AN: Okay…well, I don't know if this is one of my bests in terms of connections between the song and the fic, but it's sort of what I thought of when I listened to the song a couple times. Well, kind of. I actually initially thought of Chloe before Stacie, but I thought that Stacie matched the girl in the song, her personality, better and I kind of like how it turned out (for the most part…I think?).

Anyway, hope you enjoy.

Also, wasn't going to post this until like Christmas or something, but it's Hailee Steinfeld's birthday, so why not? I just wish I'd have realized and saved Colour instead. Oh well.

Beca whirled around in her desk chair in surprise when she heard her bedroom door open and slam closed. She watched her best friend/roommate plop down onto her bed and haphazardly throw an arm over her face, groaning in frustration.

She turned to save her progress on her latest mix, shut her laptop, and remove her headphones, then turned back to face the taller girl.

"Boys fucking suck," Stacie finally stated in a blunt tone when she heard the other girl finish preparing to listen to her complain about her life, arm muffling her voice slightly.

"They do," Beca agreed, "Guessing the date didn't go very well? I mean, you are back before 8:00, so…"

"Actually, it was pretty good, but, uh, he failed to mention when I first met him that he was in the army," the tall strawberry-blonde said, moving her arm so that she could speak clearly, "and, uh, I have no intention nor desire to become an army girlfriend or wife, so…yeah, no."

"Plus, he has a fucking stupid name," the small brunette bluntly added in a flat tone.

Stacie chuckled at her friend's remark. "Okay, yeah, true."

"I still can't believe you went on a date with a guy whose parents hate him enough to name him fucking 'Chicago,'" Beca joked as she moved to slump down onto her bed in order to be closer to her friend, lifting her long legs up and resting them onto her lap.

Stacie shifted around to cross her arms and look down at the petite girl, clicking her tongue in light disappointment, and defended herself and her former date, "Don't be mean. He was hot, he was nice, he looked like a good lay."

"He looked like a total tool," Beca inserted playfully, which earned her a light slap to the arm.

Stacie nevertheless continued as if she'd never been interrupted, "He seemed like he'd be the perfect boyfriend to finally get my parents off my fucking back, but I just so didn't get the feeling that he'd be worth going through the whole thing of, you know, waiting months or even years only to see him for just like two weeks at a time."

"Seriously, dude, your parents need to lay off of you," the tiny DJ commented, "What's the big deal about not having a serious significant other? I don't understand parents who think they can control even just the smallest things in their kids' lives."

"I know right. It's ridiculous," Stacie agreed, "It's gotten to the point where I don't even bother to mention to them when I meet a guy or else they'd start planning a wedding and looking for houses after a single interaction."

"Well, yeah, that and because literally all of the guys you go out with end up being added to your fucking long list of one-night stands and your parents would be absolutely affronted that their little angel is sluttin' it up all over the city," Beca added with a funny expression at the end.

The strawberry-blonde half gasped, half laughed, got up to sit next to her friend, and slapped her again.

"Shut up, you dick! Rude. And the list is not that long."

The small brunette straightened, turned her entire body to face the other woman who copied her, and raised a challenging eyebrow as if she'd just been dared.

"Unicycle. The weird guy from the Treblemakers with the huge afro who was nicknamed after his unicycle because he was constantly carrying it around, even though he could barely ride it. Your first college lay. Drunken Bellas initiations. Before General Posen was leader and came up with the anti-Treble shagging law."

"Aha! Oh yeah, you had to suffer that rule," Stacie recalled, amused, "I was already out by then. Thank God. Unlike you, who was constantly getting cock-blocked with Jesse."

The taller woman was five years older than Beca. They had gone to the same college, Barden University in Atlanta, Georgia, and had joined the same all-female, competitive a cappella group called the Barden Bellas, which was how they knew each other. They just hadn't attended the school at the same time and had instead met through one of their common best friends, Chloe Beale.

Chloe was only three years older than Beca, meaning that they had attended Barden at the same time and were even seniors together because the older girl had intentionally failed Russian Lit three years in a row so that she could stay with the Bellas.

The redhead had introduced the two brunettes (Stacie had also been a brunette at the time) at a big reunion back when the smaller woman was a freshman and they had clicked instantly, become best friends, and moved into an apartment together in Brooklyn, New York almost half a year after Beca had graduated.

"You know that I've never wanted to sleep with him, but that's besides the point! This is about your sexual life, not mine!" Beca denied, her left index finger gesticulating wildly to help emphasize her words and her cheeks turning pink just talking about her limited intimate life.

"You mean lack thereof," Stacie teased in an innocent voice, which earned her an exasperated glare.

"Anyway, I was building a counterargument here"—the tiny DJ only continued when her friend raised her hands in mock defence—"Thank you. Okay. Donald Ambudkar. Another Treble. After a riff-off in the old pool."

"Okay, his voice sounded pretty sexy singing 'Let's Talk About Sex.' You can't blame me for wanting more than just talk," the older woman justified.

"Yeah, okay"—Beca rolled her eyes—"Uhh, Luke Stroma. My old boss at the WBUJ Radio Station. He actually remembered you and your night together, so I guess that's a… good testament to your skills. At least the one-time thing was mutual that time though."

"True," Stacie agreed and shrugged.

"Howie Kelly. A frat dude you got drunk with at a party after a Bellas performance at their frat house."

"Of course. No collegiate sexual experience is complete without a frat boy."

"Ri-i-ight, even though you weren't still in college at that point?" Beca pointed out, receiving a carefree shrug in response, "Okay, uh, Tom Stewart. At least this one actually got a date. A double date but a date."

"Yeah, but it was at a fucking arcade and he was more into the games and Chloe than me. Still good in bed though."

"Nice. Frank Lyon. One of the other Residual Heat interns. Asked you out when you were picking me up from work."

"Oh yeah, he was sweet, but he was so awkward doing it."

"Mm, that's gross. Okay, um, Andrew Fitzpatrick. Beatboxer from DSM. You're damn lucky that Chloe never found out about that one. She probably would've had the same reaction as Posen with the Treblemakers. Drunken one-nighter after the riff-off at the creepy dude's house."

"Hey, you invited me and I wasn't the one competing against them. Also, he was the hottest out of that group, so."

"Fair enough. And now this Chicago dude," Beca finally concluded, "Do you need any more? Because there were a couple more Trebles you did. Really into a cappella guys, huh?"

"Only when drunk," Stacie countered.

"Then there's like a bunch of other random strangers—" the small brunette tried to continue, but the older woman cut her off.

She didn't know why, but Beca was actually sort of glad? Relieved? Whatever, she appreciated Stacie stopping her from continuing the list.

It made her feel weird and uncomfortable for some reason, actually realizing just how many boys Stacie's been with. She just chalked it up to her not wanting to think of her best friend…getting it on with countless people.

"Okay, okay, I get it. I get around a lot," the strawberry-blonde reluctantly conceded, "And I can't even turn the tables on you because you literally have no intimate life. Like, seriously, none whatsoever. You may as well still be little, innocent, ten-year-old Beca."

"Okay, exaggerate much?" Beca said, cocking an eyebrow and tilting her head.

Stacie imitated her best friend and elaborated in a manner much like the other woman had when she'd been listing her one-timers, "You've dated three people in your entire life and had no hookups.

"Jesse was your first significant other. You two never slept together. You dated for almost a year until the summer before your junior year. Getting back to school, you started questioning your sexuality because you realized you were attracted to Chloe.

"You two started dating about a month into school. You lost your virginity to her. You're such a cute, little late bloomer. Anyway, you two were adorable and stayed together until after you both graduated and won worlds. You broke up on mutual terms after like five months because the 'spark' started to fade.

"The following year in February, you met a British music exec, named Theo Burnet, who works for DJ Khalid and who also happened to have a thing for you. He got you in as a musical artist/producer and you became coworkers, friends, and blah blah blah. You started dating like ten weeks after Khalid signed you. You had your first sexual experiences with a guy with him and dated for seven months until you realized you missed Chloe and, whoopdeedoo, she missed you too.

"You broke up with Theo for Chloe and dated up until last month where you, again, mutually ended it. You're still friends with all of them though, which I admire a lot by the way 'cause I've never done that.

"But, so yeah. Basically like a little, innocent preteen, preferring a real relationship instead of random sex. But you know, tonight could be the night I take you under my wings!"

"Of course that's where this was leading up to. Damn, she's fucking sly."

"No," Beca refused, shaking her head vehemently, "No, we are not going out clubbing for you to find a new boy toy. I'm pretty sure that would actually be contradicting the whole 'boys fucking suck' statement that started this conversation."

"Oh, come on, Becs! You and I both deserve to have a little fun," Stacie urged the shorter woman to join her.

Both girls knew the older girl would never ditch her and would end up having another "Netflix and chill" night if she didn't win this battle, but she so badly wanted to go out.

"You know how little fun I actually have at clubs and I don't wanna go out," the small brunette whined, sprawling back onto her mattress and nearly kicking her friend in the shoulder.

She squealed loudly when there was a sudden weight dropped onto her, her arms were being pinned to either side of her head, and a voice was loudly stretching out the word "Please" for as long as it could into her ear, which was shockingly and impressively long.

"Argh! No! Stacie! Get off!" Beca shouted, failing to contain a smile at the taller woman's antics and struggling greatly to free herself from her strong hold.

"Please!" Stacie ignored the tiny DJ's yells and continued to beg for her to go clubbing with her.

"No way. I'm not going out tonight, especially not to be around a bunch of drunk idiots," Beca insisted.

When she got shot down again, the tall strawberry-blonde went for a different approach that always worked. She didn't say anything and instead just stared at the shorter woman expectantly, which made the fight in her leave and now she was just squirming uncomfortably.

"Stacie, stop. That isn't gonna work again," the small brunette continued to refuse but less forcefully, only earning her a more intense expectant look, "You know this is technically peer pressure, right?"—silence and more staring—"Ugh! Okay! Alright! Fine! We'll go out!"

"YAY!" Stacie cheered, leaning down to give her friend as big and tight a hug she could in their current position.

When she finally released the younger woman, they both froze, just then realizing how close they were to each other (the taller girl was basically laying on her) and that Stacie was situated pretty snuggly in between Beca's legs.

They both flushed red and Stacie awkwardly cleared her throat, getting up and pulling her best friend up into a sitting position.

"Um…uh…s-s-so, I-I'm gonna, uh, go…get dressed. Um, you"—the strawberry-blonde pointed at her and paused to pick out a proper outfit to go out in and tossed it to her—"You better be in this sexy, little number when I get back to do your hair and makeup."

Beca nodded wordlessly and watched the taller girl leave her room to get ready.

When she heard the other woman's door close, the tiny DJ released a breath that she didn't even know she was holding in and awkwardly looked around the room in slight shock. Her eyes landed on the corner of her carpet, her eyebrows furrowed, and her mouth bobbed up and down a bit.

"What. The fuck. Was that?"

There was no way that she and Stacie had just had some sort of moment, right? They'd been friends for years and, as far as she knew, there'd never been anything other than a strong, platonic bond between them. The only girl she'd ever liked romantically was Chloe, but never Stacie. Right?

"I mean, sure, she's been one of my closest relationships for like five years now and she and I have been through so much together and she's awesome and funny and smart as hell and drop-dead gorge—"

A sudden, loud clattering from the bedroom beside her snapped Beca out of her confused musings.

She shook her head a little, disregarding that last incomplete thought, and looked down at the clothing in her lap. There was a pair of black, glossy, leather pants; a mostly translucent, silk, leopard print half button-up; a simple, black bralette; and a black, gold studded belt.

"Of course she picks these clothes. Half of them are hers."

Sighing and attempting to brush off the whole incident between her and her best friend, she started to get changed into the outfit that'd been picked for her.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the wall, Stacie was clumsily picking up her tray of nail care products that she'd accidentally knocked off of her dresser in the middle of a very similar, confused train of thought.

"Oh my god! Oh my god! What the hell? What the actual hell was that? Beca and me, we're just friends. Best friends. Nothing more, nothing less. That was just…nothing. It was nothing. Just go on like normal. Just forget about it. Come on, Conrad, you're about to go out and bone some random guy and you shouldn't—you can't—be thinking about your best friend while doing that. Get in the zone, Stacie! Snap out of it!"

Once she finally cleaned up her mess, got focused, sent a quick text, and regained her confidence, the strawberry-blonde chose her outfit: a sparkly, steel-gray, sleeveless crop top that was just translucent enough to show her silver bra underneath; blood-red jeans; and iron-gray, knee-high, high-heeled boots.

She quickly changed, then grabbed her makeup bag and hairbrush and returned to the other bedroom.

"Hey—whoa!" She instantly cut herself off after entering the room when she saw her petite friend.

Beca looked hot. No. She looked fucking hot. Like, she knew that she'd picked the outfit out for her, but damn. She hadn't expected it to look this good on the tiny DJ.

She'd seen her wear this once or twice before though, so what was the difference this time?

"Damn, Mitchell. And I'm glad you knew to tuck the shirt in. It's a little baggy on you, huh, Shortstack?" the tall strawberry-blonde quickly and casually recovered, pointing out the fact that the shirt was hers, which earned her an eyeroll, "But, uh…just—can-can I make a…little adjustment?"

The small brunette nodded, relieved that it wasn't too tense and uncomfortable between them now.

Scratch that.

A fraction of the tension came back (at least for her) when the older woman slowly reached out and undid the first button of the top, then readjusted the opening of the shirt. The only thing was that there were only two buttons: one at the collar and another close to the bottom of the V-neck opening, which meant that the shirt was open from her neck all the way down to below her bra.

"U-um, a-a-are you…s-sure about that?" Beca self-consciously asked, feeling the urge to cover herself up.

"Becs, don't worry. You look amazing. Like, seriously so hot. Everyone'll wanna get into your pants tonight," Stacie complimented with a sultry wink, which made the other woman crinkle her nose a bit in discomfort, before beginning to brush the younger woman's hair and continuing to speak in a less confident tone, "So, I hope you don't mind, but I invited Chloe to tag along.

"It's just—you told me that you two are still friends even though you guys haven't really hung out that much lately and I don't want you to be alone when I'm out…you know, on the search with The Hunter, heh.

"Um, I don't mean that I'm gonna, like, ditch you or anything 'cause you know I'd never do that to you. I just want someone with you when I'm not there, so—"

"Stace," the tiny DJ interrupted, "It's all good. I get it. I mean, that's the reason why we're going out, right?

"And Chloe and me, we are still friends. Best friends and plus, you know, we're Bellas. We're good."

"Are you sure?" the tall blonde asked, stopping her motions, "I mean, I know I'm the one who's practically forcing you to go out and we're going so that I can 'add to my list of one-night stands,' but I don't want it to seem like we're going out just for me, you know? I-I want you to have a good time too."

"Yeah, no, I get it," Beca sincerely replied, "I know you're always looking out for me, Stace, and I really appreciate it. Thank you. I'm perfectly happy hanging out with Chloe."

"Okay, good. Now, let's tame these gorgeous locks a little bit, do both of our makeup, and pick out some sweet kicks for you, yeah?" Stacie suggested as she resumed her work on her best friend's hair, who responded with a simple "yeah" of her own.

Chloe sighed as she watched Beca walk away from yet another girl, who was holding two drinks and now wearing a disappointed expression.

It'd been an hour and a half since they'd gotten into the club and met up. After two drinks with her friends, Stacie had left on her "hunt" and since then, the ginger had been watching the youngest of the three turn away from every single person who came up to her.

"Becs," the redhead started when her friend reached her, "What's up? That's like the seventeenth person you've shot down and about a third of them were sent by me.

"I swear, none of the ones I sent you roofied your drink. I watched them like a hawk the entire time they bought the drink and approached you."

"Yeah, I know. I…I've seen you talking to them just before they come over to me," the tiny DJ awkwardly confessed.

"Oh. Oh, Becs, I'm sorry if I've been offending you. I didn't mean to, I just figured—" Chloe started to apologize, but she was cut off by the younger woman.

"Yeah, no, I-I get it. Thanks for trying to help, but I'm not really in the mood to hook up with anyone," Beca admitted with a shrug and a slightly downhearted expression.

The flame-haired girl noticed this and tilted her head a little in order to look at the small brunette's face, furrowing her eyebrows a bit.

"Hey. What's wrong?"

Beca's head turned to glance at her friend, but she hurriedly returned her stare to the half empty drink in her hands.

There was a different reason why she kept leaving everyone who tried to pick her up.

Yes, it was because she didn't feel like having meaningless sex with some random stranger, but it was also because she couldn't get Stacie or their little moment from earlier out of her mind.

She was planning on keeping this to herself, but she knew that she could trust Chloe and it might help to let it out.

"It…it's nothing. It's…" Beca started to try to explain what she was feeling, but it'd never been her forte.

Taking a deep breath and nervously tucking her hair behind her ear, she made another attempt at expressing herself, "Is it…possible to just…all of a sudden, like, literally out of nowhere, start…having feelings for someone?

"Like, even if you've known the person for so long and never felt anything more towards them—or at least, never thought you did—can you just…"

Chloe took pity on the poor girl, knowing how difficult it was for her to talk about deep subjects sometimes, and cautiously guessed, "You like Stacie?"

The small brunette's head shot towards her friend in shock, her mouth falling open and shutting closed yet no words came out, so Chloe said in a soft voice, "I'll take that as a yes?"

"I…I don't know. This literally just started like two hours ago," Beca uttered in a tone of confusion, desperation, and fear that made her friend's sympathy for her intensify, "I mean, you know that you're the only person I've ever fallen in love with. I have, like…no experience with this kind of stuff. But after what happened earlier in my room, I just haven't been able to stop thinking about her."

"What happened?" the redhead gently urged her ex to elaborate.

"Um…we, uh…we had a little…moment, I guess"—the small brunette started blushing at the memory—"Um…it was when she was trying to convince me to come here with her. She tackled me when I was on my bed. After I finally agreed, she hugged me and when we pulled away, I…we were just…so close and…I think we almost kissed."

"And did you want it to happen? The kiss, I mean," Chloe asked, already assuming what the answer was going to be.

Beca stared deeply into the older girl's ice-blue irises, truly contemplating her answer to the question. Her eyes then tore themselves away from her best friend's and found the one inadvertently responsible for her confusion currently being adored by a surrounding group of young men.

At the sight, an unpleasant feeling bubbled up inside of her and she instantly knew the answers to all of Chloe's questions.

If she hadn't have wanted Stacie to kiss her, if she didn't like her as more than friends, then she wouldn't have gotten this feeling. It was undeniable.

"Yes," Beca finally responded, her eyes never leaving the tall strawberry-blonde across the room.

At that exact moment, Stacie scanned the room, searching for her friends. When she found them, her eyes landed on her short roommate and a wide, fond smile graced her lips.

Beca returned the smile, before turning her attention back to the flame-haired girl beside her and she repeated her answer, "Yes."

"Yes what?" Chloe gently asked, wanting a full admission.

"Yes, I wanted the kiss to happen," the small brunette told her friend.

"Is that the only yes?" the redhead prompted, referencing the earlier question she'd asked.

"Yes…I like Stacie," Beca said, more so to herself as a statement of realization rather than a reply to the slightly taller woman.

"Are you gonna tell her?" Chloe asked, glancing in the tall blonde's direction.

"I should, shouldn't I?" the tiny DJ replied with a sigh, knowing how bad it would make her feel if she didn't say anything.

"Definitely. Just maybe not right here, right now. Or even tonight," the ginger advised in a nonchalant tone as she took a sip from her drink.

This surprised Beca because she'd have thought Chloe would immediately be saying yes and then would've practically shoved or yanked her over to the tall strawberry-blonde already.

That, however, obviously wasn't the case.

"Oh…um…okay," the shorter woman said unsurely.

"It's just that, you know, she's completely wasted right now and you'd have about ten seconds to figure out how to tell her," Chloe warned her friend, her words becoming more rushed near the end, which confused the other Bella even more.

She finally understood, however, when Stacie suddenly bounced up to them out of seemingly nowhere and slung her arms over her friends' shoulders.

"Heyyy, girls! What's going on? What's happening? How's it going?"

"Uh, it's going super well, thanks, um, but I think that maybe it's time to start heading home, don't you think?" the redhead strongly suggested, seeing how drunk their tall friend was.

"Are you sure? Aren't you guys having so much fun? I'm having so much fun! Aren't you guys having fun? It's so fucking fun in here!" Stacie excitedly rambled, fist-pumping the air.

"Sure is, Stace," Beca played along for her friend's sake, "Uh, just out of curiosity, approximately how many more drinks have you had tonight?"

She patiently waited for an answer, but she gave up when the older girl lost count at four (her ring finger being the last one still down for some reason) and got distracted by checking her nails with an unexplained look of confusion.

"Yeah, okay. I think that maybe we should call it a night," the tiny DJ decided, gently grabbing her tall friend's hand and following her ex out of the bar.

They got out without a problem, called an Uber, dropped Chloe off and said goodbye, then headed home. Beca somehow, despite her petite stature, helped a slightly wobbly Stacie into their building, into the elevator, and to their apartment. She led her to the strawberry-blonde's room and sat her down onto her bed, before turning to grab some pyjamas for her.

"Bec," a voice called for the small brunette's attention.

"Yeah?" Beca distractedly responded, assuming more drunken nonsense was about to spill out of her friend's mouth.

"Beca," Stacie repeated.

"What's wrong, Stace?" the shorter woman asked, turning around to face the other Bella.

She expected to find the older girl sprawled across the bed and half asleep, exhausted from the night's activities, so imagine her surprise when she was standing only about half a foot away from her.

Beca's heart skipped a beat and her breath caught in her throat at the close proximity and the stunning blue eyes staring so intensely at her with incredibly blown pupils.

"Um…Stace?"

"You look really hot right now. Like, you always look hot, but seriously. You look so fucking hot," Stacie very sincerely told her short friend, her hands almost twitching with the need to reach out towards her and make some sort of physical contact.

"And you're really drunk right now," Beca responded, attempting to sound like her sarcastic self, but her nerves prevented her from expressing the target tone of voice.

She anxiously took a tiny step back to try and create even a slightly bigger distance between them. However, it only made her bump into the other woman's dresser and trapped her closer to Stacie as she had taken a step forward at the same time.

She didn't know why she was trying to get away if this was obviously what she wanted, considering the fact that her eyes were darting back and forth between the desire-filled eyes and the glossy, perfectly shaped lips.

"Actually, can I tell you a secret?" the tall blonde asked, waiting for the small nod from her best friend, "I've only had one drink other than the two with you and Chloe.

"Do you want to know why?"—another small nod—"Because I was too distracted by you to do anything else, especially in that sexy as fuck outfit. I couldn't stop thinking about what happened between us and particularly what could've happened if I hadn't chickened out. Like, not just what could've happened right then and there, but I mean in the long run. I just can't stop thinking about…well, about you.

"I faked being wasted so that we could come home and so that I could tell you in private that I really want you. Like, you have no idea how much I want you."

Beca was speechless. She had absolutely no idea how to respond. Her best friend was possibly confessing to her that she returned some of the feelings that she had for her and that she wasn't actually that drunk and was actually quite aware while admitting this.

"Is this actually happening right now?"

"I'm gonna do something now, so please don't freak out and if you don't want it, then just stop me and we can forget all about it," Stacie told the younger woman, who remained silent and frozen, before leaning in and connecting their lips in a soft but passionate kiss.

Right then, Beca truly believed that the other Bella was telling the truth about how much she had drunk because no one could fake so much sincerity in a kiss like this one while wasted.

It was exactly the kind of kiss that both of them had expected to happen after their little moment in the small brunette's room earlier. It was one that held promise and a little something different—something special.

When Stacie felt Beca return the kiss, a small smile grew onto her face as she snaked an arm around the petite woman's slim waist and placed the opposite hand on her cheek, gently guiding her face in order to kiss her more deeply.

The tiny DJ responded by tangling her right hand in the dyed locks and resting the other hand around the taller girl's back, pulling her closer if possible.

Beca was so lost in this moment that she didn't realize that she had been spun around and was no longer against the dresser. It wasn't until the backs of her knees hit something soft, her back was hitting the bed, and she and the taller woman were back in the position from earlier that night, their lips never separating from each other, that she processed everything that was happening and that was going to happen.

There was no question that the older girl was in charge tonight, but the small brunette had absolutely no qualms about it. She knew that she could trust Stacie and so she let herself be taken by the girl who she never realized had already been slowly claiming her, piece by piece.

AN: Thanks for reading. Part II next.