring, seemed way to out there to be comprehendible. Everything else had pretty much stayed the same post confession. Beca performed perfectly in both cardio and choreography, Chloe kept staring at her, and Beca kept ignoring her.

Christmas break was in a few days and Beca still found herself looking up things Chloe might like, but she never actually bought any of them. No, instead she bought gifts for Jesse, Donte, David, Cynthia Rose, Stacie, Amy, and Lily. Hell, she had even bought something for her dad and Shelia, she was supposed to go to their house for Christmas anyway. She was waiting for Jesse to stop by. He wanted to see her before leaving for Seattle. She figured it was a last ditch effort on his part to get her to go back with him, but it was already fixed. Beca's mom and dad had already agreed that for Christmas she would be staying at Barden for the holiday. That way she could, for the first time in years, spend it with her father. Not that they consulted her. Not that it really mattered anyway. It wouldn't be that much different than going home, only this time instead of spending time alone in a loft, she would be spending time alone at the radio station, stacking CDs.

There was a knock at the door, Beca checked the clock, Jesse was early. Which was mildly strange because he was always either exactly on time or a few minutes late. She just shrugged it off and went to answer the door. Maybe he was turning over a new leaf. Beca had a right to be suspicious though because when she opened the door it wasn't Jesse, but Stacie. Stacie who was in what looked like a silk Christmas styled singlet and reindeer antlers. Before Beca could make some remark about underwear and public places, Stacie started singing 'Santa Baby' in a way that could be considered criminal. If it wasn't worse enough, Stacie added a few hip dips, sultry gazes, and lingering fingers trailing across Beca's shoulders and arms. All the lines about slipping things under trees and Stacie being a 'good girl' had just the right edge added to each word, Beca felt her cheeks heating up amongst other things. She found herself wishing Chloe had been given December instead of November to raise money for the Bellas. Then again, Chloe probably would have worn an ugly Christmas sweater with a Santa hat. Which Beca probably would find just as enthralling as the display before her. At the thought a deeper blush fell over the petite girl's cheeks. That was around the time Beca snapped out of her little daydream. Stacie was just finishing her snippet of the song, reaching out to end with a finger on Beca's lips. The shorter brunette swatted her hand away before she could get there. It didn't seem to faze the other girl.

Stacie just leaned in closer with that look in her eyes that screamed sex. "So, what did you think?"

"Well…" Beca's eyes traveled up and down the length of Stacie's body. "Uh, wow!"

"I know."

"So, how many, uh, numbers did you get?"

"Enough to share. If you play your cards right." There was that flirty knowing smile.

Beca's eyes catch something green on a stick out of the corner of her eyes. It looked a lot like… "Is that mistletoe?"

"Yep."

"What are you doing with it?"

Stacie arched an eyebrow. "What do you think Mitchell?"

"Oh…"

Something seems to be turning in the taller brunette's mind. Then she was hitching her hip ever so slightly and tilting her head just so. She trailed a hand down Beca's arm, before retracting it, as she spoke. "So I have the mistletoe and you're single and I'm single. So you want to give it a whorl?"

Beca just smiled at the invitation. She knew Stacie wasn't actually serious, at least not completely. "I thought you had a thing for uptight blondes?"

Stacie just shrugged it off, playing with the mistletoe. "She's not into it right now."

"Oh, dude, I'm sorry."

"Don't be, I'm not. Besides, she'll come around." Stacie added a sultry gaze, forgetting about the shrubbery. "They always do. In the meantime the hunter can still play. So you should get it while you can."

Beca gulped. "I-I'm really flattered Stacie, but I'm good."

"How are you doing with everything?"

She knew what she was really talking about. Beca looked away briefly, sighing. "About the same."

"I think that will change."

"Really? Did you talk to that person that told you all of that stuff about Tom? I don't think they're very reliable."

"No, Chloe doesn't really talk to me as much since I groped you. I just have a feeling."

Beca chose to ignore most of the statement. "You never groped me."

"Well I would have if you would have let me. You have nice boobs."

There was a wink and then Stacie was gone, Beca just stood there stunned, not believing that just happened. Then she found herself looking down at her breasts, accessing them. She finally just shrugged, looking up. When she did she jumped, not expecting Jesse to be there.

"What are you doing?" He asked, looking at her strangely.

"I was just-just-"

Jesse finally cut in with a wave of his hand, "Don't tell me. I don't want to know."

He then pushed past Beca into her room, flopping unceremoniously onto her bed. Once he was settled in, Beca just looked at him, as if questioning why exactly he was there. It took Jesse a moment to realize that his best friend was looking at him strangely and that he should probably start talking.

"So, you're spending Christmas with your dad then?"

"Yep." Beca shut the door of her dorm room, but stayed stationed by it.

"Are you sure you don't-"

Beca immediately cut him off before he could continue, sighing. "Jesse we've been over this. I'm sure."

"What if you bump into Chlo-"

"That's not going to happen. Stacie and Amy already confirmed she's going back to Miami. Dude, I'll be fine."

"But-"

"Jesse!"

He looked forlornly down at his lap. "Fine." There were a few minutes of awkward silence before he looked up at her, his usual smile back in place. "I need more time to get your Christmas present together. I'm giving you an I.O.U. I'm thinking it will be ready by spring break."

Beca rolled her eyes before stalking over to her closet, where a stack of wrapped items sat. She tried to ignore the teddy bear with butterfly shoes that was peeking out of the duffle bag she shoved it into. She really didn't want to have anything to do with Mr. Snuggums after the whole thing with Chloe. There were too many memories. Instead, she walked right past him to the wrapped items piled up. She pulled out five different items before walking back out into her room. One item she shoved into Jesse's hands and the rest she dropped on the bed next to him, before flinging herself into her desk chair with little enthusiasm.

"That one is for you and the other ones are for Donte and David. They're like labeled and everything. So it should be easy to hand them out."

Once the treblemaker heard the present in his hands was his, he eagerly tore it open. He paused once the wrapping paper was gone, holding a CD stored in a clear case with reverence. The he was looking the item over, taking in the custom album cover and discography on the back. The clear dedication and time the maker had spent. His silence unsettled Beca. She wasn't use to Jesse being quiet. So she began to ramble, rubbing nervously at the back of her neck.

"It, uh, took me a ah while, but all your um favorite songs from your favorite movie soundtracks should be there." She paused to let the boy say something, but he was still in awe. "It-it took me a uh while, but-but if you don't like it I can like make you a new one."

Jesse seemed to come back from whatever dimension he previously found himself in. Then he was standing, moving across the room, and pulling a reluctant Beca into a bear hug. She only mildly protested. Jesse knew to make it quick. Once he let the petite woman go, how much he actually liked the gift and the effort behind it could be seen in his eyes and heard in his voice. "No! I don't want anything else. This is the BEST gift ever!"

Beca was pleased, but didn't know what to do. So she ran a hand through her hair and shrugged. "It was-it was, you know, nothing."

That was good enough for Jesse, considerately ignoring Beca's early admittance that it wasn't nothing, a grateful smile directed at Beca. Then he was looking at the presents on the bed. Some of them were oddly shaped. His brow furrowed. "Sooo… what exactly did you get David and Donte?"

A smirk spread across Beca's face. "Oh, that was fun. I got Donte a new red flannel and an axe. For David one of those old timey caps and a mustache grooming kit."

Jesse turned slowly to look at the Bella, obviously concerned. "You know I have to take them on the plane with me, right?"

Beca scoffed. "Dude, the axe is fake."

"Oh…"

"Yeah."

"You know your gifts are stereotypical of lumber jacks and hipsters? And you are giving these to Donte, the guy with a full beard, and David, the guy with a hipster haircut and curled mustache, right?"

The petite woman just shrugged it off. "They'll love them."

Jesse just shook his head at his best friend. He didn't fully understand Beca's friendship with Donte and David, but he just guessed that humorous gifts were their thing. After all, when Donte and David found out Beca liked women they had given her coupons for 50% off of a U-haul, a calendar of cats and their owners, a t-shirt with something about tacos on it, and a rainbow mullet wig for her birthday that year. Beca still wore the shirt sometimes on days she ran out of clean clothes and the coupons were useful when they moved to Barden.

The boy got up from the bed, gathering all the gifts in his arms. "Well, I have to head out. I need to pack these and then head off to the airport. Don't do anything to wild like drink a whole case of red bull and run around yelling you can feel the music in your teeth when there isn't any playing."

Beca got up, pushing Jesse lightly in the shoulder. "That was one time."

"Yeah, but it will forever live on in my phone. To be played over and over again whenever I want." Jesse smirked.

Beca just opened the door and shoved him out into the hall, shutting the door in his face as she grumbled to herself. As it shut Jesse quickly wished the girl a Merry Christmas, the biggest grin in place. Then Beca was left alone to do whatever she wanted. Which was amusing because she really didn't have all that much to do. So she did a bit of everything. She tried making new mash-ups, then studying, eating, and then she just went to bed, having nothing else to do. She felt pretty pathetic because normally she would have something to do, but instead she had nothing. At least she wasn't fixating on Chloe like she normally would be. That was an accomplishment with in its self. She conveniently chose to ignore that Chloe still resided in her dreams and that she would be spending the next 8 hours with her.

The next few days Beca spent studying, going to Bellas practices, and cursing Jesse for being able to leave early because, instead of exams, he had papers or projects as finals. By the end of the week she was so bored and exhausted all of her spare time was spent sleeping. She was so incredibly happy when on Friday she woke up to a text from Aubrey saying their last practice of the semester was cancelled. Beca fell back into the comfort of her covers, looking forward to the dreams that existed just beyond her eyelids. She had just settled into that pocket of warmth created from where she was previously laying, when there was a knock at her door. A severe frown and then a pout appeared on the petite girl's face. She refused to get up, after all, maybe if she didn't answer her door they would just go away. But instead of going away, whoever was at the door just knocked louder. When Beca still refused to get up, they started knocking on her door in a pattern reminiscent of 'Here Comes the Sun', well if 'Here Comes the Sun' was a jumbled mess. Beca actually planned on getting up sooner, but the new musical addition stilled her motions, her brain trying to work out the song. Then once it had, she just wanted it to stop, kicking off her covers like a petulant child so she could stomp to her door. Her door was flung open and there were the culprits poised to continue, Cynthia Rose, Lily, Amy, and, of course, Stacie.

"Oh my god! Pleeease stop! Do you know how many notes you missed?"

Instead of reacting as expected, they were all looking at her slightly shocked. Well except for Lily, who seemed as stoic as ever. Beca wasn't sure why.

Stacie's eyes were slowly trailing up and down her petite frame. "If I knew it was a pajama party I would have worn less."

Beca pursed her lips and narrowed her eyes at the comment. "What…"

Cynthia Rose cleared her throat. "I think you forgot something." The other girl tried to cover the quick eyeful of the tiny brunette she took with the brush of her nose, but it wasn't very subtle. Beca's eyes followed the black beauties. That's when she realized that she was only in a pair of boy shorts and a tank top. She had completely forgotten that in her haste to get to bed the previous night, she had stripped off all of her top layers.

"Oh…" Was all Beca could come up with before turning bright red and frantically searching for something nearby to cover herself with. There was nothing. "Can-can I like go and-" She frantically pointed towards her closet.

All four women nodded in response and Beca scampered off to her closet to slip into a pair of pajama pants and a flannel. She glanced at the remaining presents in the corner before huffing and rolling her eyes at herself as she stalked back out into the room. The petite girl found all four girls sat waiting on her, now, haphazardly made bed. She shoved one wrapped item into each girl's arms before flinging herself into her desk chair, slumping. Lily immediately began inspecting the wrapped object in her hands, putting her ear to it, even licking the wrapping paper. Once satisfied that it seemed safe, she finally shook it. The other three Bellas just looked at the present and then up at Beca.

Amy was the first one to speak. "What is this?"

"It's a- It's a, uh, Christmas gift." The shortest Bella ran a hand through her hair.

"Oh! Why didn't you say so! Our's are over there." Amy motioned towards Beca's desk. There sure enough were four objects in differing states of being wrapped.

"Oh…" She hesitantly reached out to grab one. The first thing she grabbed was this weird abstract structure made out of paper clips. Beca rotated it around, trying to figure out what it was supposed to be. She couldn't figure it out. Her face contorted looking up at the other four girls. Amy seemed to share the same look as Beca.

The Aussie stage whispered to her, "That's from Lily."

The smallest Bella's eyes flited over to the mentioned girl to find her looking at her expectantly. So she put on an as genuine as possible smile as possible. "Uh, thanks for this… um." She looked at the object again, still not sure what it was. "This. I'll just put it here." Then she placed the sculpture on the shelf above her bed, tapping it lightly. Lily seemed slightly put off, shaking her head and mumbling something inaudible.

The next object she picked up seemed innocent enough, a long square box. As soon as she started unwrapping it, it started vibrating. The tiny brunette instantly dropped it and then swatted it from her lap, eyes wide. It continued to vibrate on the floor at Beca's feet. Beca didn't have to look up to know who it was from or what it was. Her eyes immediately met Stacie's, looking like a confused woodland animal. Stacie just put on her usual sultry smirk, acting innocent. "I just figured since your bear was absent maybe you could use a little rabbit to get you by in the meantime."

Beca flushed bright red, making unintelligible noises. Amy piped up for her, "Hey, if you don't want it, I'll take it?"

The Aussie reached down to grab it, but before she grasped it, Stacie grabbed the box, swatting away Amy's hand. She unwrapped it as if it were a box of cookies and switched it off before closing it again as she talked. "No, it's Beca's. I'm sure she will be thanking me in a few days." The lengthy brunette winked, placing the box on the shelf above the shorter brunette's bed where all her vinyls were.

Beca tried to ignore it, grabbing the next item on her desk. It was almost a perfect cube and heavy. She moved it from hand to hand, almost dropping it when something shifted inside. There was a fear that maybe it was another sex toy. But then whatever it was settled again with a small metallic ting. The sound perked Beca's ears. She wondered what it was. Then she was cautiously tearing back the paper and there was one of the most beautiful sights to ever meet Beca's eyes. A sample pack of red bull, one flavor included Beca had never tried. She immediately brought the pack to her chest, hugging it as she looked between Cynthia Rose and Amy. Cynthia Rose was the one to smile at her though, obviously proud.

"I thought maybe you could try a new flavor besides the one in your snack cabinet. Add some spice to your life."

Beca looked fondly at the cans before looking back up at Cynthia Rose with true enthusiasm. "Dude, this is like so cool! I-I'm so stoked!"

Amy cleared her throat, nodding towards the flat square shaped present left of her desk. Obviously Amy's present to her. Beca reluctantly put the red bull sample pack down, gently, on the floor. Then she was opening the last present, a full size flag rolling out. An Australian flag to be exact. Beca's brow furrowed, confused by the object. She wasn't Australian and had never expressed any want to visit the country. Sure, she had no animosity towards Australia, it just never came up. Before Beca could react, Amy was taking the flag from her hands, admiring it.

"You really need to add some color to your room and isn't it the most beautiful thing? Besides, you can never trust someone who doesn't appreciate blue."

The Aussie seemed to have missed all the records, photo strips, and band posters on Beca's side of the room. She just cocked an eyebrow at the blonde, looking to her roommates all white decor. Maybe she had been thinking of Kimmy Jin when she bought the flag. Beca tried to just shrug it off. The flag was eventually abandoned, draped over Beca's desk, at Stacie's words.

"Sooo," Stacie directed a sultry gaze at Beca as she opened the larger of the two presents given to her. "What did Beca get us, hmmm?"

When the paper was pulled back to reveal a rather thick text on astronomy, Stacie seemed to stutter for a moment. Appreciation soon followed though. She flipped to the back cover reading over the description with eager eyes. Beca really had no idea what she was buying when she bought the book. All she knew was that it had a lot of big words and some cool looking charts that she didn't understand, but Stacie probably would. Then she was moving on to the next present, which brought back the usual smirk once a 'pick a random sexual act' deck of cards was revealed. Then Beca was wishing she never gave the brunette those cards because something was turning in her mind that definitely would not be good for the smaller brunette. She had only bought them in the first place so in case Stacie didn't like the book she would have something she would like. All of those thoughts were pushed to the side, as Amy squealed when she found Beca's gift to her was three packs of watermelon Oreos. The Aussie quickly tore into one, making noises of contentment and staring down anyone who even glanced her way. All the while occasionally exclaiming they were 'the food of the gods'. Beca then was looking at the other two girls, wondering what they thought of their presents. Both seemed to be a success. CR was flipping through her calendar of old 50s pinup girls, exclaiming 'Damn!' at each new month, occasionally having to bite her own finger. Lily was happily flipping ninja stars from one knuckle to the next, occasionally tossing them in the air. Somehow she did it all without cutting herself once.

Amy must have followed Beca's eyes because she was leaning towards her, speaking around half eaten cookies in a rather loud whisper. "Maybe we should all agree not to get the silent one pointy things to play with."

Beca took in a gleeful Lily and shrugged. "I don't know, she seems happy."

Amy just rolled her eyes at Beca, like she was a lost cause. Then Stacie was addressing the group, well more specifically Beca. "Well, what are you waiting for?"

Her brow furrowed. "What?"

"Go get dressed."

"Why?" The petite girl had nothing to do all day now that finals and Bellas practice was canceled. She had planned a day full of napping once they all left. Then in the evening it was off to the radio station to go stack CDs for a few hours. Followed by more sleep.

"We're taking you to breakfast, duh!" Amy piped in.

Beca perked up. "Oh!"

"We're not paying for your fat ass though. You eat more than me and I'm the champion emu eater in all of Tasmania. You'd think your body was confused and thought it was still growing," Amy clarified.

Beca shot her glare before answering. "Oh…" It was a lot flatter than the previous exclamation, put she still rushed off to get dressed in her ensuite. After all, with these girls, it wouldn't surprise her if they pinned her down and dressed her themselves if she protested.

When she came out dressed they were still preening over their gifts, well except for Lily who was doing something by Beca's desk. Beca didn't pay her much mind. Instead she worriedly took in Stacie who was biting her lip with a sparkle in her eye as she flipped through the deck of cards gifted to her. Her eyes light up more so at the latest card. Then she was directing a less then innocent look at the petite girl, as she extended the card in hand to Beca.

"I'd really like to try this one out with you. I think you'd be the perfect height." A wink was put in at the end.

Beca could feel her cheeks starting to flush and a stutter starting to form when she noticed Lily picking up her headphones. Which was a big no, no with the DJ. Well, unless you were Chloe, but that was over. So it really didn't matter. Then Beca was pushing away Stacie's hand, wide eyed, as she moved towards Lily.

"Oh my god! Lily… put them down… gently."

Lily just ignored her, instead putting them on… her paper clip sculpture. The paper clip sculpture that Lily had somehow attached to the edge of Beca's desk. Then she really couldn't be mad. It was an ingenious creation. So ingenious Beca had no idea it was a headphones hook made out of paper clips when she looked at it. She froze trying to come up with words for the pure awesomeness of it. But instead she came up short, stumbling over her words. Lily put her out of her misery with a pat on the shoulder and a knowing smile. Then Amy was hooking her arm with a still incoherent Beca as they dragged her off to breakfast.

Breakfast went pretty much how Beca expected it would be. Cynthia Rose ogled everyone that had boobs, paying extra attention to their waitress and Stacie. Stacie made every possible sexual innuendo possible. She probably set a new record for how many times she made Beca choke on her water. Amy made inappropriate jokes, mainly at Beca's expense. Lily, well Lily enjoyed throwing one of her ninja stars at random objects on the table, splitting them in two. Each time a star was thrown, all of the Bellas would flinch when it connected with its target, but conversation would continue like nothing happened. Then it was over and the Bellas were saying their goodbyes, all leaving the next day for home, except for Amy. Amy was just going to stay at Barden, the trip back to Australian too long and expensive for, what would turn into, a two week trip. Then Beca was left in her dorm room to do whatever she wanted. Really breakfast wasn't as bad as she thought it would be. It was even enjoyable, but it still felt like something was missing. A certain essential component. Beca knew what, or more accurately who, it was that was missing. She chose to ignore it, sighing as she grabbed everything needed for a long calming shower.