"Are you kidding me, Beca?"

"I wish I was…"

"Whatever. I'm fucking done with you." Aubrey spat, tears welling up in her eyes as she turned to leave.

Beca caught her wrist, tugging her back toward her. "Aubrey, please don't go. I…I just can't do a relationship right now. I'm not ready. I'm not. I want to be, but I'm not. And it has nothing to do with you. You're…You're wonderful, okay? This is all me. I want you in my life, I do, but just…not as my girlfriend. Not yet. Please stay. Please." She pleaded.

Aubrey snatched her arm back from the younger girl and threw up her hands. "If I'm not your girlfriend, if you don't want me to be your girlfriend, then why do you buy me flowers and make me mixed CDs and let me wear your favorite hoodie? Why do you call me every night to say goodnight? Why do you kiss me and hold my hand and cuddle with me? Why do you do all these things if you don't want me as your girlfriend, Beca?"

Beca shrugged helplessly. "Just…Just because."

"Just because?! That's seriously all you can give me? I can't even…" Aubrey tugged her fingers roughly through her hair. "You actually expect me to be placated by that? To just accept that you don't want to be in a relationship with me because you're 'not ready' even though we do all these relationshippy things all the time? Do you have any idea how that looks to me, Beca? Do you?"

"Look, Bree -"

"Don't you dare call me that right now. You have no right to call me that right now."

The brunette sighed exasperatedly and momentarily pinched the bridge of her nose. "Right. Sorry. Aubrey. Aubrey, I just don't do relationships, okay? After what happened with my parents I…I'm just not ready to set myself up for that. I'm not ready to blindly surrender my heart. I can't…this is why I stuck with one night stands. Sex is just sex. There's no…there's no feelings or anything to worry about. Just fuck and never speak again. It's simple. My life was fucking perfect relationship-wise until you came along. I didn't need anyone or want to be around anyone all the fucking time and I certainly didn't have any kind of feelings for anyone and then you showed up and just-just fucked everything up and I just…I don't know how to deal with this, okay? I-I like you, I really, really do, but I just…this is hard for me. Really fucking hard. I'm afraid…I'm afraid you'll hurt me or I'll hurt you and I can't handle either of those scenarios so just cut me some slack, okay? Please?"

A tense silence filled the room. The blonde simply gaped at her, astonished by the confession. She thought she should say something but had no idea what that something might be, so she remained silent. She was upset with Beca, of that she was certain. They had been acting like a couple for coming up on five months now, but the younger girl still refused to agree to be in an official relationship, in public or in private. And, if she was being perfectly honest, it hurt Aubrey's feelings. She knew the brunette had a multitude of fears and doubts about relationships that stemmed from her parents' bitter divorce when she was a child but she had assumed that, after being everything but together for a few months, Beca would be able to overlook said fears and doubts enough to finally commit to Aubrey. She had hoped that she had proved to the shorter girl that she was different, that they would work, that she would stay, but obviously, she had been sorely mistaken.

"Beca, I can't-I can't keep doing this with you. I feel like…" she sighed and bit her lip hesitantly, unsure as to whether or not she wanted to push forward with her speech. Deciding to go for it in favor of finally getting all of this off her chest, she took a shaky breath and began to talk again. "I feel like you don't really want to be with me. I mean, I understand that you have your worries and insecurities and I would never expect you to just get over that in a heartbeat, but Christ, Beca, it's been five months now. Five months and you're still denying us. Five months and you still tell me we can't be together. I feel like I'm not good enough for you." The brunette started to protest but was cut off by Aubrey's raised hand. "Shut up and let me finish. You got to make your case, now I get to make mine. You owe me that much." Beca huffed, but nodded her assent. The blonde lowered her arm and sighed sadly. When she spoke again, she sounded defeated. "I can't keep this up, Beca. It hurts too much. Don't you understand that? Don't you understand how much you're hurting me? All I want is from you is acknowledgement. I want you to acknowledge the fact that we are more than friends, more than lovers, even. We're partners, Beca, partners in a relationship, and I want you to acknowledge that. Acknowledge me. And if you can't do that…" Tears welled up in both women's eyes. Aubrey steeled herself and continued, "If you can't do that, then this-" she gestured between the two of them, "What we have, is over."

Panic set in as Beca realized what Aubrey meant, and a strangled sob escaped her before she could stop it. She firmly grasped the taller woman's lean biceps and searched her eyes, hoping against hope that she wouldn't force her to make this decision. "Aubrey, please, you know I'm not-"

The blonde made a sound that was a mixture between a sob and a scoff and shook the sophomore off of her. "Ready, I know. Whatever. Goodbye, Beca."

And with that, Aubrey turned and walked out the door and out of Beca's life.