A/N: This is something I've had in my mind for awhile now. This story is going to be a little darker than my other stories, but I hope you enjoy it nonetheless. Please let me know what you think and, if you're experiencing any of this and need someone to talk to, I'm always a message away.

It had started out innocently enough—a sleepover with friends after a long week of school. There was plenty of junk food to go around, but nearly every girl was afraid to reach for it. Maura, not knowing why the other girls weren't eating, reached for a handful of popcorn and immediately regretted it when she saw the other girls looking at her in disgust. She realized they were judging her although they didn't have the nerve to say anything. Putting the popcorn back was unsanitary, so she gingerly ate each piece in hopes that her friends would soon change the subject.

Maura hadn't eaten since lunch and the hunger pangs she was feeling were starting to worsen, but she dared not say anything to her friends—not that they actually were her friends. They were more Jane's friends or, more specifically, Jane's friends' girlfriends. The girls had planned a sleepover during their lunch period two days before and Maura was invited by default.

"It'll be good for you," Jane had told her, but she would have rather gone on a date with Jane or spent time in Jane's friend's basement with Jane and the guys while they all played video games and talked about sports. Maura wasn't an active participant, but she liked spending time with Jane and Jane's friends always made her feel welcomed.

Maura knew her girlfriend was looking out for her and encouraging her to have her own social outlet, but Jane was wrong. The sleepover wasn't good for her and she didn't see herself making friends or fitting in with these girls, not that she actually wanted to.

"Brenda is a real porker," one of the girls said while they were all sitting on sleeping bags and watching House of Style. Their friend Brenda had just left to the bathroom to remove her makeup and the rest of the girls, save for Maura, couldn't wait to make fun of her.

"She's beautiful," Maura interjected. "I think she looks like the girls in the magazines."

"If she lost ten pounds," a girl named Jenny smirked. "Or maybe she doesn't need to lose weight at all. Maybe she could just take the fat from her thighs and have it injected into her boobs. Instant swimsuit model."

A brunette girl named Dana stopped polishing her nails and spoke to Maura for the first time that night. "Aren't you worried that Jane's going to leave you?"

"Jane wouldn't leave her," Brenda said as she rejoined the party. Maura looked her up and down and the more she looked at Brenda the more she envied her and the more she worried what the girls would say about her when she left to take off her makeup.

"Don't be so sure of yourself," Dana warned Maura. "You don't have the best body. You're kinda socially awkward and, to be perfectly blunt, you don't put out."

"Did Jane tell you anything?" Maura asked.

"No," Jenny answered before Dana could get another word in. "But it's obvious."

Maura knew it must not have been so obvious if she had no idea what they were talking about and she was torn between wanting them to clarify and wanting to change the subject.

While the girls returned to watching House of Style and raiding Jenny's stash of teen magazines, Maura noticed that her girlfriend was looking at her from the doorway of Jenny's bedroom. Jane had no sleeping bag or other belongings so Maura wondered how long she was going to stay.

I'd even share my sleeping bag with her, Maura thought. Just please stay, Jane.

"Hi, Jane," the girls said as sweetly as they could.

Jane was taken aback by how friendly they were. The girls had never been uppity in front of her, but they had never been overly friendly either. "I'm here to pick up Maura."

Dana gasped. "Is something wrong? We can't possibly let go of Maura."

"Everything is fine," Jane insisted. "I just missed her."

"Will you have her back in a timely manner?" Dana batted her eyelashes.

If Maura had a say in this, she wouldn't be returning at all. As far as she was concerned Jane had rescued her and there was no way she'd ever join them for another sleepover. While the girls made small talk with Jane, Maura quickly gathered her belongings and left without saying goodbye. She knew it was rude, but she just couldn't bring herself to be cordial with them.

"I'm sorry for making you hang out with them," Jane said once they were in the car. "I thought it'd be good for you, but I couldn't get you out of my mind and I worried about how they were going to treat you. They're different when they're boyfriends aren't around, aren't they?"

"Yeah," Maura said glumly. "Jane, can we get something to eat?"

"I'm craving a burger or just something greasy," Jane smiled. "How about you?"

"Maybe just a salad," Maura responded.

"Don't tell me you're dieting. You don't need to lose any weight."

Maura just smiled at her girlfriend. "I'll take a bite of your burger."

"No," Jane teased. "I don't share. We'll order you a burger of your own."

As long as she was with Jane, her mind was occupied. They ate a late dinner, they kissed in her car, and talked until it neared Jane's curfew. She was secure in her relationship with Jane, but the moment she laid her head on her pillow after their date, the conversations she had at the sleepover began to fill her mind until she was finally able to fall asleep.