A/N: Sorry for keeping you waiting. Again.
To say that the coaches were surprised to see Beca the next day was an understatement. Aubrey hadn't mentioned that the ideas were actually coming from their freshman, because she didn't know how the coaches would respond. Coach Smith had been as conservative as she was from the start and he liked her style of leading the team. He never really intervened, because he trusted her. He might not take changing the entire strategy three weeks before the playoffs so well.
"Absolutely not! Seriously Aubrey, I thought you were smarter than this. I hope you do realize how little time we have left before the playoffs, we can't just change everything now. We are going to do what we have trained to do all year."
Aubrey had been nervous before the meeting, but now her face was white as a sheet and she looked like she was about to throw up. Chloe was by her side, rubbing her back and trying to calm her down. Coach Smith had gotten his phone out and was no longer paying attention to the girls in front of him. Dawson was sitting besides him and locked eyes with Beca, who was furious. She hadn't come this far to be shot down like that.
"We are not going to win doing what we did all year. Sure, we won most of our matches, but we lost Chloe and without her your entire game plan goes down the drain. We need to look at the players we have and not just use some readymade game plan."
"I'm going to stop you there," coach Smith said, looking up at his player. "This plan has worked for four years and I'm not going to give it up now. And last I heard, you were just a freshman and are lucky to even be on this team. This is not up for discussion, I will see you girls at practice."
Beca was going to respond but was stopped by Dawson. "They have a point, Craig, what we are doing right now is not working. We just barely won last game and that was against a team that only managed to score ten goals this season. We are not just going to lose the playoffs, we are going to be humiliated if we play like this. They make some very good points and I think our girls are talented enough to pull this off."
"I am the head coach, I get the final say here. I say we continue the way we did. I will see all of you at practice, goodbye." Coach Smith had gotten up and was sternly pointing at the door. He looked furious, but Beca saw that the blonde besides her had a similar look on her face.
"In that case I am not sure if you are still the best person for the job of head coach," Aubrey said as calmly as she could muster.
"That is not how this works, young lady. I am your coach, I trained this team and you will do as I say," coach Smith responded.
"I don't think you will have much of a team left if I quit," Aubrey said. She didn't seem to sure of her case, so Beca took a step closer to her and looked her coach right in the eyes. "I'm with Aubrey, if she's not on the team, I quit too. And I don't doubt for a second that the other girls will do the exact same thing."
"You must be kidding me," coach Smith shouted now. "I thought you were supposed to be adults, but it seems like I am dealing with a bunch of children. Go one, walk out! Just know that it is the end, so don't come crawling back to me begging for a spot on the team."
Beca wanted to start shouting at her coach, but she was stopped by Dawson stepping in and leading her out of the office. Chloe followed the pair with Aubrey in her arms. Once outside, all the colour drained from Aubrey's face and she made a run for the nearby trashcan. Chloe followed her and lifted her hair out of her face.
Dawson was still holding Beca and now turned her around to face her. "You need to tell the girls what happened and they need to decide what happens next. Do you think you can get the team to the meeting room for an emergency meeting in thirty?" Beca nodded, which prompted Dawson to walk back into the office and shut the door behind her.
After sending a mass text to the team, Beca walked towards her two captains. Aubrey seemed to have calmed down a little, but she still wasn't back to her normal colour. Beca grabbed Chloe's hand. "I'm sorry I'm causing so much trouble."
"Are you kidding me?" Aubrey said now. "That was exactly what we needed. If he doesn't want to do what's best for the team then he needs to go."
Both Chloe and Beca nodded, but none of the girls were feeling to sure right now. They had expected that the coaches would have liked their initiative, but they weren't so sure their way was the best way now that coach Smith shot it down.
Thirty nerve wrecking minutes later all the girls had gathered in the meeting room. They had picked up on the fact that their captains seemed nervous, but nobody knew what was going on. As soon as everybody was inside, Chloe told everybody what had happened. The girls were shocked to hear that both Aubrey and Beca had quit, but nobody said a word. When Chloe was done with the story Aubrey took over and told the girls what the plan was they pitched to the coaches.
When Aubrey was almost finished, the door opened. Coach Smith barged in with a furious look on his face, followed by Dawson. "What the hell is going on here," he demanded.
Dawson prevented him from coming too close to the captains. "Craig, I think the team has a right to decide which way they want to go. Aubrey told them her side, now you have the opportunity to tell them yours. Then it's up to them to chose."
"It's really simple, we're at the top of the table doing what we do best. I want to continue doing that until the end of the season. There is just simply not enough time to change our strategy now. If that is what you want, I will no longer be your coach"
Beca wanted to respond, but she was stopped by Aubrey. This wasn't the time to get into another discussion, the team had heard both sides and had to decide now. Nobody dared to say anything. The girls all realized that something needed to change, but changing their strategy was a big risk to take. And it would mean losing their coach, who had led them to this point.
Minutes had passed before someone finally spoke up. In the back of the room Stacie stood up. "I'm with Aubrey." She locked eyes with the blonde and Aubrey stopped breathing for a moment. The moment was over too quickly when Fat Amy got up. "Aubrey, you may be skinny, but you have a fat heart. I'm with you." After Stacie and Amy spoke up, many followed. Aubrey was surprised to see that so many girls actually trusted her.
When each girl had individually chosen to follow Aubrey, coach Smith stormed out the door, while shouting "I quit'. He slammed the door behind him and left the girls in shock. "So, who is going to be our coach?" Cynthia Rose asked.
Aubrey turned towards Dawson, who was still standing at in the room. "Dawson, would you do us the honour to take over the head coach position?"
"Yes, of course," Dawson replied. "But only if that is okay with everybody." She looked around the room and was met with nods from the girls. Nobody had any doubts that she would make an amazing coach, she already did most of the work anyway.
"Okay girls, let's get to the field," Aubrey said, which prompted the girls to pack up their bags and walk out the room. Some of them gave Aubrey an encouraging nod as they walked by, while Fat Amy just pulled her in a big bear hug.
Stacie was still packing her bags when all the other girls were already gone. Beca pulled Aubrey aside. "You should go talk to her, tell her how you feel," she whispered in the blonde's ear. Aubrey looked shocked. "How did you know?" she asked, which earned her a knowing look from Beca.
"Dawson, do you mind if we talk about the training, I had some exercises in mind," Beca said while subtly tugging Chloe's arm. The redhead got the hint and followed her girlfriend and their coach out of the room, leaving Aubrey and Stacie behind. Before closing the door, Chloe threw an encouraging look at her friend.
A few hours later the captain trio sat in Chloe and Aubrey's apartment. Chloe had curled up in Beca's arms as soon as they sat down. The day had worn her out and the painkillers she was still taking for her shoulder weren't exactly helping. Beca felt physically tired, but her mind was racing. The training had gone better than she expected, the girls adjusted perfectly and most of them hadn't played this well the entire season. Even after everything that happened morale was up and the team started to believe they could actually win the championship.
Because they were so busy running the practice, Beca hadn't had time to ask Aubrey what happened with Stacie after they left. The blonde had been smiling the entire practice, so Beca could safely assume that it went well, but she was still curious. She studied the girl next to her. Aubrey seemed relaxed, more relaxed than Beca had ever seen her.
Feeling that she was being watched, Aubrey turned to the small brunette. "So, what happened with Stacie?" Beca asked. "I take it it went well?" Aubrey nodded. "So, tell me what happened." Aubrey took a deep breath before recounting the earlier event.
She hesitantly walked towards the only other girl that was still in the room. Stacie looked up at her and smiled. "You okay?" the brunette asked her. "Yes, thank you. For standing up for me." This earned her another smile. "For you, anytime," Stacie said with a wink. Aubrey's heart started racing. She might be imagining this, but it seemed that Stacie was actually flirting with her. Wait, she should say something. But what could she say?
"Do you want to go out with me?" Stacie asked her before she could think of anything. "What?" Aubrey said, thinking she hadn't quite heard it right. Stacie repeated her question, confirming that indeed, she had been asked out by this beautiful specimen in front of her. She had been looking at Stacie for a while before realizing she hadn't said anything yet, which was quite rude. Her mind was already screaming the answer "Yes, yes, of course!", but her mouth had other plans.
"Why, you said why?" Beca shouted. "Why would you say that? You know, normal people usually respond with a simple yes or no." Aubrey dropped her head. "I know, just let me finish."
"Why?" was the question that came out. She saw Stacie's smile faint and knew she had said the wrong thing. How could she be so stupid, if a beautiful girl asks you out, you say yes. Especially if you have the biggest, most embarrassing crush on said girl.
"Because you are smart and passionate and you look extremely hot when you talk game strategies," Stacie said with a nervous smile. It dawned on Aubrey that she had never seen the brunette nervous. She always seemed like an extremely confident woman, and here she was standing in front of her, looking down at her hands and tapping her foot nervously.
Get it together, Aubrey, this gorgeous woman just asked you out and you have still got to respond. Take one deep breath, count to three and answer her. "Yes," Aubrey said. Stacie's looked up sporting a huge grin. "Really, you'll go out with me?" she asked. "Of course I want to go out with you, you're amazing," Aubrey responded, after finally getting her shit together.
"And then we walked to practice together," Aubrey concluded her story. "That's it, you didn't kiss her?" Beca asked. "Dude, you should have kissed her, she totally wanted you to kiss her." Aubrey's face turned red and she avoided Beca's eyes. "Wait, you totally kissed her, didn't you?" Aubrey nodded and looked shyly at Beca. "Seriously Aubrey, I'm happy for you."