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Winter break hits Barden University like a brick wall. It was sudden, loud, and impossible to ignore.
Beca Mitchell hates it immediately.
The snow, the lights, the aggressively cheerful acappella groups echoing from the quad, none of it fills her with joy. Christmas feels performative to her. Too polished. Too loud. Too many expectations wrapped in tinsel. She retreats into her headphones and pretends the world is on mute.
Unfortunately, she is outnumbered.
Chloe, her girlfriend, is Christmas incarnate. She arrives at the Bellas house with a red scarf, homemade peppermint bark, and a detailed plan that includes baking, decorating, and a Christmas Caroling list. Chloe believes Christmas is about being together and letting people know you care, even if it’s a little over the top.
Beca believes Christmas is a scheduling error.
Her two closest friends Stacie and Aubrey fall somewhere in between—though in wildly different ways.
Stacie treats winter break like a flirtation opportunity with festive lighting. She’s enthusiastic, affectionate, and absolutely determined to make Christmas romantic. Aubrey, meanwhile, insists she “does not care” about Christmas while quietly reorganizing the holiday décor so everything is symmetrical, color-coordinated, and emotionally controlled.
And somehow they work so well together, adding a touch to Christmas that they each needed in their life.
The four Bellas stay on campus for break. Flights were expensive, families are complicated, and truthfully, none of them mind the quiet. It was much needed after a long season of competitions. Aubrey had graduated but decided to spend the holidays with Stacie since they'd been together for three years. She'd much rather be with her than with her family.
Meanwhile, Chloe tries to include Beca in their festive activities gently. Not forcing carols. No matching sweaters. Just low-stakes invitations.
“Hot chocolate?” Chloe asks as she pops her head into Beca's office where she creates mixes for the group. “No marshmallows,” Beca replies instantly, “obviously,” Chloe says, smiling like she’s won something anyway.
One night, the power flickers out during a storm and the house goes dark.
"Dammit!" Beca curses as she walks into the living room where the others are, "powers out." she announces, as if the others had been oblivious to the flickering lights two minutes ago.
"Come join us, we're gonna watch Home Alone on Stacie's laptop and finish these cookies and hot cocoa." Chloe says, patting the seat on the couch next to her. Aubrey and Stacie took a seat on the floor in front of the coffee table where Stacie set her computer up and they waited for Beca.
"Home Alone?" Beca asked, "yeah, the one with the kid who gets left...home alone." Aubrey explained, "right." Beca nodded.
"Just sit." Chloe commanded and Beca rolled her eyes, taking a seat nonetheless.
The movie started and about halfway in Beca sighed, "lemme guess, the kid outsmarts the robbers and the parents feel like shit for leaving their child at home?" Beca asked but she already knew the answer. "You're no fun." Chloe frowned, "I'm sorry! But I told you my freshman year, movies suck because they are too predictable." Beca said.
"Well yeah most times you know what's going to happen B, but it's about the entertainment and the thrill of not know exactly what the character will say or do next." Stacie explained, "I guess." Beca shrugged.
The movie continued and the girls enjoyed each other's company silently. When the movie ends Beca leaves to go find something to eat in the kitchen, Chloe follows and watches as Beca digs in the fridge.
“Want to tell me why you hate it?” Chloe asks quietly.
Beca hesitates, unsure, but then settles, “it’s always supposed to be perfect. And it never is. People pretend really hard and I’d rather skip it than to be disappointed.”
Chloe nods, thoughtful. “Okay. Then we won’t pretend.” she decided. "What do you mean?" Beca asked. Chloe smiled as she stepped up to Beca and took her hands, holding them tightly.
"I mean, we won't pretend like everything is perfect, because nothing is ever perfect. But we will enjoy the time we all have together. You're not a little kid anymore Becs, you can make the holidays how you want them to be." Chloe said.
Beca was quiet as she digested that, she had never thought of it that way, maybe Chloe was right.
"Okay, so how do I do that?"
The power goes back on in the middle of the night and when the girls wake up on Christmas Eve they immediately start their day.
Chloe throws out her very detailed plan and lets Beca take the wheel.
"No plan, nothing to perfect."
The words echo in Beca's mind as she burns a batch of cookies and pretends that she isn't enjoying The Grinch. Secretly though she is, she feels like she can finally relate to a Christmas movie because it isn't about celebrating this perfect and amazing holiday, but is about calling out the flaws within it.
She even feels like she may be a bit of a Grinch, and maybe- just maybe, her heart is growing three times its size.
Later that night, before it hits 12 am, Chloe slips a small gift into Beca’s hands. No wrapping paper. Just a USB drive.
“What’s this?” Beca asks as she examines the item.
“A playlist,” Chloe says. “Not Christmas. Just… us.” she says finally. Beca stares at it for a long moment. Then she pockets it carefully, like it matters. “I still hate Christmas.” she says.
Chloe smiles. “That’s fine. You’re doing it your way.”