"Oh my god Chloe! What happened?" Aubrey asked when she opened the door.
I should have gone to Beca's. Beca never asked questions.
"It's nothing Aubrey. I fell down some stairs at work today. I had a rough day and needed a girls night. I just wanted some space from Josh." I lied easily to Aubrey.
Even though she never asked, Beca always got the truth.
Aubrey took me inside, fussing over the state I was in. She wanted to make it better.
Beca treated me normally when I showed up like this at her place. She knew if I needed help I'd ask.
"Why aren't you with Beca right now? I'm always here for you and you know that, but it's pretty obvious that's where you really want to be right now Chloe."
I couldn't go to Beca. She'd feel guilty.
I knocked on Beca's door. She opened it and stepped aside to let me in. I sat down at her kitchen table.
"What do you want to drink Chlo?" she asked. She didn't push about my swollen eye or bruised wrists. She didn't ask about the limp in my step as I'd crossed the room to sit down. She never did. She knew when I was ready I'd tell her. I always had.
"Vodka on the rocks." I steeled myself. "He punched me Beca." Tears started rolling down my cheeks. "He's pushed me around, slapped me, grabbed me... That kind of thing. Today was different though, he actually beat me." Beca just blinked at me.
"Look, Chloe, I get it. You're scared of him. Enough is enough though. You don't need Josh. If he slaps you around a little and you feel like that's not a big deal to put up with; that's your business. When it becomes abuse and beating the shit out of you like this... It's my business. This is way beyond an angry slap or a push in the heat of an argument. You need to get out." she slid my drink on the table and drank deeply from her own.
I looked at the ground, knowing she was right. Beca wouldn't have said it otherwise. She only said things that she knew were true or correct.
"I have a life with Josh, a home. Where do I go if I leave him? What becomes of me? I'm not much without him." I argued back, trying to justify the sick cycle I'd become a part of.
"You come here. I'll take care of you. I always have and I always will." she looked at me with the navy blue of her beautiful eyes.
"But Beca... I can't ask you to do that."
She just leaned over and kissed me.
That night Beca and I had sex. She was everything Josh wasn't. Gentle, slow, and passionate. Josh stated on an almost daily basis that we were together and he could fuck me whenever he wanted. I felt low and used after having sex with him. When Beca and I had sex, I felt loved and worth it.
"I probably should go see her." I stated getting up from Aubrey's couch. Aubrey was insistent on driving me so reluctantly I allowed her to do me the one favor I probably did need from her.
I knocked on the door. Beca answered and stepped aside to let me in. I sat in the same spot I had two months ago when we'd kissed the first time. The night we had sex.
"What are you drinking?" she asked, same old routine.
"Nothing. I came here to talk." she sat down across from me at the table. "I told Josh I was leaving him. When he asked me why, I told him I found someone better. He knew I meant you. He kicked the shit out of me. But it didn't hurt, because I knew afterwards... I was coming here. I love you Beca. I have since the night you first kissed me."
Her jaw dropped.
"He beat you... Because of me... Chlo, that's not.. I... I'm sorry." tears sprang to her eyes.
"Just kiss it better again." I replied, pulling her in for another kiss.