Chapter Text
Stacie was supposed to be long gone by the time Beca arrived home to find Chloe waiting for her, yet here she sits, picking at a stray thread on Beca’s comforter, hidden out of view while the conversation from the living room becomes increasingly unintelligible. Bored with the lack of gossip from down the hall, she pulls out her phone to finally get her social media fix for the week. Avoiding nearly every app on the device was incredibly difficult for someone as addicted to social media as Stacie Conrad, but she had to take drastic measures in order to hide the fact that Chloe has been staying in Stacie’s spare bedroom since Saturday. Although Chloe had been busy with interviews and demos for most of the week, the evidence of her presence in Stacie’s apartment was overwhelming, from double the amount of dirty dishes and laundry to Chloe’s luggage and personal effects scattered throughout the living space.
Chloe had reached out to Stacie as a sympathetic ear in early June shortly after learning of her position being cut. After a fruitless week of searching through job listings in Atlanta, Chloe had Skyped her for help processing the realization that there was nothing left for Chloe in Georgia. So on a whim, Stacie encouraged her to try applying for jobs in L.A., just to see if anything hit. With surprisingly little convincing needed for a potentially life-changing undertaking, Chloe followed through, and although it took another week, the responses came. Chloe kept Stacie posted on her progress, and after a few rounds of phone interviews, the school had assured Chloe it was pretty much a done deal as long as her in-person interview and demo were completed.
When Chloe had called with the news, Stacie had incorrectly assumed that Beca was apprised of the situation and immediately asked what the girl’s reaction had been. After a moment of tense silence, Chloe spilled her guts about everything: that they hooked up on her last night of Spring Break and it was "aca-mazing", that Beca didn’t know about the interviews with the Los Angeles school... that Beca didn’t know her best friend was about to pack up her entire East Coast existence to try her luck in the West. Thankfully, Chloe’s job search saga had never come up in any of Stacie’s conversations with Beca, because Chloe eventually confessed that she was nervous about what Beca would think of her cross-country move; that it would be too much too soon and scare her away. Always there to support a fellow Bella in need, Stacie reassured Chloe that not only would Beca be okay with Chloe living in L.A., but also that Chloe could stay with Stacie while she finalized her job situation and figured out how to tell Beca everything. And if Beca wasn’t ready, in Stacie’s words, to “get all domestic and shit” right away, then Chloe could officially move in with Stacie, inhabiting the second bedroom and splitting the rent.
Speaking of living situations, Stacie should probably emerge from Beca’s bedroom to get an answer on that soon, but the voices from the living room seem to have stopped. It’s not exactly silent though; she can hear the very explicit sound of two people heavily making out, and she figures it might be better to slip out unnoticed than wait for them to stumble their way into the bedroom. After briefly considering all options, including a scenario where Stacie would --nevermind--, it is decided: Stacie will leave, but not without the photographic proof she needs to settle an old Bellas bet.
With her camera app open, Stacie tiptoes up the hall from Beca’s bedroom, pausing to appreciate the enthusiasm with which Beca and Chloe are… reuniting. She angles the lens just so, taking care to encompass the full atmosphere of the scene playing out before her: fused lips picturesquely framed by auburn and brunette curtains of hair, Chloe’s hands shoved into the back pockets of Beca’s jeans squeezing eagerly, Beca’s fingers disappearing beneath the bunching black tank top under Chloe’s (wait, is that Beca’s?) open flannel, Chloe’s array of luggage stacked neatly in the background. With a noiseless press of her finger, she captures the moment, admiring her handiwork before sneaking off through the kitchen to the door of the apartment. There, she opens the long-running Bellas group message thread and uploads the picture, smirking as she types her caption. With one hand on the door, she hits send with the other, chuckling internally as she crosses the threshold and hears the buzz of Chloe’s phone, closely followed by the chime from Beca’s. Shutting the door carefully behind her, another message immediately lights up her screen, and she glances down, smirk growing.
Stacie: your otp u-haulin
Fat Amy: BLOE IS CANON, PAY UP ACA-BITCHES
Stacie is snickering at Amy’s instantaneous response when an indignant shriek erupts from inside the apartment, followed by a muffled shout from its occupants that reverberates faintly off the corridor walls.
“STACIE!!!”
Pleased, she saunters down the hall with a triumphant cackle and satisfied grin, soon to be several hundred dollars richer.
Her work here is done.