Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Beca Mitchell pulled her leather jacket tighter around her body instinctually, as if it was going to shield her from what was coming. She ducked her head and stepped out of the club, managing to make it a full six steps before someone stopped her.

"Beca, what are you doing tonight?" came the girl's voice. "My friends are having a party."

"No thanks," Beca said, forging on.

"Beca! Oh my god, it's Beca!" another voice yelled. "Beca over here!" She sighed and curled further into herself as she walked hurriedly toward the waiting car.

"Why are you leaving so early?" another voice called. "We can still have a good time, the night's young, baby." Young? It was almost two am. Beca just climbed into the open door and the driver shut the door behind her. He got into the front and pulled out just as the first person beat on the window.

"You okay, Beca?" he asked. His name was Greg, and he was her regular driver, had been for almost three years. He was practically family, and almost like a father to the musician in some ways. He certainly looked out for her like one, anyway, which she appreciated.

"Yeah," she said. "Fine, thanks."

"Any stops before home?" he asked.

"If we can swing a Dunkin Donuts, I'd like some coffee," Beca said. "Whatever you want as well." He just nodded and Beca relaxed in the spacious backseat. She hated having to go out. Yes, it was part of her job to sell her brand, sell her attendance at bars and clubs and be seen with certain people. But she hated it regardless.

Every single person wanted something from her. They wanted a ride on her coattails, they wanted fame by association, they wanted to be seen in her company, on her arm, and in the case of the girls who had tried to stop her coming out of the club, in her bed. She tried to time it with Greg so that she could sneak out, but there were always a few who managed to catch her trying to slip out undetected. She sighed.

It was fucking stupid, but being the hottest producer and performer in music at the moment wasn't all it was cracked up to be. It was isolating, and lonely, and Beca felt like that when it came to the circles she was forced to travel in for work, there were less than five people she trusted implicitly. Everyone else wanted Beca the commodity. And she wanted someone - a woman - who wanted Beca the person. Beca the woman. She wanted someone to be close to, someone to come home to, someone to share her life with.

Greg drove her home, stopping for the coffee - and one for himself - before making sure she was safely inside. Beca closed the door behind him, and sighed again. She went upstairs, away from all the work she could attend to downstairs, quickly changed into sweats and turned the alarm on for the downstairs level of her house. Then she took the coffee and settled into bed with her laptop. Her personal laptop, not a trace of work on it.

She opened it up to the site that she'd been toying with the past few days, still not sure if she was going to go ahead with what she was planning. She still wasn't sure if she was being an idiot or not.

The site was called Apex Connection, and it was a dating website. Not just a random, anyone-can-sign-up dating website. She'd had to provide her social security details and proof of identity before she signed up, because it was only open to people considered elite in their careers or social standing. There had been a long list of terms of use to read before she'd clicked accept, most of them to do with privacy for all of the users. The site was incredibly adamant that nobody would have their status or existence on the site disclosed to press or to anyone without express permission, which Beca liked.

She also like that she was still able to use a screen name and wasn't required to upload a picture of herself. She'd chosen the screen name SoloSonata and used a picture that technically was herself, but she'd cropped it to show her hands resting on the keys of her piano. But the profile still wasn't live, because she felt like such a failure.

She was an attractive, successful and wealthy twenty eight year old. But she still couldn't make an intimate connection with anyone, nothing that lasted. Because the one or two that Beca had envisioned seeing as possibly long term had turned sour after she discovered they were more interested in her money and fame. They'd hid it well, but it always came out eventually.

She sighed and drained the last of her coffee and clicked "Submit Profile". SoloSonata was officially live. She had convinced herself not to browse the profiles until her own was up - she felt like a fraud reading people's profiles before she had enough balls to publish hers.

She clicked on some of the filters to narrow down the search field for prospective matches. She wanted a female, obviously, and she was okay with a couple of years younger and older, so she set the age limits to twenty five and thirty three. She selected non smoker and occasional drinker, no religious affiliations and hit the button to generate prospective candidates. A screen came up saying that it was matching profiles to her filters and questionnaire, so she decided to let it do it's thing matching her to all the users who had interests compatible to hers, and get some sleep. She stuck the laptop on the floor and clicked off her light, forgetting about it until the next day.

She slept late into Saturday, waking up just before eleven and heading straight for the shower. She had a date to keep for lunch - Chloe, Stacie and Aubrey wanted to have lunch. She enjoyed spending time with the Bellas, all of them, and was glad that some of them had ended up in LA with her. She did miss Cynthia Rose a lot, the other woman heading for Washington DC, but it was nice nonetheless to know that there were Bellas who would be familiar and friendly faces when she felt so disconnected from LA.

It was almost ironic, because she'd been so sure that LA was the place where she was going to belong. The place she was going to call her home. But since she'd landed she'd found herself in the city physically but never feeling like she belonged, truly.

She showered quickly and got into her car - she didn't typically use Greg for things that weren't work related - and set out to meet her friends. The catch with going out with the girls was that unlike her, they seemed to love the city as much as the city loved them. Stacie was working as a biochemical engineer and loving life. She was single at the moment, but wasn't worried about that fact in the slightest. Chloe was working as a publishing agent for a writing company and had been dating a guy named Morgan for about four months. Aubrey was an attorney with the Department of Justice working in the criminal division and was pretty much a force to be reckoned with, and not that she ever talked about it, but she was also single.

They met at one of their usual stomping grounds, an upper class restaurant that made good martinis and even better steak. It was a good meal, they talked and laughed as they always did, until talk changed - as it always did - to their love lives. Beca lied, which she hated, saying there was a girl who was a friend of a work connection that she'd met and didn't mind talking to. This seemed to make them happy, and their sights were focused on Aubrey.

"We keep telling her to sign up to internet dating," Chloe said. "I mean, who wouldn't be intimidated with someone like Bree? She's one of the best god damned attorneys in the state."

"Not one of those cheap skanky sites," Stacie added. "One of the nice, super exclusive ones. Upper Echelon, or Apex Connection, or something like that." Beca just raised an eyebrow.

"I already said no, so I don't see why it matters," Aubrey said. "Can we just drop it?" Beca nodded, happy to not talk about dating sites and possibly be forced to bring up her own foray into their realm. The other girls booed and they ordered more martinis. Beca declined, she still had to drive home.

After they finished up their lunch, they all separated ways. Aubrey hailed a cab and took it back to her penthouse apartment. She unlocked the door and immediately kicked off her heels, dropped her purse on the kitchen counter and headed for the couch.

Even though she'd vehemently protested to the others that she wouldn't be utilizing the internet in finding an appropriate partner, the truth was that she already had signed up to Apex Connections and it wasn't going particularly well. She had talked to a number of women, a handful making it to the stage where a date would be considered. Three had turned into actual dates, and from that point it became evident that something was missing. She was one of the most successful attorneys in the whole of California, but she couldn't even navigate the world of online dating successfully.

She sighed and pulled her laptop toward her, logging in to Apex Connections as . She was surprised to see a notification on the login screen. One new user matches your candidate profile. She clicked it, figuring there was no harm.

The username was SoloSonata and apparently they had made their profile public only the previous day. The picture wasn't of a person, but of hands resting atop a set of piano keys. She couldn't really argue against that, it's not like she had her face plastered on her own profile. She browsed the biographical details at the top of the profile. Apparently SoloSonata was only a few years younger than herself - but not too young. She was university educated, didn't smoke and drank on occasion, with no religious affiliations. The body type was listed as petite, with brown hair and blue eyes, which Aubrey was fine with and thankfully, the person had not selected the box indicating interest in casual hookups, the words 'Looking for Relationship' appearing below the personal details.

The section where they detailed their interest had Aubrey feeling positive too. Preferred staying in and going out to dinner rather than clubs or bars, enjoyed music and art but not so much sports. Didn't really watch many movies, read when they had time. The 'About Me' section was concise but Aubrey found herself identifying with it.

I've been in LA for a few years now and I'm looking to find someone to talk to I guess. Make a connection. I like my life even if it's hectic, and I consider myself pretty independent. I have some really great friends but I'll admit that it's still lonely sometimes. I'd like to change that and find someone to hopefully share it all with. I'm pretty quiet and reserved compared to most people but that doesn't mean I'm not interested.

It made sense to Aubrey. She'd been in LA now for years, and she'd dated very little. And she didn't really feel like it was a lack of friendships that had her feeling lonely. She had the Bellas, and a few other friends from work. She was sociable, but she still missed having that one important person.

She clicked on 'Respond to This User' and began drafting a message.

Beca got home and headed upstairs. She was being encouraged by her manager to make an appearance at a club that night, not to work but just to be seen. Just thinking about it made her tired. She was debating having a nap to prepare herself, instead choosing just to relax on her bed. She picked up her laptop, plugging it in because it was close to dead, and then did a double take.

Apex Connection had matched her profile with thirty eight users. Beca felt a little overwhelmed, because now there was a process of actually going and looking at all these profiles and trying to talk to them all. Which was not something she looked forward to or considered herself good at.

Just as she began to move the cursor toward the first name, a notification popped up at the top of the screen. 'You Have A Personal Message'. Beca curiously clicked on it and saw a short paragraph accompanied by what appeared to be a hand that was quite covered in paint and the username PaintStainedHands.

Hi

You matched with me this morning. I just wanted to say that I empathize with your About Me - I've been here a few years now as well. I have friends and a successful career but there's something missing. I'm fairly content with my life on the whole, but I'm looking to find someone to share it with. I've read your profile and I think we could possibly be a good match once we learn a little about each other. If you're interested, please take a look at mine and I'd love to get a message in response.

PSH

Beca appreciated that whoever they were, they were straight to the point, and also weren't pushy and demanding a meet-up straight away, which is what she worried about. She clicked on the profile picture to go straight to her profile. PaintStainedHands was three years older than her, and a blonde with mostly-green eyes who thought of herself as toned in physique. She drank sometimes and didn't smoke, didn't consider herself religious or spiritual and she was looking for a relationship. Beca was pleasantly surprised. She spent a few more minutes looking around at the woman's profile, pausing when her phone buzzed. It was Jesse. He wasn't in LA, he was living in New York with his fiancée Poppy, but they had remained really close. Beca considered him a brother and confidante.

"Hey Jess," she said. "What's up?"

"Nothing," he said. "Poppy's gone out with her sisters and I realized I hadn't talked to you in a while."

"Good, you can help me with something," she replied. "So, remember how you're always giving me a hard time about not finding someone and settling down?"

"You found someone!?" he asked excitedly.

"Back up there, champ," Beca said. "I… signed up for Apex Connections."

"Oh," he said. "That's cool." He'd been the one who had suggested it in the first place, albeit six months ago.

"And I've been on less than a day and there's already like forty people my profile apparently matches, but one has sent me a message. I want to read you some stuff so you can tell me if the crazy bells are going off because it's literally the first profile I've seen and I think she sounds pretty okay," Beca said.

"Okay," Jesse said. "Hit me." Beca read him bits of her profile and then her message.

"She doesn't sound like she's crazy," Jesse said. "It actually sounds like you guys have a lot in common. Are you going to send her a message back?"

"I think so," Beca said. "But that's the thing, I've never done this before, I don't know what to say. I'm not good with this stuff, Jess."

"So you just say you checked out her profile and it does sound like you have a lot in common," Jesse said. "Then maybe ask her what she does, about her family or something."

"Okay," Beca said.

"And her name," Jesse added.

"That's not what this site - Not yet, Jesse. Because this site is all about anonymity to start with because you can't sign up unless you're elite or some shit," Beca said. "If I ask her name, she'll ask mine and if she does that then I could potentially wake up one morning to see my name plastered on the front page of a newspaper proclaiming I can't even meet a girl."

"Fair call," Jesse said. "Just be yourself, Beca. Tell her you're new to this so you want to take your time, and that you aren't the best with talking to girls so you apologise in advance for any awkwardness."

"Good idea," Beca said. "Coz I will be awkward."

"I know," he said.

"How's Poppy anyway?" Beca asked.

"Yeah, good," Jesse said. "Her oldest sister is like seven months pregnant so they've gone baby shopping."

"Is that the one with the two kids or the one?" Beca asked.

"Two," Jesse said. "So Tabitha has the one, Celia has the two and one on the way."

"They all like kids?" Beca asked.

"Yeah," Jesse said. "That's good though, Poppy and I already talked about kids, once we're married we'll start trying."

"Aw, Jess. Nah, you'll be a good dad," Beca said. "Any planning on the wedding department?"

"Well it looks like end of next year is a go," Jesse said. "Because she's going to want Tabitha in the bridal party and she's going to Laos for six months in a couple of weeks. So end of next year gives us time to plan stuff once she gets back. So once we have firm dates and stuff I'll let you know, best woman."

"For sure, wouldn't miss it for anything," Beca said.

"I'll let you go so you can craft the most awkwardly perfect introduction message ever," Jesse said. "Let me know how it goes."

"I will," Beca said. They hung up and Beca turned her attention back to her computer.

Hi

I checked out your profile - looks like we have a lot of things in common. I'll admit I'm new to this online dating thing, so trust me, I'll be a bit awkward for a while to come yet. I think you said it best when you said that you're generally content but there's something missing - I feel the same. I've been very fortunate in my career but at the end of the day I'm still coming home to an empty house, and I don't enjoy that. I miss companionship. I'm just not that good at being able to discern when people are genuinely interested in me, unfortunately. A lot of the time I end up dating someone and not realizing that they're after what being attached to me can bring them. I don't want to get too specific just yet, if that's okay, I'll just say I'm in an industry where names are everything. I'm still nervous about this whole thing. But I liked getting a message from someone who I feel like is at the same place I am.

SoloSonata

Aubrey was taking care of a little work when she got the notification that she'd had a response. She read it carefully, smiling. She wasn't at all concerned that the other woman was new to this, or wanted to take things slowly. She felt the same. She was a recognizable figure in her own merit - so she'd feel better about negotiating things slowly too. But she had gotten a response, and it seemed good. She decided not to waste time, typing out a response straight away.

I'm not new to this, unfortunately, but I promise I'll make it easy on you. I'm fine with us being anonymous as well, I'm kind of in the same boat you are - in my industry I'm very recognizable. It's actually part of the problem I think, mainly because I'm a pretty dominant personality when it comes to my professional life and people assume I'm the same in my personal life and I'm really not. I don't have a tenth of the confidence personally as I do professionally. But it sounds like people might be using you for your name - that doesn't sound like a good time. So let's get to know each other? Where are you from? I grew up in the South believe it or not. I don't have the accent though, my mother does. And since your picture is of a piano, who is your favorite musician? Hope to hear from you soon.

Beca didn't get the message right away, she'd decided a nap would be advantageous to her dragging her ass out later in the night. She'd set her alarm and crashed out, still wearing her jeans, face buried in her pillow. When she awoke a while later, she grinned at seeing another message so soon. She read it, relieved that the woman wasn't pushing about names. Then she clicked on 'Respond'.

I'm from the Northwest. Washington State. It was rainy and cool most of the time, but I really liked it. I don't cope very well during the summers here, my electricity bill is outrageous. But I may melt otherwise, so it's a sacrifice. In terms of my favorite musician, that's a loaded question. I have many favorites for many different reasons. But if we're talking all-time, it would have to be Fleetwood Mac. I used to listen to their albums a lot as a kid - thanks Mom - and when I bought my first CD player, and my first turntable, Rumors was the first album I bought for both. But I'm pretty eclectic when it comes to music. What about you? You're clearly an arty type - who's your favorite artist?

She sent the message and jumped in the shower, trying to muster up some enthusiasm about having to go out tonight. She still hated the idea of going out to be seen, always had. She decided to suck it up and go though, so she texted Greg to ask him to pick her up. Then she figured she'd better eat before she left. She ate something quick and got ready to leave, checking her computer once more before she left. There was nothing there, but she didn't want to obsess over a couple of messages - this was the first person she'd spoken to on the site, after all. She picked up a different jacket before she left the house, choosing to wait on her front steps for Greg. She had a nice view from the front of her house. It was just the rest of the houses in the neighborhood, dipping down the hill, but the lights looked nice and she liked to imagine what the people in those houses were doing.

So she managed to go out and be social, running into a few people she knew and didn't mind talking to. But when she wanted to leave she still had to negotiate the gauntlet - dodging groupies and D list celebrities who wanted to be seen with her. She thanked Greg, promising she wouldn't need him for at least the next three days, and bundled back inside. Digging some leftover Chinese food she stuck it in the microwave and went to go get her laptop, smiling as she saw another message from PaintStainedHands.

Yeah you might say that I'm accustomed to the heat. It's a different heat here in LA though, it was always so humid back home but here's it's dry. And I like Fleetwood Mac as well, Stevie Nicks was such a badass. My mom would have freaked out if I'd played their stuff at home though, my parents were very conservative. In terms of painters, the one I admire most and who I get most of my influence from is Francoise Nielly. Really bold, striking colors. I enjoy portraiture a lot. I was lucky enough to see some of her stuff in France and I'll never forget what it was like. I've never considered myself spiritual in any sense of the word, but if I did, that gallery would be the closest thing to an awakening I would have experienced. I could have stayed there all day, if they'd let me. Have you traveled at all?

Beca stuck her fork into the container and began typing out her response.

Chapter Text

They continued to trade short messages back and forth for a few weeks. They were simply feeling each other out and learning little bits of information where they could. Beca learned that PaintStainedHands had traveled to more than just France - she'd been to London and taken an extended trip through Central America. She was also fluent in French and Spanish, wasn't close with her family and preferred old soul and jazz music to newer music. But apart from the concrete facts they had shared, Beca knew a few other things. PaintStainedHands was wildly smart. Beca knew the other woman was university educated, but she was articulate and verbose and Beca loved reading the things she'd written. She was also insecure about herself. She'd mentioned some other very successful and attractive female friends and said that compared to them she very rarely felt that people would notice her or consider her. She was also a little old fashioned. But Beca liked it, liked the way she slipped into an older way of speaking.

Aubrey was also enjoying her conversation with SoloSonata. She found the younger woman endlessly funny, even though she was still slightly awkward. It was kind of endearing, really. And she appeared very grounded and genuine, as well as extremely self aware. She made no apologies for the fact that she had flaws, she knew what they were and tried to overcome them, but was realistic about changing long-ingrained habits. She learned SoloSonata was pretty much without family, save for a dad with whom she had a very rocky relationship. Also, she'd done a lot of traveling - for work, she claimed. When it came time to take personal holidays she admitted that the priority ended up being uninterrupted sleep or not having to change out of sweatpants unless she wanted to. She also learned that she liked to cook, and was pretty good at it when she bothered, which wasn't often since she was always cooking for one.

Beca had kept Jesse abreast of the situation, letting him know that it seemed to be going pretty well. He was more excited than she was, but he always got that way about her love life. She didn't mind, because it was his way of showing that he cared, she guessed. When Stacie and Chloe had asked her about that girl she'd mentioned randomly at lunch, she fobbed them off and said they were just talking at the moment and she was happy with the way it was going.

For some reason Beca was granted a reprieve where Aubrey wasn't. Beca was always far more guarded with her personal life because of the fame aspect. Aubrey was well known, definitely, if you followed law or federal law proceedings, watched CNN, that sort of thing. But Beca was a name and a recognizable figure the second she walked out the door. Regardless, Aubrey was harassed until she admitted that she'd met someone recently but wasn't interested in talking about it until she knew whether or not it was going somewhere.

Their messages were getting longer and longer and the subject matter was getting more intense as time passed. It was about a month in that Beca found herself confessing that a lot of her hesitation with relationships had to do with her parents.

I guess I never had that kind of healthy relationship around for me to see. Dad bailed when I was in middle school and looking back I can see that their marriage wasn't great before that. Afterwards, mom never dated much, she just seemed so… weary. Like she'd been jaded by the fact that she'd had this marriage, worked at it, only to have it fall apart in the end anyway. But when she got sick she made me promise I'd let myself experience happiness in a relationship, and with each passing year I feel more and more like I'm failing her and myself, for that matter. I know that I'm not old, and it's not like I'm miserable. But I ache for that happiness some nights, you know? I might not know what I'm looking for exactly, but I know what I'm not looking for, and that's the loneliness.

Aubrey did know. The week she'd won her first big case for the Department of Justice, she'd been on such a high. It was the best feeling in the world, or it had been until she'd come home to an empty apartment, nobody to share her celebration with. Yes, Chloe and Beca and Stacie had all been very supportive, but it was that intimate relationship that she missed. The one that meant that had she lost the case instead of won, that person would still be there to hold her and comfort her.

I know what you mean. My parents' marriage always felt so cold. Like it was a business arrangement more than a relationship. Their parents had agreed they would be suitable matches and they just went with it, there was no real affection that I could recall. My best friend's parents had a great relationship though, and they are the ones I think about when I think about what I want. Someone I can joke and laugh with, or cry and grieve with in equal measure. I've been accused by my family of being far too emotional, but in all honesty, it's not hard to be considered as such when the comparison is basically an android family. I have never seen my father cry, not even when his own mother died. And I'm sorry about your mom, it sounds like you were close to her.

Beca didn't like talking about her mother very much at all, but she didn't mind talking to PaintStainedHands about her. She felt like everything they were saying to one another was safe. So she told her about her mother and how they had been everything to each other after her dad had left to be with that other woman and raise her kids as if they were his own. None of them were his own, but he still cared for them while Beca - his actual child - and her mother struggled financially. But they had good memories, and that's what Beca chose to remember.

Mom was the best role model I could have asked for. She worked hard, and always told me that it was okay to dream, sometimes, but dreamers can forget to work hard for what they want. I always remembered that, so it was important to me that I work as hard as I could - especially for my career, because dreams don't accidentally turn into realities. I wish she could be alive to see it now. Well, almost all of it. She also taught me not to find value in things but to find value in experiences - whether a big experience or small. "Value is something you can apply to anything, and it seems stupid to use money as the only form of measurement for it." She was a smart woman who deserved better than the hand she was given.

Aubrey could tell that SoloSonata missed her mother a lot. At times she felt a little bad that her relationship with her parents was so strained when someone like her was clearly aching to have theirs back. She mentioned as much in her return reply.

I've felt guilty at times, for the relationship I have with my parents. Not because I feel like I owe them my time, or vice versa. But that at least my parents are still around for me to have that with, if we choose it. But we're just… different. I could have turned out like them, cold and emotionless. But having that kind of childhood kind of had a polarizing result on me. I've tried to be more open and warm than I remember them being because I don't like the idea of people feeling the way I did for so long. I honestly can't even tell if they're bad people, or just unable to emote.

Beca didn't want PaintStainedHands to feel bad or guilty. Yeah, she'd kill to have her mother back, but she didn't intend on making anyone feel bad over it. Besides, she wasn't the kind of person who believed that all actions should be forgiven for family - and the stories she was hearing made her feel like it had been an incredibly toxic environment to grow up in. She could tell PaintStainedHands had a really wealthy upbringing, but that it was void of the love and care than her relationship with her mother. Because they had struggled at times, but there was not a single day when she doubted that her mother had loved her wholeheartedly.

You shouldn't feel guilty. The love between parents and children shouldn't be conditional. Part of me will always love my dad, even after everything he did. But that doesn't mean I'm going to just grant him a full pardon for what he did to me and mom, and it doesn't mean I have to entertain his presence in my life. And let me just say, on the record, that I'm glad you're not like them. You are warm, and open, and you're both generous of yourself and receiving of others, and they are really great things to be. And if it's not being around them that has turned you into those things, then I'd say you're all the richer for it.

Aubrey had been truly touched by that sentiment. She was really invested in this - well, they hadn't exactly talked about what kind of relationship it was that they had. But talking to SoloSonata was something that made her very happy, and something that she valued greatly. The younger woman was incredibly sweet for someone who claimed to be so awkward. She was still deflecting questions from Chloe and Stacie, she just didn't know how to tell them that she was having a really great time talking to this person she'd never seen and whose real name was a mystery.

Apart from Jesse, Beca hadn't told anyone about signing on to online dating. She was about bursting though, because this connection she'd made felt… real. It felt real to her. And for some reason it made her feel stupid. Because she could only feel this kind of connection for an avatar that represented somebody she didn't even know. Jesse was at least being encouraging, though he did harp on and on about not learning her mystery woman's name.

They'd talked about the name thing a little. PaintStainedHands had worried, saying that her name was pretty recognizable. Beca had agreed, saying that her name was also recognizable, and that she'd prefer to keep it until - if it ever happened - the day they met face to face. She'd panicked about what the response would be for almost two whole days, before she'd received the response.

Aubrey hadn't meant to leave SoloSonata hanging so long. But work had taken an unexpected dramatic turn and she'd literally only been home for five hours during that forty eight hour period. But she agreed, the anonymity was nice, and she didn't mind waiting until they met to learn each other's true identities.

Aubrey was convinced that they would meet - she wasn't boldly demanding a meeting from the other woman, but she was quietly confident. They were now approaching the two month mark, and Aubrey was not ashamed to admit that she was developing feelings for SoloSonata. She considered herself a lesbian, obviously, but she also considered herself demisexual - she was attracted to people she had bonded to emotionally. And that meant that even though she had never even laid eyes on the woman, she was attracted to her. But she didn't want to scare her off - remembering that the younger woman was still new to the online dating arena.

Beca wasn't sure how she'd label her feelings. There were definitely feelings there, which of itself was something pretty rare. She just wasn't expecting to feel something so profound for someone she had never technically met. Except, she puzzled, she did know her, though. She knew the important things anyway. And she was growing more comfortable with the idea of meeting up with her every day, only she wanted to wait for her PaintStainedHands to bring it up herself. She didn't want to get ahead of herself. Getting ahead of herself was how she had ended up with cash grabbing skanks in the past. She explained it in another message once they began talking about why they thought their previous relationships didn't work out.

I think I'm really unsure of people's motives, a lot of the time. And I don't like that about me, don't get me wrong, but experience has kind of shaped me that way. Unfortunately quite a few of my relationships - or what could have been relationships - were people using my status to either further their own careers or fund their own rich & lazy lifestyle. It's hard for me to meet a woman who I can be sure is only in it for the companionship. I've just been burned too many times and it's made me… I don't want to say suspicious but maybe cautious is a better word. I'm not saying I want to keep all my money and everything to myself, I just don't want that to be the reason someone is with me. I want to be enough, even if I lose it all tomorrow.

Aubrey paused for a moment. For the first time she wondered who this could be. Because she'd alluded more and more over the past little while that she was quite wealthy. And if simply being attached to her was enough to further someone's career, then she must be a big name. It wasn't important to her, obviously, but her curiosity had definitely been piqued. She did feel a little sorry for her though, because it sounded like people were using her for a free ride and that was just plain shitty.

I think it's perfectly reasonable to be wary after experiences like that. I know I would be. For me, I guess it might just be me. Not in an "I suck" kind of way, but I know I can be a little intense and that can intimidate people at first meeting. Professionally I'm very dominant and very assertive, but that doesn't translate well into my personal stuff. Sometimes I overcompensate for my personal insecurities by being too dominant and assertive in relationships, and people just don't stick around for that. But you know, I've never really been able to tell many people that I'm just not that confident behind the work stuff. My friends tell me that I should be, and I don't think that they're lying, but it's hard to admit that even though I spend my work hours being this really intense wrecking ball kind of force, I'm nothing like that deep down. I go for what I want, sure, but a professional failure hurts a thousand times less than a personal one.

Beca smiled. She really liked this woman. She sounded like she spent all day having to kick ass and then when she got home she felt pretty much like Beca - alone, and lonely, and not sure how to change either of those things. She felt understood, truly, for the first time.

It's really isolating, for me. Don't get me wrong, I do have some really amazing friends and there are people I can count on at work to steer me in the right direction if things are going to shit. But I watch my friends who can pretty much charm anyone they like and seem to have no problem attracting people and I just don't even know how to do that. I feel like you understand me, in that regard. And it's scary. Because a lot of my public image is centered around me being very cool and relaxed, but relationships make me nervous. I'm not nearly as zen as I appear on Twitter.

Aubrey laughed. She could get behind not being zen. SoloSonata was something else. And she wanted to meet her, soon. But at the risk of being too assertive, she held off, and they kept talking.

Beca met the girls for drinks one night after work, Stacie already a vodka tonic ahead of them as she slid into the booth at one of their regular bars. She motioned for a round to the guy behind the bar, the venue not being busy yet, and settled in.

"So Beca," Chloe said. "Aubrey is being a total tightwad about some chick she's maybe a little or a lot interested in. But you've been even more tight lipped about that girl that you met a while back. You're going to have to spill the beans sooner rather than later."

"Yeah, spill it Mitchell!" Stacie said.

"Ugh, seriously?" Beca said. "Can't we talk about something else?"

"Nope," Chloe said. "Now spill."

"It's going… slowly," Beca said. "I know you guys want details and stuff but I don't know. You know I'm not good with this and you know that it takes me a long time to figure out whether someone is being genuine after some of the trainwrecks I've dated. So whilst I appreciate that you guys want me to be happy, I just want to take my time."

"Have you slept with her?" Stacie asked.

"No," Beca said.

"Kissed her?" Chloe asked.

"No," Beca said. "But I feel like it's going really well, and I'm pretty sure she feels the same. I'll make a move when I'm ready, but I'm not ready just yet." She didn't elaborate and add that she'd never actually met the woman in question.

"Boo," Stacie said.

"Give her a break," Aubrey said. "She's right, after the assholes like Tina and Yvonne, she's got every reason to be a little gun-shy." She didn't mention that what Beca was saying reminded her a lot of what SoloSonata had said to her.

"Thank you," Beca said pointedly.

"Tina was the biggest asshole," Chloe said. "I can't believe we didn't see it sooner." They devolved into bitching about Beca's ex, who had been with Beca all of a month before she asked for a new car and pouted when Beca wouldn't just hand over the credit card so she could take all her friends out. Beca didn't really enjoy trashing her ex like that, even if she had been a gold digging bitch, so she was more a spectator to the activity than a participant. Chloe and Stacie announced a need to use the facilities, leaving Beca and Aubrey alone.

"You okay?" Aubrey asked, stirring her martini with the toothpick from her olive.

"What?" Beca asked.

"They can lock onto something with laser focus," Aubrey said. "It's easier when you're an extrovert like that, I think. A lot harder for us introverts."

"Yeah, I'm okay," Beca said. "I just… don't want to set myself up for disappointment again. But this woman is pretty great, Aubrey. We have a lot of the same interests and I really enjoy talking to her."

"That's great, Beca," Aubrey said sincerely. She was happy for her friend.

"It's going really well," Beca said. "I'm happy. And as much as the girls want details on that, I'd kind of like to just be happy for a while. Without trying to push it too far or read too much into it or look for gold digger alarms that may not even be there."

"It's your relationship," Aubrey said. "Just do what I do and don't talk about it if you don't want to."

"But you are seeing someone?" Beca asked. For some reason she always found it easier to talk to Aubrey about this stuff than Chloe and Stacie. Probably the introvert thing, she and Aubrey were more similar, whereas Chloe and Stacie were similar to each other.

"Sort of," Aubrey said. "It's complicated, but that works for us for the moment."

"Cool," Beca said. "And I know these idiots really do have our best interest at heart. That's why I love them."

"Yeah, me too," Aubrey responded, watching as their friends made their way back from the bathrooms. People were watching them, and the two of them didn't care one bit.

"I would kill for a bit of that confidence," Beca said almost to herself, though Aubrey heard.

"You and me both," Aubrey said. "If they could bottle it they'd be billionaires."

"Please, you're confident," Beca said.

"Uh, not outside of a courtroom or legal setting," Aubrey said. "I always feel like a deer in the goddamn headlights."

"Same for me and recording studios, I guess," Beca smiled.

"Who's recording in your studio?" Chloe asked as she sat back down, presuming they were talking about work. Beca grabbed onto the segue with both hands and began chattering about work instead.

When they finally separated for the night, Beca actually felt good about going home. Sure she was still alone, but she had PaintStainedHands, and Aubrey had made her feel like she wasn't being such an idiot about the whole thing after all. She felt good about it, even though there was one question she wanted to ask, and she wasn't sure about how it would be received.

Have you told your friends that you're looking for someone online? I haven't. Is that bad? I just feel like the anonymity makes it easier, and the messaging means I'm not going to say something stupid because I can revise it before I send it. I mean, I've told one friend, and he was the one who suggested this site in the first place. But the girls I hang out with on a regular basis, they have no idea. I swear, it's not that I'm ashamed of anything, I just like having this thing between us. Watching it unfold into something else is really neat. Is that too forward? Because I feel like this is gearing toward actual relationship, not just talking between semi-strangers. It feels real to me, more than the other shitty relationships I've found myself in. This connection we have is important to me. Hopefully you feel the same.

Aubrey was ecstatic to read that message. Because she did. She really did. SoloSonata was important to her. She hadn't felt a connection like this with anyone she'd dated before or even anyone else she'd corresponded with online.

I do feel the same. It's weird, but we don't know each other's names and we don't know each other's faces. We could walk past each other every day and not even know it. But you feel familiar to me. Comfortable. I don't get the weird anxious feeling other relationships have given me. I just feel like I'm talking to someone who really understands me. You're important to me, too. And I agree - I'd love this to turn into an actual relationship, too. But don't feel pressured. If you want to wait a while longer to assuage any of the fears I know you've carried from your other relationships, I'm happy to wait. I feel like it could be worth it.

Beca had never smiled so much in her life. She'd read the rest of the message - apparently PaintStainedHands hadn't told anyone she was online dating either. Something about most of her friends not understanding because they had never struggled to find anyone. Beca could empathise with that. Like, Chloe and Stacie could breathe and have six people interested in a heartbeat. Probably the only one who understood how hard it was for her was Aubrey. She also appreciated that the other woman was happy to wait.

I'm really grateful that you're willing to wait, it means a lot to me. But at the same time, I can't wait to meet you. I'm contradicting myself, I know, but you know what I mean. Thank you, though. I think I might need just a little more time. Because yes I have had bad experiences with other relationships, but this relationship also feels like more than the others to me. I don't think I've ever experienced a connection like this with someone else. I feel like there's a lot more riding on this one than the others. You definitely mean more to me than any of the other girls I've ever dated.

Aubrey read the message twice, glass of wine in hand as she sat on the couch. I can't wait to meet you. She hoped that the little more time SoloSonata needed really was little.

Chapter Text

Jesse ended up flying into LA for a work meeting a few weeks later, and Beca met up with him for lunch. The two of them occupied a round booth in back of a place near Beca's studio. Naturally, once they had gotten the niceties and updated talk of the wedding out of the way, there was pretty much just the one subject he was interested in.

"So how's the online dating thing?" he asked. Beca couldn't even hide the grin, blushing and ducking her head. "Oh, that well?"

"Yeah," Beca said. "Really well, Jess. As in, I'm pretty sure I'm ready to meet her."

"Really?" Jesse said. "Still don't know her name?"

"Nope," she said. "We talked about it a bit and we both want to wait until we meet face to face. But I'm pretty sure I'm ready now. Even seeing her notification on my laptop makes me grin like an idiot."

"I can see the idiot grin perfectly from here, thanks," he said. "What do the girls say about this?"

"Nothing," Beca admitted, "Because I haven't told them."

"Beca!" he said. "They're your friends and they want you to be happy."

"I mean, they don't know about the online bit," Beca clarified. "They know I've been talking to a girl and they know I'm happy and I'm just keeping the finer details out of it."

"Do you really think they'd give you a hard time about it?" he asked.

"No," Beca said. "But… I dunno Jess. It's easier for them. I'm not so good with the meeting people thing and I have the added inability to tell when someone's just after my cash. I'll explain it all after I meet her."

"Just in case?"

"Well, yeah, but I don't think I need to be worried," she said. "I feel like it's real. She understands me, and she doesn't think I'm paranoid or an idiot."

"Are you in love with her?" he asked, genuinely interested in the response.

"I won't say that," she said. "I'm really, really not comfortable with that word for this situation right this second. But this would be the closest I've ever felt to it, yeah. We talk about music and art and our shitty families and awesome friends."

"What about the serious stuff?" Jesse asked. "Not interrogating, just making sure it's all on the level."

"We've talked about serious stuff. A lot of serious stuff, actually," Beca said. "I feel like she knows me better than just about anyone, except maybe you. I've talked to her about my feelings about dad, losing mom, the fucking trainwreck relationships I've had here, the things that I'm afraid of and the bits of me that I don't like. But she doesn't judge me for it. And I know some pretty deep stuff about her, too, only that's not my stuff to talk about."

"You sound very serious," Jesse observed. "But also really happy. And I can't be against you being this happy, Becs. I want you to be happy."

"Thanks, Jess," she said, relieved. "And I will tell the girls, eventually. I just want to keep it close to my chest for now. I mean I've never even done this online dating shit and I'd like to feel it out properly." Jesse nodded.

"So what kind of stuff do you guys have in common?" he asked.

"Well to start with we're both introverts who are mostly friends with extroverts. So that's definitely a connection we have," Beca said. "But we like music and art, kind of homebody types. Prefer nights in to nights out, not really into movies. Also, we're both not great with our own families and really just ready to start settling down."

"You're ready to settle down?" Jesse asked.

"Yeah," Beca said. "I mean I know I'm still relatively young. But I want someone to share this with. Because I do have this really awesome fortunate life, but at the end of the day I go home to my place and it's just me, and it feels big and empty. And I would kill to have someone here with me that loved me. Someone I can share all the big stuff with and all the little stuff as well."

Jesse was slightly surprised that Beca would mind being alone so much. She had always been a very independent person, and had been hard to get to know. He knew her probably better than anyone and the fact that he was only just hearing about how lonely she was meant she'd been keeping it inside for a long time. Instinctively he slung an arm around her shoulder.

"You deserve that," he said. "And hopefully this online dating helps with that. Especially this girl. Sounds like you might have found a winner your first time out."

"Thanks Jesse," she said. "I feel lucky. I mean, a couple of other girls have messaged and stuff, but I'm just sort of trying to let them down and say that I'm talking to someone else and I don't like juggling girls. Some turned bitchy, most are understanding."

"Oh really?"

"Yeah," Beca said. "The understanding ones are normally just like - well if it doesn't work out you should leave me a message sometime and I'm okay with that. Some of the crazy ones say stuff like - who are you talking to? Is it this user? Because she's crazy, a bitch, ugly or something, like their harping on some other person is going to make them suddenly more appealing."

"And what do you do when the crazy girls start messaging you?"

"Block them," Beca said with a grin. "If I want crazy I'll snap my fingers in a club."

"How many girls have messaged you apart from PaintyHands?" he asked teasingly.

"PaintStainedHands, asshole," Beca said. "Maybe seven? At first I felt like maybe I was putting all my eggs in the one basket and that wasn't such a good idea. But after we messaged a few times, the connection was just too strong. I can't imagine me talking like this with someone else."

"Well if you're not going to tell the other girls right away," Jesse said, "You can call me about it if you need to talk. I know, weird that I'm offering to do something that seems a little like a girl thing."

"Aww, Jesse," Beca said teasingly. "To me you are one of the girls." He glared at her, though he was smiling.

"And if you do decide to meet her, but you still haven't told the girls," he said in a much more authoritative tone, "You will tell me the time and date of the meet up so that if she turns out to be a homicidal maniac, I'll at least be able to point the cops in the right direction."

"Wow," Beca laughed. "That's not morbid at all. But yeah, I'll give you details when it happens, it's just smart dude." They finished out their lunch and Beca had to return to work, so she promised to keep him filled in. When she got home that evening, she sent a message through to PaintStainedHands.

I have a friend who is insisting that when we meet, I text him the details of our date just in case you're a homicidal maniac. He's a good friend though, the only person who knows about you and how I feel about you. He's actually very supportive of me talking to you. He's a massive dork but he does look out for me and want the best for me. Pretty much the best bro I could ask for.

Aubrey laughed when she read the words "homicidal maniac". She'd been called a homicidal maniac before, once, by Amy. It had been during a Bellas rehearsal one morning and she could admit that she had been more on edge than usual due to a skipped morning coffee and persistent headache.

Well I can assure you that I'm not a homicidal maniac, though if I were, it would hardly be something that I'd advertise. It's nice that you have someone looking out for you though. I'm sure my best friend would sound out the alarm if she didn't hear from me on any given day. I don't mind, she's pretty fantastic. Once we're ready to meet, she'll be the one I tell. Most people don't see how we'd be best friends we are almost complete opposites in every way. She's loud and outgoing and confident and always the life of the party. I love her, don't get me wrong, but the person I envision myself with is going to be hopefully more like me. All those extroverts wear me out!

Beca knew what that felt like. Sure she and Jesse had some common interests but they were radically different. Same with Chloe and Stacie. Aubrey she was probably more similar to, but for the most part all of her friends were outgoing and loud. She mentioned it in part of her response.

Oh god I hear you on that. I'd love for my partner to be okay with not being "on" all the time. A lot of the time because I'm so busy being a public face I just want to be at home. That doesn't mean I don't ever want to be out, I like going out to dinner and shows and concerts but not all the time. I don't like the pressure of being out because even if I'm out for personal reasons it turns into work a lot of the time. Like my ideal holiday at the moment would be us in a car, just driving and being in the moment. Not cities or beaches or anywhere we could be interrupted, just a road and a car, and little towns with diners and bed and breakfasts.

Aubrey read the full message and understood it completely. She knew what it was like to have work become the dominant force in your life. Sure she clocked off and went home like everyone else big working for the department of justice and having her name broadcast on national news meant that people in certain circles were waiting for her to screw up. Waiting for her composure to crack.

I understand what you mean. My profession means that I can be watched very closely every time I step out the door. It can be taxing so when I'm home, it's pretty close to being the only time I'm ever fully relaxed, you know? I've been accused of being a workaholic too, more than once. And some days I do work long hours, it's not unheard of, and yeah it can be grueling and difficult. But I love it, obviously. Why else would I do something that intrudes on my personal life?

Aubrey kept reading and re-reading all of the messages she and SoloSonata had been sending to one another. She didn't see a single word, a single sentence that made her doubt what she was feeling. And she felt like she might really be falling in love with her. She'd smiled with each message, laughed and cried and empathised, all the while feeling like each message was a gift. She'd never felt so understood or such a deep connection with anyone in her life. And she also hadn't missed that in her last message, about vacations, she'd used "us" and "we". She hoped it was indicative of where the other woman was at. She made a quick decision and decided that she'd tell Chloe about SoloSonata, dialing her best friend's number.

"Hello?" Chloe said.

"Hey," Aubrey said.

"What's up?"

"I need to tell you something," Aubrey said. "Something kind of big, but you need to promise that you won't say anything to anyone, not Stacie or Beca or anyone."

"Okay," Chloe said. "I'll always keep your confidences, Bree, you know that."

"Alright," she said. She took a deep breath before continuing. "Remember how I said I was sort of seeing someone?"

"Yeah," Chloe said.

"Well, seeing might be a bit of a misleading term," Aubrey said. "Because I know you guys have been harping at me to sign up to online dating but what I haven't told you is that I already had."

"Really?" Chloe said. "That's awesome. So you met someone?"

"I've been talking to someone for a couple of months," Aubrey admitted. "I know, I've kept very quiet about it."

"Tell me about her," Chloe said. "What's her name?"

"I don't actually know her name," Aubrey said. "We're both using pseudonyms and we're saving the reveal of our names until we meet."

"So you've never seen this girl and you don't know her name?" Chloe asked, concerned.

"I know how it sounds," Aubrey said. "And this isn't the first woman I've talked to on this site. I know how it works. But we have this really great, genuine connection, Chlo, I can barely explain it."

"Go ahead," Chloe said. "I'm listening."

"I know you're going to think it's dumb," Aubrey said. "But I think I'm falling for her. She's sweet, and smart, she's funny. We've got so much in common and I really know things about her."

"You're falling for her?" Chloe said. "Without even seeing her?"

"Looks aren't enough to keep me happy, Chlo," Aubrey sighed. "I won't lie, it'll help if she's aesthetically pleasing. But I already feel really deeply about her, and for someone like me, that's what matters. I feel like we could be something great."

"And how do you know she feels the same?"

" I trust her," Aubrey said. "We have both said we want to meet. And in our last message she was talking to me about her dream vacation and she used the words us and we. She's seeing me there already. And I see her, or some vague form that's representative of her. She feels like a comfortable place."

"So when are you guys meeting up?" Chloe asked.

"Well, I haven't put it out there yet," Aubrey said. "We've been intentionally taking it slow, she's had a couple of relationships end badly for a number of reasons and she's been a little shy."

"Isn't that a red flag or something?"

"Not really," Aubrey said. "She's talked about it a lot. She admitted she didn't really have positive relationships modeled for her as she grew up so she hasn't been the best at reading signals in her own relationships. A few of her exes were only with her for horrible reasons like stature and cash."

"Oh, what site are you on? That elite one?"

"Apex Connections," Aubrey said. "So she's elite in whatever her field is. She says she's a recognizable figure."

"Okay, so put it out there. Make it something simple and casual like coffee," Chloe said.

"This is the bit I'm not good with," Aubrey said. "I come on too strong."

"It's easy," Chloe said. "Just make sure you mention all that stuff about how you feel like the connection is genuine, that you've really come to value your correspondence and that your feelings for her are increasing and you'd really like to meet her in person to see if there's a tangible relationship."

"How is it so easy for you?" Aubrey wondered. "That's a skill, Chlo. Seriously."

"So you haven't told anyone else about her?"

"Nobody else even knows that I'm on that site," Aubrey said. "She only told one friend as well. It sounds like she doesn't trust many people but those she does she's incredibly loyal and close to."

"Let me know how it goes, though?" Chloe said. "I know I seemed hesitant at first, Bree, but it's only because I love you. If you think this girl can make you happy then I want to say go for it. You deserve to be happy. And I won't say anything to Beca or Stacie, not until you're ready."

"Thanks Chloe," Aubrey said. "I wanted to send the message straight away but I wanted to tell you first."

"And now you have," Chloe said. "Good luck! I'll see you tomorrow for lunch with the girls." Aubrey hung up and went to get herself a glass of wine before she started the message. Her laptop was sitting on a corner of the table in her art studio, and she looked around at the in progress artworks and supplies scattered on the table, then down at her hands. No paint on them at the moment, but she smiled anyway.

I know I said I was happy to take things as slow as you needed, and I swear I am. But tonight I finally told my best friend about you and as I was doing that I realized there were some things I have to tell you. I just don't want to scare you off or anything so if I'm being too forward, please just tell me and I'll pull back. I realized that even though we've never met and I don't know your name, that you're really important to me. This connection we have is something I value more than anything else in my life right now, and I honestly enjoy every single message from you. I've never found someone more like-minded, grounded, sweet and funny before. You're an incredible woman and… I'm falling for you. Yes, I'm the girl who says it too soon, but I couldn't help it - you're everything I ever imagined that I'd be lucky enough to find in a partner. I hope that's not too much for you to take in. But if it's not, and you feel the same, I want to meet you. Soon. I'm dying to know if the relationship we have now can be turned into something real and tangible, because I feel like it is, I just need to know if you feel the same.

She read it a few times, and could see that in places she was rambling, but it was at least honest. That was about all she could hope for, so she took a deep breath and hit send. She knew she'd worry sick about the response, so she shut the lid and left it in the studio, vowing not to open it again until the next afternoon.

Beca received the message the following morning - she had been out late the previous night for work. She had to read it three times, and her heart beat faster with every read through. She did feel the same. PaintStainedHands counted as the source of a large percentage of her happiness the past few months. She eagerly awaited every message, and even though she kept saying she wanted to take things slow, she knew it was just a formality. Because she was falling for her, fast and hard, and she wanted to meet her face to face as well. She wanted to take the time to craft a response worthy of the one she'd received, and she was supposed to be leaving shortly to meet the girls for lunch. So she called Jesse.

"Hey nerd," he said. "How's my little cyberlover?" Beca just groaned.

"Screw you," she said. "I was calling with some good news about that."

"Oh, go ahead," he said, no trace of teasing in his voice.

"She wants to meet," Beca said. "And she said… Well, she said that she's falling for me." There was the slightest of pauses before Jesse responded.

"That's great Becs," he said.

"You hesitated," she said.

"I know," Jesse said. "Honestly, I still can't wrap my head around the online thing, but I think it's like you said, extroverts don't really have problems meeting people so all this unconventional kind of stuff takes me a second. I'm not looking down on you guys or anything."

"I appreciate your honesty," Beca said.

"So she's falling for you," Jesse said. "What about you, Beca? You falling for her?"

"Yeah, I am," Beca said. "I know it's crazy and really unheard of with me. I mean, I don't even know her name or what she looks like. But for me relationships need to be about companionship and I feel close to her, and I feel comfortable with her, and safe and secure and yeah, I'm falling for her, Jess."

"So you're going to do the meetup?" Jesse asked. "Remember, daylight hours and you have to tell me where you're going."

"I will," Beca said. "Not this weekend, I've got lunch with the girls soon and then tomorrow's a write off, but maybe next Sunday? I'll think about a good place between now and then."

"Alright," he said. "I'm rooting for you."

"Thanks," Beca said. "You're the best, you know that, right?"

"Of course I am," Jesse said. "There is no better wingman for an online dating lesbian than me."

"Oh, yeah, because you've been so helpful," Beca said. "I'll let you know how I go."

"Alright," he said. "Talk to you later."

Beca headed out for lunch with the girls. Noticeably, both she and Aubrey weren't harassed about their love lives for a change. It was a welcome absence and Beca found herself enjoying the meal. She always did, with the girls. But Chloe and Stacie were in fine form, and Aubrey seemed a lot happier and more upbeat than ever. Beca was feeling the same though, and she wondered if the girls could see it. If the change in her was visible, because she felt like it was. She felt like happiness was pouring out of her, not just being in a good mood happy, but true contentment.

Aubrey ended up breaking up the lunch, claiming she needed to get out and buy new oils, so Beca took advantage of the meal ending to go home and write a response.

I'm not very eloquent when it comes to deep feelings, I won't lie. But I want to try, because I feel like what we have, and you, deserve that. The simplest way for me to put it is this - I haven't been this happy in my personal life in years. Literal years. Probably not since I was a weird college kid. But you make me really, really happy. I trust you, and I feel safe and comfortable sharing things with you. You know things about me my closest friends would be surprised to know, and I feel like our connection is deep and real. It's meaningful to me, and yes, I would say that I'm falling for you, too. I've not always been confident in saying things like that, but in this case it's true. I'm falling for you and I'm ready for us to meet. If you're free, next Sunday would be fantastic. Coffee? I'm willing to take suggestions on a location.

Aubrey was very uncharacteristic after she read the response, letting out a squeal. She wanted to meet. It was enough to bring thick tears of emotion to her eyes. She inhaled and exhaled shakily, wanting to respond straight away so that she didn't give them impression that she was hesitating in any way.

I would love that. Sunday is fine for me, say two pm? And in terms of location, there are a few places I can think of that would be relatively quiet - I'm assuming that we still want to be out of reach of the cameras and such? And should there be some kind of key so we know who each other is?

She added a list of a few places around the area that she knew of. She tended to keep track of places that were pretty unknown, so she could take coffee breaks and simply be away from work. SoloSonata must have been awaiting her response.

The second place works for me, I've been there before. There's a booth in the back corner and I'll have a red tulip with me. Bring one with you too. I'm really looking forward to this.

Aubrey smiled, the grin practically reaching from ear to ear. This was happening. She still had an entire week to get through, but after that… it'd all be over. Except hopefully it wouldn't be over, it'd be just beginning.

Chapter Text

Beca spent the next week counting down the hours til Sunday. She was flipping between nerves and excitement with the drop of a hat, simply unable to contain herself at the thought of meeting this woman. They'd traded more messages during the week, Beca admitting plainly that she had fallen in love with her. It had scared her initially, since she wasn't exactly wrought with positive experiences in the relationship department, but it was an undeniable truth.

PaintStainedHands had responded in kind. She'd said that she'd always felt that an emotional connection was much more important than a physical one, and that she'd never experienced a feeling like this before, not even with people she'd known a lot longer. She confessed that she also was falling in love, but that when that used to terrify her, this time she was filled with happiness and hope.

Beca had texted Jesse with the time and location of their date - and he'd responded with a bunch of thumbs up and kissy face emoji, which caused her to roll her eyes. She spent Saturday afternoon digging out her entire closet, trying to come up with the perfect outfit. She didn't want to make a bad first impression. Eventually she settled on something she was going to feel comfortable in. Black skinny jeans, a white top and light grey blazer style jacket over the top. She decided to just be casual. There was no point putting on any airs, because they were beyond that. She'd had to calm herself down more than once, because she was getting carried away imagining what they would be like together. She naturally assumed their physical connection would be as immediate as their emotional one. She couldn't help but wonder how much of the aspects of her life she didn't enjoy would be easier if she had someone with her.

On Sunday afternoon as the scheduled date time approached, Aubrey was early, but she always was. Today, though, she was earlier than normal and that was because she was nervous. She could hardly believe that this was the day she'd been looking forward to for so long. It had been almost impossible for her to sleep the night before. She'd lain awake for hours, just imagining what it might be like to have someone in the bed next to her. She still didn't have a face or a body in mind, but just the feeling of not being alone. Not being alone when she rolled over in the middle of the night and found empty bed. Not being alone when she woke up and desperately wanted someone to share her morning coffee with. Not being alone when she came home after a horrible day and needed to decompress or just be held.

She'd finally get a name and a face to go with the person she'd been talking to. Falling in love with, even. She carried her tulip with her - the signal to SoloSonata that she was PaintStainedHands - twirling the stem as she headed toward the tables at the back. As she headed in that direction, she saw a familiar face heading toward her. It was Beca, looking incredibly nervous. So nervous she didn't see Aubrey walking toward her until they were practically face to face.

"Beca?" she said. "What are you doing here?"

"Uh, meeting someone," Beca said awkwardly. "A date, actually."

"Really?" Aubrey said. "That's great." Beca looked down for a second, her eyes sticking to the flower in Aubrey's hand for a few seconds. The seconds felt eternal to Beca, though.

"Uh, is that a tulip you're holding?" she stammered. Her mind was reeling. Was Aubrey PaintStainedHands? This couldn't be happening.

"Yeah," Aubrey said, holding it in front of her. "I'm meeting a date also." Beca registered that yes, the blonde was dressed up a little in a silky tank and indigo jeans, and then she rubbed her face with her hand.

"You're going to want to come with me," Beca said softly. She was starting to feel ill.

"But I'm meeting someone," Aubrey said, confused. Beca just shook her head and led her to the table she'd already camped herself out at, gesturing for her to sit down. Aubrey sat, and then her eyes caught the tulip sitting at the edge of the table.

"Hang on," Aubrey said. "You - it's you I'm meeting?"

"Yeah," Beca said. "I'm SoloSonata and that tulip you're holding leads me to believe that you're PaintStainedHands. Which I did not see coming."

"Huh." They sat there for over a full minute coming to grips with the situation. Aubrey's stomach was sinking. Beca. There was no way Beca was going to still hold the same level of feeling now. Aubrey still felt the same - the connection was already there for her. And she could admit she was actually kind of relieved it was Beca. Yes, they'd been friends for a long time, but their friendship had always kind of been tangential - they were both friends with Chloe and Stacie, therefore friends with each other. She'd had no idea that Beca was so deep, so complex, so thoughtful and wise and only about a million other things. All things she'd fallen for, sincerely and genuinely.

It occurred to her that she'd never really considered Beca, which seemed stupid. They were far more compatible a pair than most people would first realize. And the little brunette was successful and genuine and, yes, attractive. She had no idea what to say. She wanted to cry, or run from the table. This feeling she'd had was about to disappear for good and she knew she wasn't going to be able to hold it together.

"I should have figured this out," Beca said, shaking her head. "When you said you needed to buy oils, I thought you meant like essential oils but you meant paint - and I didn't even know you painted, Aubrey."

"Well if anyone should have figured this out it was me," Aubrey said. "More than once I said to myself how familiar you felt, and I kept just telling myself it was because we were meant to be."

"God I even said to Jesse on occasion that you reminded me of… well, you," Beca said with a strained laugh. Their eyes met and they both fell silent. Beca was at an absolute loss. Because the way she felt hadn't changed. She still loved the woman she'd been talking to, and the fact that it was someone she already knew, that it was Aubrey… that didn't change anything for her. But she knew it would for her.

"What do we do?" Aubrey asked quietly. "Does this change things for you?" Beca dropped her eyes. She couldn't help but feel like there was no chance in hell Aubrey would still want to be with her, now that she'd learned the truth. She'd look for a way to let her down easy. But she didn't care; she wanted it all out there. A risk, yes, but with everything they'd shared, the risk would be worth it.

"I meant every word I ever said to you, Aubrey," she said quietly. "Every truth I told about myself, every fear I laid bare in front of you, every compliment I ever gave you, there isn't a single thing I told you that wasn't completely honest. I said that I was falling in love with you, Aubrey. And the fact that you know me, that means that you know that I'm not one to say those kinds of things lightly."

"My feelings for you over these past months," she continued, "have been real. And what we share with each other means more to me than any other connection I've had with any other person. So this might feel like some kind of bizarre, unbelievable coincidence. But screw coincidence. What if it's fate? What if you and I have been meant to find each other all along?" She looked up and saw that Aubrey's eyes were glassy with tears.

"I'm so glad you feel that way," she said, picking up a napkin and dabbing at her eyes. "Because I do too. You mean too much to me for me to just ignore it and pretend it never happened. But since I realized what we were dealing with, I've been petrified that because it was me you'd say not to worry. That you'd change your mind."

"How could you possibly think that?" Beca asked. "Aubrey, I can't just give up what we've got. I know this is your insecurity, but let me assure you, that this isn't weakening what I feel. It's only strengthening it. Because I know you, as PaintStainedHands and also as Aubrey. So I know it all. I know that you don't lie. And I know that you really don't care about my money or my fame, and you know how much that means to me. And I know that you have feelings for me, too, and this wasn't a mistake."

"And I know that you've been just as lonely as me this entire time," Aubrey said. A single tear slipped out and she hurriedly wiped it away. "And I know that… I've fallen in love with you. I know that I love you, Beca, because nobody I've ever met has made me as happy as you have in simple conversation."

"So can we skip this awkward first date meeting?" Beca asked. "Let's get out of here and drink some coffee without the audience. My place. Or yours, it's closer. We have a lot of talking to do and we don't need to do it here." Aubrey nodded and they got out of the booth, headed toward the door. Beca held it open for Aubrey and as the blonde passed through Beca saw her face change.

"What's wrong?" Beca asked, worried.

"Can you just imagine what Chloe and Stacie are going to say?" Aubrey said. "They're going to be insufferable." Beca considered it for a moment.

"Oh lord, Jesse is going to be relentless," she said. They stopped walking and just laughed for a moment.

"It is pretty ridiculous though," Aubrey said.

"It's the most insane thing I've ever heard," Beca said. "But I'm not afraid of this Aubrey, surely after everything you learned about me, you would have wondered if I'd get scared and back out." The taller woman's eyes indicated that she had wondered that.

"Maybe a little," she admitted.

"But I'm not afraid," Beca repeated. "Of this. Of you." She smiled and Aubrey silently took Beca's hand in her own, heading toward her car. Aubrey drove them both back to her place, unlocking the door to her apartment and showing Beca in. Beca had been there before, more than once, but she'd never seen any kind of art supplies anywhere.

"So where do you paint?" Beca asked. "I still can't believe I didn't know this about you." Aubrey smiled.

"I didn't tell anyone," she said pointedly. "It was like… painting is the thing I do to escape everything else. It always has been. That's why I keep it so close to my chest, I don't want anything that is outside to tarnish that. Chloe knows, and one of the girls at work knows because she is into art as well." She pointed to a room at the end of a hallway.

"I always assumed that was a linen press or something," Beca said as Aubrey opened the door. It wasn't, though. It was a light and airy room - not particularly large, but big enough for Aubrey to paint in. There was a long table in the middle of the room, high up, covered in paints and palettes and brushes. There were a few paintings in progress on a series of easels, three in total, and Beca was amazed by how good they were.

"Wow," she said. "Aubrey, these are gorgeous." She walked closer to take a better look. They were bright and bold and beautiful. Beca could admit that she wasn't a connoisseur of art, but she enjoyed it, and she liked these.

"Thank you," Aubrey said. "Do you want coffee?"

"Yeah, I'd love some," Beca said. She followed her into the kitchen, taking a seat at the counter while Aubrey made two cups of coffee. Once they were brewed, they headed back to the living room and settled into the couch. There was a prolonged silence as they tried to figure out what there was to say. In the end it was Aubrey who broke the silence.

"I had no idea that you were so lonely," Aubrey said.

"I could say the same for you," Beca replied. "But of course I have been, and of course I never said anything. You've seen what it's been like for me. The last four, no five girls I've dated all wanted money or fame more than they wanted me. It sucks and I was sick of having my heart broken and it just made me so scared to try again. I honestly feel like I've been suffocating in my loneliness some days."

"I'm glad you did try again," Aubrey said. "I hate that we were both so lonely, Beca. We were suffering in silence and we didn't need to be."

"But I won't lie, Aubrey, I hadn't even considered this," she said, gesturing between them. "It actually seems really stupid in retrospect. Because apparently we're a really good match."

"I agree, but I also think maybe the anonymity helped," Aubrey said. "If you had known it was me on the other side of the screen, would you have been so forthcoming with everything?"

"No," Beca admitted. "I wouldn't have. But I don't regret it in the slightest."

"Neither do I," Aubrey said. "It's like the site gave us a gentle push in the right direction, or the freedom to say things without feeling judged or ashamed."

"It did," Beca said. "But looking back, man, this should have been obvious. We both talked about our crappy families, our outgoing friends."

"Maybe we didn't focus on that," Aubrey said, setting her mug down, "Because we were looking for something else. Something bigger." Beca reached over and took Aubrey's hand in her own. She felt the blonde's fingers curl against hers instinctively, and a warm feeling settled over her. They simply sat there for a few moments, not needing to speak or process anything further for the time being.

"How do you feel now?" Aubrey asked.

"Really good," Beca said. "And I know we've done a lot of talking over the months and even today, but it boils down to this. Regardless of all of the absurdity of the situation, I've still never felt like this before, Aubrey. So, I'm game if you are."

Aubrey simply leaned in, cradling Beca's face with her other hand and kissed her. It was gentle and sweet, only a few seconds of contact between their lips, yet somehow it was enough for Aubrey to feel like something monumental had shifted in her.

"I'm game," she confirmed, leaning back in. She felt Beca's hand untangle from her own and reach into her hair, holding her head in place as their lips met again. They still kept it fairly restrained, not wanting to let the emotion of this moment, the culmination of months of talking, overwhelm them. When they did separate, Beca's eyes remained closed for a few moments, a smile playing across her lips.

"You okay?" Aubrey asked. The smaller woman nodded.

"Yeah," she said, opening her eyes. "Just appreciating how right that feels. Which should be weird, because we've known each other for like ten years. But it doesn't feel weird, Bree, it feels right." Her eyes met the blonde's.

"Yeah, it does," Aubrey agreed. "So… we start dating now?"

"I think we're going to have to play it by ear, but dating, yes," Beca said. "Because normally dating is where you get to know someone. And online dating meant we knew all the big stuff but not the little stuff. But the fact that we're friends means we also know the little stuff. So it might find us a minute to hit our stride, I think."

"You're probably right about that," Aubrey said. "But I do want us to go out on an actual date."

"Let me take you out to dinner, then," Beca said. "We can just hang out here, if that's okay, and then a bit later, we can head out."

"We can definitely hang out," Aubrey replied. "But relax. Take your shoes off, we'll just talk or whatever." Beca grinned and bent down to untie her boots. As she did, she felt her phone vibrate in her pocket. She pulled it out.

"It's from Jesse," Beca said. "He wants to know if I've been axe murdered yet."

"Tell him yes, then," Aubrey said. She paused. "What are you going to tell him?"

"That I'm still on my date and it's going well and that I'll fill him in later," Beca said, returning the text. "If I tell him now, he'll call and then he'll never get off the phone."

"You know what?" Aubrey said. "I'm going to send a preemptive text to Chloe as well. She's probably going to text any minute now anyway, same reason. This way we don't have to worry about them at all for the rest of the afternoon, just me and you."

"I like the way that sounds," Beca said. "We should meet up with the girls soon and tell them together, they'll die." Aubrey grabbed her phone and texted Chloe.

"I know what'll be even better," Aubrey said with a smirk. "I'll get Chloe and Stacie to come over tomorrow for dinner so I can introduce them to the mystery woman and tell them you have a prior engagement and can't make it."

"Oh, I love that," Beca said. "I'll show up and be like… and this is my prior engagement."

"Yeah," Aubrey said. "I still can barely believe this is real, they're going to lose their minds."

"A hundred bucks says that Stacie laughs at us," Beca said. "She'll find it especially hilarious. Because you remember that night after our regionals win?" Aubrey blushed.

"Oh god, she was absolutely wasted, and she spent a half hour telling us we'd be perfect together," Aubrey recalled. "She was adamant."

"Yeah, we're never going to live this down," Beca said. "I'll just tell her she was right." She tucked her feet up onto the couch and made herself more comfortable. She took in Aubrey's appearance as the blonde sent and received messages with Chloe confirming their plan for the next night. She'd never had a problem admitting that Aubrey was attractive - she'd even admitted that to Aubrey herself indirectly through their messages. But she was really taking stock of the fact that knowing Aubrey as well as she did now, she could truly say the blonde was beautiful both inside and out.

"What are you smiling at?" Aubrey asked. Beca just shook her head and pulled Aubrey toward her. This kiss was a little more involved than their previous ones. Aubrey made a sound as Beca captured her lips more firmly. Their tongues met hesitantly at first, but were soon sliding against each other easily. Beca moved a little closer, Aubrey kissed a little harder. It was too soon for them to move beyond the making out though, so Beca pulled back.

"I was just appreciating how beautiful you are," Beca said. Aubrey blushed.

"Chloe and Stacie will be here tomorrow night at six thirty," Aubrey said. "You should show up at seven."

"You know, in our last couple of messages we talked about things that we wanted to do with our partners," Beca said. "Like me wanting to take road trips and have someone to share my ridiculous lifestyle with. That all still applies, Bree. I still want all that with you." Aubrey leaned against her shoulder, pulling one of her arms to wrap around her shoulder.

"I want it too, Beca. I want more than anything not to be alone, to find someone I had a true connection with. And that means sharing the stupid little things like sitting on a couch, and the big things."

"Even big things like having two lots of press after us?" Beca said. "That's going to be a thing."

"A thing I don't care about," Aubrey replied. "I feel like everything is about to get a lot easier since we have each other." Beca's fingers were idly stroking the skin at the top of her arm. It felt nice. Comforting.

They kept talking for a while longer, rehashing all their messages with a new level of understanding. There was also a little more kissing, though they were still careful enough not to push too far too fast. They both ended up dozing off on Aubrey's couch - Aubrey settling back against her shoulder, Beca's arm around her. They weren't asleep too long, Aubrey waking first.

"Beca," she said softly. "Beca, we should probably make a move toward some food." Beca shifted and opened her eyes.

"Yeah, that's a good plan," Beca said. "I'll make a few calls and see where can fit us in. One of the perks I actually don't mind about my job."

"I just want to wash up quickly and grab a jacket," Aubrey said. "You know where the bathroom is if you want to do the same."

"Thanks," Beca said. Aubrey ducked off to her room and Beca stood up, stretching her body out. She grabbed her phone and brought up one of her preferred restaurants that wouldn't be too dressy for what she was already wearing. They promised her a table in an hour, so she confirmed it and headed for the bathroom.

Her hair was a little weird from the sleeping, so she raked it out with her fingers. She felt a little gross, sleeping after coffee always made her feel like she needed to brush her teeth. She found some mouthwash in a drawer though, so that helped. Aubrey found her, having fixed her hair and gotten a jacket on, saying that she'd called a cab. They waited out the front of Aubrey's building, holding hands and still chatting about everything that had happened.

The meal was relaxed and easy. Sometimes, they talked and laughed. Sometimes, they ate in comfortable silence. But it didn't get awkward at all, and neither woman was thinking of changing their mind.

"It's uncanny," Aubrey said, as Beca dug out her credit card to pay for the meal. "I thought it might be initially weird to flick some imaginary switch and go from seeing you as a friend to this. But it isn't."

"I know what you mean," Beca said. "But I feel it." They settled up the meal and waited for another pair of taxis, one taking Beca to her car and the other taking Aubrey home. As they waited, Aubrey took the opportunity to kiss Beca again, taking advantage of the fact that there were no cameras around anywhere.

"Can you let me know when you get home?" Beca asked.

"Sure," the blonde replied. "And I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Definitely," Beca said. "I'll probably tell Jesse about us tonight. He's not going to tell anyone else, so he won't ruin our plan."

"Yeah, that's fine," Aubrey said. She took a moment to tuck some hair behind Beca's ear. "I'm actually really glad it was you, Beca." The taxis arrived and broke the moment.

"Me too," Beca said. She leaned up on her toes and kissed her once more before making sure she was okay in the first cab. Then she slid into the second, giving the driver the address of the coffee shop they'd met at earlier in the day. When she got home, she waited for the text from Aubrey to say she had gotten home safely and after responding, she texted Jesse and let her know she was back. As expected, her phone immediately rang.

"So," he said. "You telling me earlier that you were still out means it went well?"

"It went really well," Beca said. "Amazingly well, Jesse. Better than I could have expected actually, and you're not going to believe why."

"She's a supermodel?" Jesse asked.

"Nope," Beca said. "So the girl… I can't even beat around the bush. After all of this, the woman who showed up, PaintStainedHands? It was Aubrey."

"Hang on, what?" he asked disbelievingly.

"It was Aubrey," Beca said. "I know. Insane coincidence. And after we took a second to process it, we talked. What we decided was, even though it was unexpected and something we hadn't considered before, it doesn't change anything."

"So you and Aubrey Posen are dating?" he asked.

"Yeah," Beca said. "We are. We ended up spending the entire afternoon together and went out to dinner as well. It all feels easy and right, and nothing about it feels even the slightest bit out of place."

"That might change when you kiss her," Jesse said.

"Already kissed her," Beca said. "It was incredible. It's like the online dating kind of opened us up to parts of each other we never knew about, never anticipated."

"I'm just having a hard time believing it was Aubrey," Jesse replied.

"It was definitely a shock. But I am really, really happy," she said.

"Sounds like you're already all in with this thing," Jesse observed. "She feels the same?"

"Yep," Beca confirmed. "We're all in. Completely in. And tomorrow night we're going to surprise the girls with this news as well. Right now you're the only person who knows, okay?"

"Sure," he said. "What's your plan?" Beca laughed and began to fill him in.

Chapter Text

Aubrey picked up her phone and checked the text she'd just received. It was Beca saying she was almost at her place, just coming into the building now. For some reason, she started to get a little nervous. Chloe and Stacie were already there, and were awaiting the arrival of Aubrey's online dating match. That's all they knew. When Aubrey had called Chloe the previous night and told her how happy she was, the redhead was excited for her best friend. She was eagerly anticipating meeting the woman that Aubrey was gushing about. Stacie was on board, too, only bemoaning for a moment that it sucked Beca wouldn't be there to meet her as well. The blonde did a great job at keeping a straight face on that.

"So she's almost here," Aubrey said. "Wow, I'm starting to get nervous."

"Don't be," Stacie said. "We just wanna make sure she's good enough for you."

"She is," Aubrey said. "She really is." She couldn't stop the smile spreading across her face.

"Aww," Chloe cooed. "Look at you." There was a knock on the door, and Aubrey went to open it, the two others remaining seated.

"Hi," Beca said quietly. "You look nervous."

"Yeah," Aubrey said. "Can't really figure out why."

"We'll be okay," Beca said. "Let's do it." They headed back into the living room, and both girls were surprised to see Beca.

"Hey," Chloe said. "Thought you had something else on."

"I do," Beca said casually as she took a seat next to Aubrey. "I have to go and meet my online date's best friends." Both Stacie and Chloe looked blankly at the two women, so the blonde elaborated.

"Weird twist of fate," Aubrey said, "I showed up at the café with my tulip looking for my date, who was a petite brunette holding her own tulip. And it ended up being Beca." They watched as Chloe and Stacie's jaws dropped. There was no noise, and Beca could feel Aubrey getting tense beside her. She shifted her hand to rest on her knee comfortably, and the blonde relaxed. Suddenly Stacie leaned forward and slapped her hand on the coffee table.

"I fucking called it!" she said. "God damn. I called this, like, ten years ago!"

"Are you kidding?" Chloe asked.

"No, we're not," Beca asked. "It seems utterly impossible, but I've been talking to Aubrey for months and yeah, we're each other's online date."

"I knew you guys would be perfect together," Stacie said, picking up her glass of wine. "This is insane."

"Yeah, you did say that," Aubrey said. "I remember. Looks like you were right on that one, Stace."

"But how did you guys not even figure it out?" Chloe said.

"Well, we didn't know each other's names or jobs," Beca said. "We wanted to talk about other things. There was a lot we spoke of vaguely, and Bree said yesterday that it might have been because we were looking for a connection to do with other things. More substantial things." Beca was relaxed. Aubrey was a little more tense, still, but she was starting to gradually feel at ease with the situation.

"Oh my god," Chloe said. "This is awesome. But… weird. How did you guys handle it?"

"Silently at first," Aubrey said. "I was worried that Beca wouldn't be interested, but I still was because of the whole demi-attraction thing."

"But of course I was interested because who the fuck wouldn't be?" Beca said. "So we talked a lot, yesterday, about us as a couple and us as friends and it kind of just boiled down to the fact that there was no way this was an accident."

"It's some pretty heavy fate," Chloe said, nodding. "Like, if you were both shut in a room together there was no way you'd say the sorts of things Bree has said she said to you."

"The anonymity was helpful," Aubrey said. "And it's actually really great. We've pretty much formed a complete knowledge of each other now."

"And I know Aubrey isn't a cash grabbing skank," Beca said. "Which is what I've been afraid of."

"So you guys are like, legit together," Stacie said, getting used to the idea. "I think this is actually a good match, Chlo."

"Yeah," Chloe said. "Me too. I'm happy for you guys."

"Me too," Stacie said. Then to Beca, she said, "Does Jesse know?"

"I told him last night," Beca said. "Same as you, he was surprised, but now he's all for it."

"So how does it work?" Chloe asked.

"We're going to take it easy for a bit," Aubrey said. "Because we learned a lot about each other in a really short time, comparatively. And we're already friends, and there's going to be a danger that we just throw ourselves into something. So a little dating and a lot of talking."

"But it feels really comfortable," Beca said, "And it feels right. I'm kind of mad we didn't figure this out years ago." She was looking at Aubrey with a happy expression Chloe and Stacie hadn't seen on her face in years.

"Pulling everyone back to the part where I fucking called this when we were in college," Stacie said, making everyone laugh. "I'm the master, I tell you. Even when I'm drunk I can tell these things." They fell into chatter, stopping only when Aubrey called to order food in, and again to let the driver in. Chloe couldn't help but marvel at how natural Beca and Aubrey were together. It's not like they were overdosing on PDA or anything, but there were intimate little touches and hand holding. It was cute.

By the time Chloe and Stacie had left, they were completely aboard. Stacie had commented to Chloe on the way downstairs that the two of them were literally perfect together and that she hadn't seen either of them that happy or excited about a relationship ever before.

When Aubrey closed the door behind them, she returned to Beca on the couch, falling down with a sigh.

"I feel like that went really well," she said.

"Yeah," Beca said. "I'm glad. Because it's only been one day and I'm already really happy."

"One day, but also months," Aubrey reminded her. "Which one is going to count as our anniversary?"

"Ummm," Beca said. "I don't know. I don't mind either. But there will be the question of how long we've been together from the press once they find out. And I don't know about you, but I'd rather not tell them I met the woman I love who happened to be one of my oldest friends online."

"Good call," Aubrey said. "That's just going to make us both sound oblivious. So we just say we've been friends for years and the relationship grew out of that."

"Deal," Beca said. She pulled Aubrey toward her and wrapped her arms around her. "It's nice to be alone with you."

"It really is," Aubrey said. Her fingers interlocked with Beca's as she fully relaxed for the first time that evening.

"You okay now?" Beca asked, brushing her lips against her temple. "I could tell you were worried."

"I was," Aubrey said. "And I know I shouldn't have been, but I can't help it."

"I know," Beca said.

"Do you have to leave right away?" Aubrey asked, shifting a little so she could see Beca's face.

"No," Beca said. "I was planning on hanging out just a little while longer, if that's okay with you." She pulled the taller girl to settle between her legs.

"That's absolutely fine with me," Aubrey smiled. Beca's fingers wound into her hair and began massaging her scalp softly. Aubrey moaned quietly as the hands moved from her scalp down her neck to her shoulders. "God Beca, that feels amazing."

"Anything to lessen your tension," Beca said into her ear. Aubrey swiveled and kissed her, shifting her entire body weight until the smaller woman was pinned beneath her.

"We're supposed to be taking it slow," Beca said, though her pupils were dilating.

"We are," Aubrey said. "But you're extremely beautiful and I'd like to keep kissing you for a while longer." Beca nodded fractionally instead of speaking, and their lips fused together again. Aubrey let her tongue glide along Beca's lower lip before she kissed her leisurely. Their kisses were gentle, teasing, almost playful, but soon enough Beca found herself needing to sit up.

"We gotta stop," she said. "I don't want to, trust me, but we have to."

"Okay," Aubrey agreed. They took a minute to regain their breath. "Can I take you out tomorrow?"

"I've got a post work thing with Capitol," Beca said. "Wednesday?"

"I'll let you know the time and place," Aubrey said.

It was an easy routine to fall into. They'd meet up for dinner, or they'd meet at a club when Beca had to make an appearance. The two of them would spend the night together, ignoring everything going on around them. The press had a field day initially, but Beca and Aubrey were tight lipped about the fine details of their relationship, sticking instead to their prefabricated story about being old friends and having it grow from there.

When their dates were done, they'd end up back at someone's place, normally Beca's, since she was the one with the car service and driver. They still talked a lot, sometimes sat in silence, sometimes they were hell bent on consuming each other with fiery kisses. Despite the fact that they'd already admitted their feelings for one another prior to their meeting, Beca and Aubrey had yet to make the same admission face to face.

It had been Beca first, surprisingly. She'd had a horrible day at work, and when she'd gotten home, Aubrey was already there, waiting with open arms and a glass of wine. She'd held onto her as she unloaded about her day, then leaned in and kissed the smaller woman's forehead softly. Beca's eyes had fallen closed as she'd done so, and remained that way as she'd uttered soft words to her girlfriend.

"I love you, Aubrey," was the simple admission. Then her eyes had fluttered open, meeting the other woman's and holding. A smile broke out across Aubrey's face and she couldn't help but say it back.

"I love you, too," she said. Beca had gotten up, pulling Aubrey to her feet. She gently began kissing her, her hands moving to the fine buttons on the cardigan Aubrey had on. She deftly undid them as her lips never stilled, Aubrey getting the hint and sliding her hands up and down Beca's back.

"You sure?" she murmured to the brunette. Beca simply pulled back and began unbuttoning her shirt, then held a hand out to Aubrey so she could lead her to the bedroom.

Their first time had been slow and sweet, achingly long, and full of kisses and whispers of their feelings to one another. Aubrey was practically on fire from Beca's touch, and Beca swore she had never felt like this when she'd been with anyone in the same way. The connection they shared in their messages and all of their late night talking had definitely translated into the bedroom. They were perfectly compatible in every way, from the way Beca's fingers gently caressed their way up Aubrey's thigh, to the moments their eyes locked as they gave themselves to one another, and the way Aubrey drew an arm over the smaller girl afterward to continue to hold her close and feel her heartbeat through her skin.

Aubrey spent the night, the two of them forgoing their dinner date for an ordered pizza eaten as they sat in a tangle on the couch before retiring back to bed. During the night Aubrey woke, and smiled, because she reached out and felt Beca's warm body next to her. She curled herself back around it, felt the smaller girl adjust her position a little and then latch on to her hand, pressing sleepy kisses to her knuckles.

Beca woke with her face buried in Aubrey's neck, the blonde's hair curtaining her face. But she woke without feeling alone. She woke feeling loved and connected to someone in a way she'd never experienced before. As Aubrey stirred next to her, Beca planted a few soft kisses along her collarbone, causing the blonde to smile groggily.

"Good morning," she whispered.

"Morning," Aubrey mumbled. "What time is it?"

"Early," Beca said. "I didn't want you to be late for work."

"Thanks," Aubrey said. "I need to get home and shower and everything."

"I know," Beca said. "Do you want me to call Greg?"

"No, it's early, I'll take a cab," Aubrey said. She pulled Beca down for a kiss. "Last night was pretty incredible for me, Beca."

"Me, too," Beca said. "It was amazing."

"I kind of don't want to run out like this," Aubrey said.

"Yeah, but it's work," Beca said. "And today is Friday, so after dinner with Chloe and Stacie we can come back here and not have to get out of bed in the morning if we don't want to."

"Oh, that's definitely a plan," Aubrey said. "I'm going to go wash up."

"I'll call the cab for you," Beca said. She didn't have to be at work quite as early as her girlfriend did. She got up and made the call, then slipped down to the kitchen to make coffee before Aubrey left. She was just pouring it into a travel mug when she came downstairs, sliding her arms around her waist from behind and kissing the side of her neck.

"Taxi is en route," Beca said, screwing the top on for her.

"Thanks," Aubrey said. She took a swig from the mug and Beca picked her normal mug up. They spent a few moments just silently drinking their coffee before the honk of the taxi interrupted them. Beca walked her to the door, kissing her soundly before letting her go.

"I'll call you later and let you know what time I'll pick you up," Beca promised.

"I love you," Aubrey said.

"I love you too," Beca said with a smile. Aubrey got into the cab and gave the driver the address. The man shot her a few looks and Aubrey could tell that he recognized Beca at the least, maybe her as well. But he didn't say anything, and Aubrey was back home showering before she knew it. Her impromptu sleepover at Beca's had put her a little behind schedule, and she knew she wasn't going to have time for breakfast before she left. She managed to stop at a coffee cart near work and pick up another coffee and some raisin toast before going in.

"Something smells good," her receptionist said.

"I didn't have time for breakfast," Aubrey explained. "I stayed at Beca's last night and had to come all the way home before I came here."

"How's that going with you guys, anyway?" the woman asked. Aubrey didn't mind the question, since she and Selene were close.

"Really well," Aubrey replied. "It's amazing."

"You seem super happy," Selene observed. "Nobody has like, gone after her or anything? No exposé from some filthy news channel?"

"No," Aubrey said. "I think maybe because the entertainment press have been after her for years they're pretty aware that there's nothing to hide, you know? Plus, she's literally the furthest thing from scandalous. There's nothing for anyone to dig up."

"That's good," Selene said.

"When's my first appointment?"

"Not until eleven today," Selene replied. "With the boss." Aubrey remembered. Something about needing to speak to her about overtime. They were probably going to make her take vacation soon, she was starting to rack up more hours than they liked her to have. She suddenly had a great idea.

"Thanks," Aubrey said. She headed into her office and got herself organized for the day. But before she pulled her first pressing piece of work out, she texted Beca.

Call me if you can.

Her phone rang straight away.

"I didn't mean right this second, if you're busy," Aubrey said.

"I'm in the car on my way to work," Beca said. "What else am I gonna do? What's up?"

"Well my boss wants to have a sit down this morning and I'm pretty sure it's going to be one of those things where they tell me I need to take a holiday," Aubrey said. "I was thinking maybe we could take one together?"

"That sounds really perfect," Beca said. "I can pretty much take a break whenever I want. If that's what they want, count me in. We can talk details when we see each other later."

"Deal," Aubrey said. "I'll see you tonight."

"Love you," Beca said. Aubrey set her phone down and pulled the first case file toward her, intent on starting work. Her boss did call her in at eleven am and, as predicted, the meeting was about her vacation entitlements.

"We appreciate that you love your work so much and that you're so committed," he said. "But you need to take a break. For your own sanity, Aubrey. We've had this discussion before."

"I know," Aubrey said. "And I'm more than happy to take some time off."

"Wait, what?" he said. "I expected a bit of a fight."

"Six months ago, I would have fought," Aubrey said. "I didn't have much outside of work that I wanted to spend time on. Now I do."

"The famous girlfriend," he said, sitting back. "Can I ask an insensitive question?"

"Is it necessary?" Aubrey asked.

"Quite probably," the older man said.

"Okay then," Aubrey said. "But I reserve the right not to answer if it's not appropriate."

"With the girlfriend," he said. "Anything there we need to worry about from an ethics or integrity standpoint?" Aubrey relaxed.

"Not at all," she said. "Honestly, Steven. I know it seems hard to believe but compared to a lot of the other people in her industry, she's kind of - I don't think she's boring personally, but… There's no scandal with Beca. She's just low profile and happy to stay that way."

"Right, all good," he said. "Just checking. Wouldn't want anything to crop up."

"And neither would I," Aubrey said. "So how much leave do you think I should take?"

"Well you've got ten weeks and we'd prefer you to take four if you can, six would be better," he said.

"I'll check and see if there's anything I absolutely can't move and book them in," Aubrey said. "Can I let you know on Monday?"

"Of course," he said. Aubrey returned to her desk and her work.

That night the couple enjoyed a dinner with Chloe and Stacie, the other two girls still completely amazed at how their friends worked as a couple. They were almost literally perfect together. It made them both happy to see how in love they were, how comfortable and easy they were in each other's presence. Beca and Stacie disappeared to the bathroom, so Chloe took the opportunity to check with Aubrey about how things were going.

"How are you guys doing?" Chloe asked.

"Amazingly," Aubrey said. "It's only been a couple of months that we've been physically together but I feel like this could be it, you know?"

"Really!?" Chloe asked.

"I do," Aubrey said. "We're going to plan our first vacation together over the weekend because work is making me take time off."

"That's awesome, Bree," she said. Then she made an admission to her best friend. "Uh, I broke up with Morgan yesterday."

"What! Why?" Aubrey asked. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," Chloe said. "It's going to sound weird. I looked at you and Beca and you guys are this insane level of happy, totally smitten in love, and I don't think I've actually felt anything like that the whole time we'd been together. That's how you should be when you're in love, you know? So I figured he was great and all, but he wasn't the one."

"Oh," Aubrey said. "But you'll find it, Chlo."

"I know," she said confidently. "And I know what it is I'm looking for, too. You guys are a pretty great benchmark. I want someone who looks at me the way Beca looks at you, or you look at her." Aubrey couldn't help but blush a little.

"Have you guys… you know?" Chloe asked. Aubrey just nodded, the blush deepening.

"Last night," Aubrey said.

"I don't need to ask for details, because you've gone bright red and you're also smiling like an idiot, so I'm just going to assume it went well," Chloe said.

"Very well," Aubrey said. Her eyes tracked to Beca as she made her way back with Stacie. The smaller woman left a quick kiss on Aubrey's cheek as she sat down. Their dinner didn't go too much longer, and Beca was soon driving them back to her place, alternating one hand between the steering wheel and tangling fingers with Aubrey as she drove.

True to the plan they'd made that morning, they basically headed straight to the bedroom. As they lay in their post-sex afterglow, Aubrey gently running her fingertips along the tattoo on Beca's shoulder, they drowsily began exchanging ideas for their upcoming vacation. Beca was able to be off the week after next, with only two absolutely pressing things she couldn't reschedule and could take a month off. So Aubrey ventured she'd take the six weeks that her boss was asking her for, one week either side of Beca's month, and she'd take care of the packing and planning and other things. They tossed around a few more ideas, before Aubrey remembered.

"Why don't we just do that road trip?" she asked.

"What?" Beca said.

"Your dream vacation of just getting in a car and driving for a while," Aubrey said. "Nothing but me and you and the car." Beca turned toward Aubrey.

"That sounds perfect," Beca said. "I think my car would be best, since yours is that little sedan. At least the SUV has a bit more space in it."

"Agreed," Aubrey said.

"And I'll book it in for a service tomorrow," Beca said. "Make sure it's up to a long trip. We're just going to drive around for a month?"

"Yeah," Aubrey said. "We can loosely plan stuff if you want."

"Yeah, I feel like we can do that in the morning though," Beca said, pulling Aubrey closer to her and wrapping an arm over her as she spooned her.

"Mmm," Aubrey agreed, tugging the blanket up a bit further over them.

The next morning, Beca woke before Aubrey. Not wanting to disturb the sleeping blonde, she went downstairs into the kitchen to make some coffee and see if she had anything that would be able to be turned into some kind of breakfast type dish.

She groggily rubbed her face as she set the coffee going and, on a whim, pulled her laptop toward her. She'd barely used it the past few months, but she liked the idea of breakfast in bed and Googling possible stops for their road trip. She opened it and smiled, seeing that she actually still had a window opened to Apex Connections. She briefly scanned her profile, and then at the bottom saw the link that read 'Deactivate account'. She navigated to it, clicked it, and was met with another screen.

We're sorry to see you go! Would you mind telling us why you're deactivating?

There was a list of reasons with check boxes next to each entry. She read them through and selected 'no longer necessary'. After she did so, a box popped up below that was headed 'Comment (optional)'. With a broad grin, she typed a quick response.

This site led me to find the love of my life, who coincidentally turned out to be one of my oldest friends. I don't need it any more, because I don't need anybody but her.

Then she pressed 'Submit', the screen changing to read 'Thank you for your feedback'. Then she closed the window and the lid of the laptop, just as the coffee was done. Half a minute later, Aubrey made her way down the stairs in a t-shirt and underwear, and Beca knew she was right. She'd never need that site again.

Chapter Text

Eighteen Months Later

Aubrey closed the door behind herself and joined Beca in the living room. They were completely surrounded by boxes and bags and furniture, having just finished moving the last boxes containing their stuff into their new place.

It was always inevitable, that they'd end up living together. Chloe and Stacie had honestly been shocked it had taken this long, but Beca and Aubrey had decided that instead of moving in to either one of their places they would prefer to get a new place. Buy a proper home for the two of them. Aubrey wanted a bigger place than her current apartment; Beca wanted a smaller place than her current house. Because her house was awesome but it was miles too big for a single person, and still even miles to big for two.

They'd looked at a lot of places because they still wanted to be relatively close to their respective workplaces. It wasn't that they were picky, but they wanted it to be somewhere they didn't have to move again for the foreseeable future.

Chloe and Stacie had offered - more than once - to help them unpack, but they declined. They wanted to settle themselves in, though they did accept an offer to bring dinner around that night, the others promising pizza and beer.

It wasn't going to take them as long as they had originally thought. They'd both been moving stuff in periodically, and they'd bought some new furniture that had already been delivered. Beca had technically moved in during the week, after she realised all the stuff she was keeping from her old house was already at the new place. She was having a business come in and deal with the rest, and a real estate agent lined up to take care of the sale afterward.

Aubrey had made most of the decorative and design decisions - she was the artistic one after all. Beca admitted it wasn't really her forte and was happy to let the blonde explain to her what she was envisioning. Beca's only rule was that there was not going to be a TV in the bedroom, to which Aubrey happily agreed. She even went one step further and declared no computers in there either, which Beca liked. It was going to be their sanctuary, their place to escape from everything else.

It was a big room with a walk in closet that was easily two thirds Aubrey's, and big enough that there was a full length mirror inside. Of course there was a bed, one that was probably Beca's favorite thing in the whole house. It was cozy and big and covered in pillows and blankets. Aubrey had picked out a single piece of artwork that hung above it. The only other things in the room were the matching bedside tables, the two of them wanting to keep the room as minimal as possible. The big window would spill light into the room from the bottom of the bed upward, meaning they could spend lazy weekend mornings in bed and not be too bothered by the sun.

The new house had a designated room for Aubrey's painting - bigger and brighter than her old studio. She still only did it for fun or escape, but now she was feeling more comfortable with people knowing. Stacie knew now and she was absolutely blown away by the blonde's secret talent. The kitchen in the new place wasn't any bigger than Beca's old kitchen but it was a little more modern. Now that Beca had someone to cook for beside herself she was enjoying it more and more, and Aubrey was enjoying it just as much.

Aubrey watched for a second as Beca put the pots and pans and roasting dishes and all manner of other things in the cupboards. Her head was bobbing slightly to the music that was playing and she was humming softly. She looked up and caught the blonde red handed.

"What?" Beca said. "Have I got dirt on my nose?"

"No," Aubrey said. She strode across the kitchen and kissed her girlfriend hard. Beca found herself being pressed up against the bench before she was lifted up until she was sitting atop it. Aubrey settled herself in between Beca's legs as they made out, taking their time and not progressing toward anything else for the time being. When she pulled back, she kept her arms around her girlfriend.

"Have I mentioned how much I love you and how happy I am that we're moving in together?" she said. Beca's face broke out in a radiant smile.

"Me too," she said. "I love you so much, Bree." Beca kissed her again, albeit a lot more briefly than their previous embrace, but then suggested they continue unpacking so they could have the bulk of it done before Chloe and Stacie arrived with the pizza. They continued to make steady progress, managing to get the place looking fairly respectable before their friends arrived with pizza and beer.

They gave them both the tour and then settled in the living room to eat together. Chloe and Stacie had only grown more supportive of Beca and Aubrey as a couple as time went on. After the initial surprise of their getting together had subsided, it was easy to see how amazing they really were together. They were so compatible and absolutely smitten with each other. Stacie remarked more than once that the two of them were like living representations of the heart eyes emoji.

The press loved them too. Beca didn't pay them any more attention than she ever did - which was the bare minimum to stop them labeling her a bitch or a recluse or something. But any time they were spotted out together, whether at a club or a premiere or some government sponsored fundraiser, they made news. They were called adorable, nauseatingly cute, the perfect couple; in every picture they were gazing at each other, the love evident for anyone to see.

When Jesse had come to town to visit and also to do some wedding preparation involving Beca being fitted for her best woman suit, it had taken him about five minutes to get acclimatized to seeing Aubrey and Beca in a relationship, but he was swayed when he saw them together as well. Chloe and Stacie had broken the news to the other Bellas, to a wide variety of excited responses. Cynthia Rose had recalled that Stacie had predicted that very occurrence, leading to the other Bella declaring her amazing skills of premonition once more.

Aubrey was drawn away from the group momentarily to field a phone call from her boss, and Beca just watched her walk away.

"Look at you, Mitchell," Stacie said. "Still as whipped as you were the day you found it was her."

"Hell yeah," Beca admitted. "She's still breathtaking, isn't she?" She drained the last of her beer and took a deep breath.

"I'm going to ask her to marry me," she said quietly, even though Aubrey was well out of earshot. Chloe almost dropped her bottle on the floor, her free hand clamping over her mouth to stifle her squeal lest it alert Aubrey to what they were talking about.

"Oh my god," she said. "Are you serious?"

"Of course I'm serious," Beca said. "There is nothing about her that isn't perfect for me. Don't get me wrong, neither of us are perfect. But we're perfect together. And we are amazing together, and I swear to god I spend every day thinking I can't be more in love with her and then I wake up the next day and I am."

"That's the most sickening thing I've ever heard," Stacie joked. "No, seriously Beca. That's probably the sweetest thing I've ever heard anyone say."

"So do you have, like, a ring and everything?" Chloe asked. "Or a plan?"

"I have a ring," Beca said. "It's buried inside the pocket of a flannel in the bottom of my drawer. I don't really have a plan yet though, I have no idea if I'm going to do something big or just tell her how much I love her and how convinced I am that spending the rest of our lives together is going to be even better than I can imagine."

"Oh lord," Chloe said. "You're making me tear up here, Beca."

"Advice?" Stacie offered. Beca nodded, checking to ensure that Aubrey was still tied up.

"The second option," Stacie said. "You guys built your relationship quietly and without making a scene. Big grand gesture isn't really your style."

"She's right," Chloe said. "Yeah, you guys go out and stuff, but you're really low key and personal. Keep it that way."

"And of course, when is this happening?" Stacie asked.

"I don't really know," Beca said. "I'll just pick a moment that feels right and go with it. But I think sooner rather than later." Her eyes drifted back to the blonde as she hung up the phone call and returned to the living room. Beca leaned over and kissed her on the cheek as she sat back down.

"Everything okay?" Chloe asked.

"Oh yeah, just passing on something for a case we're working on," she said. "He's still at the office and didn't want to forget before morning."

"Let me start getting rid of this trash," Beca said. She picked up the empty pizza boxes and Stacie stood up, grabbing the empty beer bottles.

"I'll give you a hand," she said. She disappeared with Beca into the kitchen.

"So do you guys have much left to unpack?" Chloe asked her best friend.

"Not really," Aubrey said. "Beca still has to do the home studio and we have to do the last bits of in here, plus I'm only about half done with the office. Beca's going to finish up everything but the office tomorrow."

"You have to work?"

"Yeah, pretty big court case coming up for us, I'm not really allowed to say too much about it though," Aubrey said. "But it's okay, she'll finish up tomorrow and then I'll do the office the day after since it'll be the weekend." Chloe didn't press, this wasn't unusual for Aubrey. It wasn't like she was being secretive on purpose.

"You still seem really happy, Bree," Chloe observed.

"I am," Aubrey said with soft conviction. "Beca's it, Chloe. This is it for me. I know we're going to be together forever, married, whatever. What about you?"

"Well," Chloe said. "I think things are going really well with Nick." Nick was a relatively new development. It had only been two months, but he seemed like a good match for Chloe.

"That's great, Chlo," Aubrey said. The girls returned from the kitchen and they sat around for a little while longer talking before they decided it was time to go home. Aubrey and Beca walked them to the door and then decided they were done packing for the night, heading upstairs to their bathroom, with its double-sized shower to try and ease the ache in their muscles.

The next day, Aubrey headed off to work and Beca continued unpacking their belongings. She started by finishing off the living room and then tackling the setup of her home office. It took considerable time for her to get everything set up just the way she wanted it, the finishing touch being hanging a painting Aubrey had given her about four months after they'd started dating. She sat down in the chair at her mixing desk and looked at it for a while. Her girlfriend was insanely talented. As she was drifting off into a daydream about Aubrey, the blonde in question texted her.

I love you and I can't wait to come home to our house today.

Beca grinned and texted her back.

I love you too, and I can't wait for you to come home either.

Even just getting a text from Aubrey was enough to turn her into a pile of goo. She decided right that instant that she was going to ask Aubrey to marry her, not sooner rather than later as she'd told Chloe and Stacie, but that night. She checked the time and figured she had more than enough time to go to the store and pick up something to make for a nice dinner, if she washed up and left very soon.

She took a quick shower and headed out, deciding she had enough time to make some of Aubrey's favorites - a pumpkin and goats cheese ravioli and an apple pie. It didn't take long to pick everything out and choose an appropriate bottle of wine so she could head back home. She got straight to it, putting some music on and getting lost in the cooking.

She ended up timing it pretty well, having had just enough time to ensure everything was close to done and not going to burn to give herself time to slip the ring out of the box in her drawer and stow it safely in the pocket of her jeans. The meal just about ready as Aubrey got home, the blonde smelling the food and finding her in the kitchen.

"Whatever you're cooking, it smells amazing," Aubrey said. Then she kissed Beca soundly. "Hi. What's all this?"

"I figured I might make your favorite dinner, celebrate the fact that we're living together finally," Beca said, holding her. "You've got enough time to wash up if you like and I'll have food and wine ready for you."

"Sounds perfect." She disappeared to get out of the clothes she'd worn to work, and Beca dished up the meal. The pie was still safely baking, so she took the food in and placed it on the dining table. They'd chosen a larger dining table, but she parked them in a corner close to each other. Aubrey came in and Beca pulled their chair for her.

"Thanks for dinner," Aubrey said. "It looks incredible. And do I smell pie?"

"You do smell pie," Beca said. "Apple, naturally." Aubrey kissed her before she began eating. They enjoyed their meal together and Aubrey cleared the plates away as Beca checked on the pie. It still had about ten minutes left, so they made coffee and waited it out.

After they'd eaten the pie, they retired to the living room, Aubrey pulling Beca against her, the older woman's fingers running lightly up and down her arm as they simply sat there digesting their food. It didn't take long for Beca to shift and press her lips to Aubrey's. It was a long, languid kiss, and Aubrey began tugging her over so she was straddling her lap.

Aubrey's hands slipped inside the back of her tee as she pulled her closer, the next kiss getting steamier. Beca moaned softly, but then remembered why she'd gone to all this trouble in the first place. She pulled back a little, chest still slightly heaving from the kiss.

"Hey Bree?" she said.

"Yeah?" Aubrey said.

"I know I already told you the dinner was to celebrate us moving in together," she said, "But I just wanted to tell you how much I love you and how happy I am that we've moved in together. Because waking up next to you every morning is just about the best thing I can think of." Aubrey smiled softly at her and pulled her in for a tender kiss.

"Me too, Beca," Aubrey said. "God I'm so happy."

"And I say just about," Beca continued, running her fingertips down the side of Aubrey's face, "because there is one thing I can think of that would be better."

"Oh yeah?" Aubrey asked. "What's that?"

"Waking up to my wife every morning for the rest of our lives," Beca said seriously. Aubrey's jaw went a little slack, and tears formed in her eyes.

"I love you, Aubrey," Beca said. "We've been friends for years and years and then fate got involved and - you know what, I don't even care how we got to where we are now. All I know is that I'm happier with you than I've ever been and I love you more every day. So marry me, Aubrey. I want to spend my days making you as happy as you make me." She snaked a hand down and pulled the ring out of her pocket. The tears spilled out of Aubrey's eyes and she nodded.

"Yes, Beca," she whispered through the emotion, "Of course I'll marry you." Beca couldn't help but shed a few tears of her own as she pushed the ring onto Aubrey's finger before the blonde pulled her down and kissed her hard.

"I love you so much," Aubrey said against her mouth. Their lips fused together again, and again, until Beca was tugging her up and leading her toward the bedroom.

The next morning, Aubrey had her arm tight over Beca's waist as they snuggled in their bed together. Beca had backed herself right into the blonde's body and her hand was on top of Aubrey's, fingers playing with the ring she'd given her the night before.

"Do we have anything we need to do today?" Beca asked.

"Besides tell everyone how blissfully happy we are and that we're getting married?" Aubrey said. "I just wanted to finish setting up the office, but I can be swayed if you have plans."

"Well, I know Stacie and Chloe are going to flip out and demand to come see us immediately," Beca said, "but I was actually hoping we could just hang out right here for a little while first. Keep this moment to ourselves for the morning before we tell them."

"That sounds good to me," Aubrey said. "And then I vote we shower, then call the girls."

"And I'll have to tell Jesse at some point," Beca said. "He'll flip."

"I'm still getting used to it myself," Aubrey said. "I'm just so happy, Beca. So in love with you." Beca rolled over and kissed her deeply, before sliding over and settling on top of her body.

Aubrey ended up texting Chloe and Stacie around eleven am, shooting them a picture of the two of them in bed, Aubrey's hand well and truly in frame. Their hair was still messy from the sleeping and the sex, and neither of them were wearing makeup, but Beca still thought it was a beautiful picture of the two of them.

As expected, Chloe called straight away, so Beca kissed Aubrey on the cheek and whispered that she would go and make coffee for them both. She picked up her cell phone and called Jesse while she waited for it. As she had anticipated, Jesse was about as emotional over the event as she had been herself, and he was initially a little taken aback that she hadn't shared it with him when she was planning it.

"I wasn't planning it exactly, Jess," Beca said. "Maybe if I'd planned some big thing I would have asked for an assist, but I pretty much just told her how much I love her and all kinds of mushy stuff, and then asked her to marry me. You know me, dude."

"Yeah, I guess," he admitted. "But let me know when you guys start planning stuff. I got so many tips now, I'm basically a professional wedding planner."

"Will do," Beca said. "I gotta go, Jesse, I just wanted you to be the first person I told."

"Awww, thanks," he said. "Happy for you guys! We'll talk soon."

"Yeah," Beca promised, and hung up. She made the coffee and took it upstairs, where Aubrey had already finished talking to Chloe.

"We're having lunch with Chloe and Stacie at one," she said. "Figured it was easier that way."

"For sure," Beca said. They drank their coffee in silence and then made their way toward the shower.

Once they met the other girls at the chosen restaurant, there was plenty of squealing and hugs as they all embraced and then looked at the ring, and asked for play by plays of how it all went down. Chloe and Stacie didn't let on that they'd known this was coming - made all the easier by the fact that they hadn't known it was coming so soon.

They ordered their food and then they talked a little bit about all the things girls normally talk about when they get engaged - how soon things were going to start moving toward the wedding. Aubrey and Beca hadn't really had any time to nail down their thoughts on that, but it was fine to shoot ideas around with the girls. Once the waiter brought their food and drinks over to the table, Stacie decided it would be worth it to give a toast.

"To Beca and Aubrey," Stacie said. "You guys are ridiculously in love and extremely happy, and the both of us can't be happier that you've found that with each other, and we look forward to being with you guys as you continue your relationship and get married."

They toasted, Chloe and Stacie putting their glasses down and getting straight to their meals. But Beca reached her hand over and tangled it with Aubrey's, tugging her toward her.

"I love you," Beca whispered to her. Aubrey just leaned in and gently closed her lips over Beca's for a brief second.

"I love you, too."