Aubrey groaned as she felt around on her nightstand trying to find her ringing phone. She opened one eye and peeked at her alarm clock, the time reading 2:46 in the morning. Whoever is calling at this time of night better have a damn good reason for it, Aubrey thought to herself before answering her phone.
"Aubrey Posen," she whispered, her throat sore and dry from sleeping.
"Aubrey?" the voice choked out, barely audible. "Aubrey it's me. Beca." The blonde sat up in bed upon hearing the other girl's frightened voice.
"What's wrong? Are you okay?" Aubrey's concern for the woman heightened when she heard no response.
"Beca, I need you to talk to me for me to help you. Tell me what's wrong." Aubrey was already pulling on a pair of jeans as she spoke.
"I need help, Aubrey."
"Should I wake Chloe or come alone?"
"Alone," Beca sighed into the phone. She should be talking to her girlfriend right now instead of her girlfriend's best friend, but she knew that just hearing the redhead's voice would send her into fits of panic and make everything seem more real. "Please," she added, swallowing the massive lump that had formed in her throat.
"Tell me where you are, Beca. I'll be right there." Aubrey was walking fast across the parking lot, her car keys digging into her palm.
"A park on West 23rd and Pine Street. It's three blocks from the radio station."
"Don't move Beca, okay? I'm on my way. Just stay where you are." Aubrey whipped out of the parking lot, disregarding the multiple driving laws she was breaking as she sped to Beca. She arrived at the cross streets within minutes, her eyes searching frantically for the younger girl as she pulled her car up to the curb. She spotted her on the swings, her body so still it almost seemed lifeless. Being careful not to frighten her, Aubrey walked up to Beca and kneeled down before her, placing her hand on the younger girl's knee softly.
"I'm here."
Beca looked up to meet the blonde's gaze, exposing the fresh bruises that were blossoming on her cheek and neck. Pure, unadulterated fear clouded her gray-blue eyes, tear marks evident on her face. Her body began to shake with anxiety as she braced herself for the explanation she knew she'd have to give Aubrey sooner than later. Aubrey grabbed the other girl's hands firmly in her own, fighting to maintain her composure and stay strong for Beca.
"I know it's hard, Beca, but I need you to tell me what happened." Aubrey's voice was soft, giving Beca the confidence she needed to relive the horror she'd just experienced.
"I was walking home from the station about an hour ago. Usually I leave earlier but I was looking through the record collections for new songs to mix with," Beca choked, biting down on her lower lip as salty tears began to spill from her eyes. Aubrey nodded gently, encouraging her to continue.
"I had my earphones on as usual, so when he came up behind me and grabbed me, I didn't see or hear it coming."
"Who's he?"
"The guy who raped me." Beca gripped Aubrey's hands tighter, her teeth clenched as painful sobs rocked through her body.
"Beca…" Aubrey was at a loss for words. Her heart broke as she watched the brunette fall to pieces in front of her helplessly.
"I was walking right past that bus stop," Beca motioned to sidewalk off to her right, "and he grabbed me and held a knife to my throat. He ripped my earbuds out and told me if I screamed, he'd slit my throat." Beca paused, taking a deep breath before continuing. "He dragged me by my hair over to that wall over there by the bathrooms," she pointed to the building a couple hundred feet in front of them, "and he forced my pants down and held me by my throat as he…as he raped me." The last words stuck in Beca's throat like a knife. "When I started crying, he slapped me across the face. I didn't know what to do, Aubrey. I couldn't move; it was like I was paralyzed. When he finished, he dropped me and kicked me in the stomach, telling me that he'd find me and kill me if I told anyone."
Aubrey wrapped her arms around Beca who had begun shivering from the cold. Beca pressed her face into Aubrey's shoulder, her hands fidgeting in her lap.
"I didn't know who else to call," Beca mumbled. "I didn't know what to do. I still don't."
"You have two options. You can let me take you to a hospital to get a rape kit done on you so the evidence can be reported to the police, or we can go home. Before you make a decision, though, I'm going to have to strongly advise you let me take you to the hospital. I know the easy solution would be to just ignore this and pretend like it never happened, but it's only going to eat away at you and continue to hurt you. I know it all hurts right now, and I wish I could take all the pain away, but reporting this can and will help you. I just want to help you, Beca."
As much as Beca wanted to go home and take a shower and pretend like nothing happened, she knew that running away from her problems wouldn't solve them. She hesitated for a moment, but her voice was clear when she looked up at Aubrey and said, "Take me to the hospital."
Beca was silent the entire way to the hospital, her gaze fixed out the window as she struggled to make sense of everything that was happening. Aubrey looked over to her, grabbing her hand reassuringly when she saw Beca's deadpan expression. They pulled into the parking lot near the emergency room, Aubrey parking in the first spot she saw. She shut off the engine and turned to Beca.
"You ready?" Beca nodded in reply, not trusting her words. Her eyes were cast downward at the floor, unable to look the older woman in the eye. Aubrey placed her hand under Beca's chin and eased her face upwards to meet her glance.
"You are going to be okay. I promise." Beca nodded again, the fear in her eyes slowly beginning to dissipate.
The two got out of the car and walked up to the entrance of the ER. As they reached the doors Beca stopped, pausing for a moment to collect herself. She followed Aubrey into the hospital, easing herself into a chair as Aubrey went to the receptionist to get the necessary paperwork. She could vaguely hear her friend explaining what had happened to the woman behind the desk, but as she sat there her brain began to tune out her surroundings and she lost herself in thought. Aubrey returned with a clipboard and a small stack of papers, already beginning to fill out the information to the best of her knowledge. She'd gotten through as much of the paperwork as possible before turning to Beca for help filling out the rest.
"I got as much done as I could, but I don't know anything about yours or your family's medical history."
Beca took the clipboard from her, her eyes skimming over the black words on the white page. The letters began to run together, her vision preventing her from making sense of the information displayed before her. Looking up at Aubrey, she whispered, "I don't know if I can do this, Bree."
"Listen to me. You can do this. You are strong, Beca, and you can do this." Beca turned her attention back to the paper, marking the appropriate boxes and answering the questions wherever necessary. By the time she got to the end of the stack, a nurse was calling her name.
"Beca Mitchell?" Beca got up from her seat, glancing at Aubrey in the process.
"I can't go in with you, but I'll be right here when you come back out. It'll be quick and I promise you it won't hurt. You can do this, okay?"
"Okay," Beca replied softly, walking over to the nurse and through the double doors that led to the patient's rooms.
Aubrey watched as Beca walked away, running a hand through her hair as she glanced at her phone. The time read 4:12, and for the first time that night she let a yawn escape her mouth. She leaned back in her seat, closing her eyes in an attempt to relax a bit before Beca was allowed to go home. Her mind wandered to Chloe, wondering why Beca didn't want her girlfriend to know just yet. Maybe she didn't want to see Chloe's face when she told her, or maybe it was because telling her would make it all that much more real. She thought about how Beca was going to tell her, how she was going to explain to Chloe why she called Aubrey instead of her, and in the midst of all her thinking Aubrey slipped into a light slumber. In what felt like minutes, Beca was tapping the sleeping girl on the shoulder to wake her up. Aubrey woke with a start, her eyes flying open as she sat upright. She exhaled with relief when she saw Beca sitting across from her, the younger woman's face unreadable but clearly exhausted.
"You ready to go?" Aubrey asked, fishing her keys from her bag as she stood up. Beca nodded, a small smile slipping onto her face before it returned back to the expressionless look she'd held for the majority of the night.
The two walked out of the building in silence and made their way back to Aubrey and Chloe's shared apartment. Neither girls spoke during the car ride, the music playing softly from the radio filling the empty silence that enveloped them. Aubrey pulled into a spot in the parking lot of the apartment complex and sighed, glad to finally be home.
"You know Chloe will be waking up any minute," Aubrey said tentatively, her eyes glancing at her watch. 5:42.
"Yeah…yeah I know." Beca began walking to the building, wanting nothing more than to take a hot shower and sleep for the next few months.
"So what are you going to tell her? You can't just cover up those bruises with makeup."
Beca whipped around to face the woman, anger bubbling up inside her. "You know what, Aubrey? I don't know what I'm going to do. I don't know how I'm going to tell my girlfriend that some random asshole attacked me and fucked me like some kind of rag doll. I don't know, okay?" Beca knew she shouldn't have snapped at the woman who dropped everything for her when she needed help earlier, but she couldn't contain her frustration any longer. "Can we just go inside please? I can't stand how disgusting I feel right now."
Aubrey nodded silently and continued walking up the steps to her apartment. She turned the key in the lock without a word, letting Beca walk in first before following her inside. She set her bag on the table near the door and walked over to the kitchen to start a pot of coffee.
"Towels are in the cabinet just outside the bathroom," she said quietly.
"Thanks," Beca mumbled.
Aubrey watched as the brunette closed the bathroom door behind her, sighing for what seemed like the hundredth time when she heard the shower turn on. Grabbing a mug from the cupboard, she poured herself a cup of coffee and sat down at the kitchen table. She placed her head in her hands, her mind and heart heavy from everything that had happened in the past few hours. A pajama-clad Chloe walked into the living room, her face twisting in confusion when she saw Aubrey sitting in the kitchen.
"If you're out here, then who's in the shower?"
"Beca," Aubrey replied, not looking up from her position.
"Wait, what? My own girlfriend is here at my apartment taking a shower and I'm just now hearing about this?"
"It's more complicated than that, Chloe," Aubrey began, rubbing her eyes as she turned to face the redhead.
"Oh really? Please, by all means, do explain." Chloe interrupted, her lips pursed and her hands crossed against her chest. Before Aubrey could open her mouth and form a response, a loud crash came from the bathroom. Chloe ran to the door, Aubrey following close behind.
"Beca, are you okay?" Chloe called out, knocking lightly on the door. Muffled sobs came in reply, and Chloe tugged at the handle as she tried to open the door.
"She never locks the door when she showers," Chloe rushed. "Beca open up!" She knocked harder on the door, pulling at the handle forcefully. Aubrey went to the kitchen, pulling the bathroom key out of one of the drawers before running back. She jammed the key into the lock, struggling for a moment before managing to open the door successfully.
"I'll be in the living room. Call me in if you need anything," Aubrey whispered, not wanting to invade Beca's privacy.
Chloe walked in to the tiny room and drew back the shower curtain. Beca was sitting under the searing hot water with her back to Chloe, clutching the wall of the bathtub for support as tears ran furiously down her face. Her skin was red and raw from intense scrubbing, small sections of her back even bleeding from the roughness.
"Beca, baby, what's going on?" Chloe asked worriedly, her eyes wide with shock.
"I can't get rid of it, Chloe. It's not coming off no matter how hard I try." Beca's words came out in broken pieces as she leaned into the wall, unable to hold herself up.
"Get rid of what, babe? What can't you get rid of?" Chloe grabbed Beca's hand, causing the younger woman to look up at her. She could see the pain etched into her girlfriend's eyes, and a tear rolled down her cheek as she ran her fingers softly over the bruise that had fully formed on Beca's face.
"Who did this to you?" Beca tensed under Chloe's touch, her hand feeling strangely foreign. She sat silently for a moment, trying her best to muster up the courage and energy to answer Chloe.
"The man who raped me." Beca's voice was nearly inaudible over the sound of the water. Chloe turned off the shower and climbed into the bathtub, showing no concern for her pajama shorts as she sat down in the water and wrapped her arms around the smaller girl's waist, pressing small kisses on her back where it had been scrubbed hardest. Beca hung her head, her crying beginning to subside as she relaxed into Chloe's arms.
"I'm so sorry this happened to you, Bug," Chloe whispered, resting her chin on Beca's shoulder. Although Beca usually hated any sort of nickname people tried giving her, she couldn't help but adore the one Chloe had come up with when they first started dating ten months ago.
"It's my fault. I shouldn't have been at the radio station so late in the first place."
Chloe turned Beca's face to her own. "Don't you dare try and take the blame for this, Beca Mitchell. This is in no way your fault. You did not ask for this." Beca sighed, her head falling on Chloe's shoulder.
"I just want this to go away. I want it all to be over with," she yawned, her eyes fighting to stay open.
"C'mon, Bug. Let's get you to bed," Chloe replied, kissing Beca's forehead. Beca wrapped the towel around her body as she stepped out of the tub, tying her damp hair up swiftly in a messy bun as she followed Chloe out of the bathroom. The redhead stopped in the hallway, glancing out in the living room to see if Aubrey was still there. She saw her best friend passed out on the couch, and she turned to Beca and whispered, "Go ahead. I'll be right behind you, okay?" Beca nodded, walking into Chloe's room at the end of the hallway.
"Aubrey," Chloe spoke softly, shaking her shoulder lightly in an attempt to wake the sleeping woman. When Aubrey didn't stir, Chloe grabbed the blanket that was draped over the chair to her left and placed it over her before walking into her room.
Beca was already dressed and in Chloe's bed, her eyes half open as she waited for her girlfriend to join her. Chloe peeled her now-soaked shorts and underwear off of her and slipped into a new pair of each before slipping under the sheets next to Beca.
"I'm scared," Beca breathed, turning to face Chloe.
"I know baby," the redhead murmured in response, lacing her fingers with Beca's. "Everything's gonna be okay, though. I promise." She kissed the younger girl softly, being careful not to overstep Beca's comfort zone in her fragile state.
"I love you, Chlo." Chloe placed another kiss on Beca's nose before pulling her small waist into her own, her arms wrapping around the younger girl's front protectively.
"I love you too, Bug."
Beca's breathing grew shallow as she quickly fell asleep. Chloe listened silently to her girlfriend's heartbeat, unable to contain her thoughts enough to fall asleep herself. A million and one questions raced through her head, her own heartbeat racing with anxiety. She was drawn from her thoughts as Beca pressed her back closer to Chloe, her hand resting gently over the older girl's subconsciously.
There will be time for questions later, Chloe told herself. She sighed into Beca's hair and closed her eyes, letting sleep wash over her.