WARNING: CONTAINS NON-SEXUAL AGE PLAY.
AN: This is stepping out of what I usually write but I thought I'd give it a go! I hope people who are into it enjoy. Please no hate, if this isn't your thing then don't read it, there is a warning.
A massive thank you to flawlessario for helping me with this chapter! If you like ageplay read her stories her writing is brilliant!
"Okay everyone, we're done for the day!" Brittany's dance teacher called as everyone packed up their things and left.
Brittany walked down the streets of New York and turned down a dark alley to get back to the warmth of her apartment and her two best girls.
She walked down the alley, being wary of any dangerous people and heard a faint whimper but she couldn't find the source of the noise. She carried on, not thinking anything of it, until she heard the noise again but this time it was louder and followed by crying.
She turned the corner and saw a small figure of a person with their knees clutched to their chest and was the source of the crying. It was dark so she couldn't really see them.
Slowly approaching the figure, Brittany kneeled down in front of them and spoke softly. "Are you okay?" She asked quietly, as to not startle who she had now realised was a girl.
The girl slowly looked up, she had dirt on her face and her clothes weren't the cleanest.
Brittany put her phone torch on to get a better look at the girl and shock took over her when she saw who it was. "Rachel?" She said with wide eyes.
Rachel's eyes mimicked hers and she cried harder. Brittany tried to pull her into a hug but she tensed and tried to move away. "Rachel it's me, Brittany." She said noticing Rachel trying to move away from her.
"Swared." Rachel whimpered out between sniffs. Her voice was croaky but Brittany couldn't help but notice the slight infantile tone but she brushed it off and her heart broke for her friend.
"It's okay Rach, let's take you back to ours and get you cleaned up." Brittany said holding her hand out for Rachel to take.
Rachel didn't move she just sank further into herself, trying to make herself as small a possible
"Come on Rachel, it's okay, it's only me." Brittany said sweetly but Rachel just cried.
Brittany bent back down in front of Rachel and placed a hand on both of her knees she sighed when Rachel tensed even more.
"No, owie." Rachel whimpered as she pointed to her leg.
Brittany was defiantly surprised to hear Rachel, who normally spoke in paragraphs, talking like a small child but that wasn't her main concern right now. "Where does your leg hurt?" She asked softly.
Rachel pointed to her thigh and whimpered quietly.
"Can I just get you to put your legs out straight for me?" Brittany asked but Rachel shook her head.
She was shaking so Brittany took her coat of and draped it over Rachel's top half. "I need to look at your leg Rach." She sighed.
Rachel finally agreed and Brittany slowly pulled her leg out so it was straight. Rachel cried out in pain and Brittany went to console her by wiping away her tears but Rachel flinched away.
Brittany examined her leg and couldn't see anything striking, apart from a few bruises, some looked old and some looked new.
"Which part hurts the inside or the outside?" She asked putting her phone torch on Rachel's leg to get a better look. Rachel held up one finger to show the first option. "Okay, I'm going to ring Santana and get her to come help." Brittany said dialing her home number.
Panic rushed across Rachel's face at the mention of Santana's name. Although the girls became sort of friends near the end of school they didn't exactly have the best track record. She couldn't let Santana see her like this; she couldn't bear having someone laughing at how weak she was.
Brittany noticed her panic. "No, no, it's okay Santana's coming to help, she won't hurt you, you know that." Brittany said reassuringly.
Big Rachel knew that Santana wouldn't hurt her when she was like this. She wouldn't hurt her anyway, at least not physically but little Rachel didn't know that, she was too scared.
"San?" Brittany said once the phone was picked up.
"Hey Britt, you nearly home?" Santana asked normally.
"Yes, well I'm down that alley way near our apartment and I'll explain later but I'm with Rachel and she's hurt and cold but she won't let me near her and I need you to come help me get her to ours." Brittany said trying to keep as calm as possible but rushing.
"Whoa, slow down. You're with Rachel? As in Rachel Berry?" Santana asked in shock.
"Yes, can you just come, she's so cold and I'm worried she might freeze." Brittany said slightly panicking.
"Okay. I'm on my way and I'm bringing Quinn." Santana said as she hung up the phone.
"Quinn and Santana are just on their way sweetheart." Brittany said softly.
Rachel panicked even more, if it was possible. Santana and Quinn, she had to get away! She attempted to scramble away from Brittany but the girl caught her just in time.
"Shh shh, calm down, it's okay." She cooed pulling Rachel onto her lap.
Rachel cried and struggled but Brittany held her tight, it was something she read up on. If someone was panicking, hold them tight.
"You're okay Rach, we're gonna get you clean and warm, you're safe." Brittany cooed, still holding Rachel close to her.
Rachel seemed to calm down a bit; she stuck her thumb in her mouth.
"There we go." Brittany smiled once Rachel's crying had stopped completely. She was still tense but she wasn't trying to get away anymore.
Brittany didn't know why but she felt a strong need to keep Rachel safe, seeing her like this made her heart break.
They had all lost touch with Rachel and no one had heard from her in over six months, which did worry them. Now their worries were confirmed.
"Britt?" Santana called, walking down the dark alley with a flashlight, keeping close to Quinn,
Brittany looked up from Rachel and saw the light coming towards her.
Rachel tensed at the sound of Santana's voice. "Over here San!" She called back but not too loud, she didn't want to startle Rachel.
In a panic Rachel tried to get away again but only ended up hurting her leg more. She cried out in pain and her breathing started to get out of control.
"Shh shh, it's okay sweetheart. Breathe Rach." Brittany cooed taking deep breaths herself in hopes that Rachel would copy her.
Santana and Quinn walked towards them and were shocked by the sight of Brittany on the floor holding a terrified, hyperventilating Rachel. Both of their eyes were wide but Brittany gave them a sign to stop and a look that said she'd explain later.
Brittany carried on whispering calming words in Rachel's ear, while holding her tight, until she eventually calmed down. Quinn and Santana stayed quiet watching them, not wanting to upset Rachel further.
Santana slowly bent down in front of them and Rachel looked up with tear filled eyes, she look terrified and she was stiff in Brittany's arms. Santana was still trying to hide her shock.
This was not what she was expecting the next time she saw Rachel Berry.
"Hey Rachel." She said softly placing the blanket she brought with her over Rachel to keep her warm. Rachel flinched so Santana moved back a little. "Brittany's just going to lift you and we're going to take you back to ours okay?" Brittany moved when Rachel gave an almost unnoticeable nod.
Quinn smiled at how soft Santana was being, she rarely acted like this unless she was trying to protect someone she cared about and although she never used to admit it she cared about Rachel.
Brittany put an arm around Rachel's waist and legs and went carefully, trying not to hurt her leg. Rachel clung onto Brittany tightly and she carried her back to their apartment.
"We need to check her leg out then she can have a shower or bath if it's easier." Santana suggested once Brittany put her down on the sofa.
"Rachel, I'm just going to look at your leg, Brittany told me that you had some pain?" Quinn said softly, smiling at her.
Rachel nodded hesitantly and sunk down into the couch whimpering when Quinn touched her leg. She put her thumb in her mouth but Quinn pretended not to notice, she didn't want to upset Rachel further.
Santana on the other hand shot Brittany a confused look and Brittany just brushed her off, they'd all talk later.
Quinn examined Rachel's leg and pressed down along her thigh until Rachel let out a wince of pain and cried into the sofa.
"It's okay Rachel, just relax and it won't hurt so much." Quinn said softly, she reached out to rub Rachel's back as she was facing into the sofa but Rachel flinched and tensed so Quinn moved back.
"She's pulled a muscle in her leg, I can feel it. It should heal on it's own but I'll put some cream on it to help." Quinn said softly.
"Owie." Rachel whimpered around her thumb.
Brittany knelt down beside her and spoke softly. "I know sweetie, it's okay."
Both Santana and Quinn this time looked at her curiously but Brittany just ignored them, she clearly couldn't talk to them right now!
"Rachel can you look at me please?" Brittany asked softly, Rachel shook her head and hid her face more, not wanting them to see her thumb but it gave her too much comfort to stop. Brittany caught on to this. "We're not going to judge you Rach, I promise." She said honestly.
Rachel slowly looked up at Brittany to see a warm, honest smile plastered on her face and she relaxed ever so slightly.
"Do you want to have a bath? It might help relax your leg." Brittany asked with a calming tone.
Rachel nodded and Brittany smiled. "Can we help you to the bathroom?" She asked.
Rachel nodded again; she was in too much pain to walk on her own. Brittany and Quinn helped Rachel to the bathroom while Santana got her some clothes.
They sat her on the toilet seat and Quinn ran the bath. Rachel fumbled around with her top and skirt, she let out a frustrated sigh, she was too tired and weak to do anything.
Brittany noticed her struggle and slowly walked over to her, "Do you want some help?" She asked softly.
Rachel tensed but nodded sadly. "He'p." She whimpered.
Brittany smiled and pulled Rachel's top over her head and unzipped her skirt. Rachel was completely stiff and she wouldn't look at Brittany.
Brittany tried to hold back her shock and tears when she saw how many bruises Rachel had. She carefully moved her over to the bath and sat her on the side.
Quinn also had a hard time not crying when she saw the girl's body, she also looked very underweight.
"Rach, you need to relax Hun." Quinn said softly, noticing how tense Rachel was.
Rachel didn't relax and Quinn sighed. "Brittany and I will be right outside. If you need anything just shout okay?"
They left the room passing the clothes Santana had laid out. Just as Quinn went to say something to Brittany about being worried leaving Rachel alone in there, they heard a loud thud followed by a cry of pain.
Both girls rushed to the door but they stopped when they reached Quinn's bathroom. "Wait, she might be naked." Quinn said worriedly, not wanting to upset Rachel further.
"Quinn, I don't care, open the door." Brittany said uncharacteristically forceful, she was in a panic hearing Rachel's sobs.
Quinn nodded and opened the door to find Rachel in a ball on the floor, sobbing. It broke both of their hearts and Santana rush in behind them.
"What happened I heard a bang?" She said worriedly, then she saw Rachel and lost all thought and scooped her up off the ground and into her lap.
Rachel cried out loudly and it startled all three girls. Santana looked down at her and realised she wasn't with them, she was off in her own world and whatever she was thinking about was scaring her, a lot.
Santana cooed soothing words in her ear hoping to get her to calm down and notice them. "Rach, can you hear me? It's Santana, you're safe." Santana spoke softly, not something she was used to doing but seeing Rachel like this brought it out in her and she just wanted to protect her.
Rachel's sobs had calmed down and she just had hot tears rolling down her cheeks. Brittany and Quinn watched, feeling helpless.
Rachel seemed to be coming back to them; she let out a choked cry and started coughing. Santana rubbed her back and she stopped after a few coughs.
As soon as Rachel registered what was going on she threw herself off Santana's lap in a panic, putting herself in a position much like the one Brittany had found her in. She was cold and completely naked but that didn't worry her. She just wanted the horrible images out of her head.
Santana actually had tears in her eyes threatening to flow over but she blinked them back and looked behind her at Quinn and Brittany for some help.
Both girls moved over and sat by Rachel. She wasn't crying anymore but she was shaking. "Come on let's get you in the nice warm bath hey?" Quinn cooed.
Rachel flinched but Quinn pulled her up slowly and helped her into the bath. Rachel seemed to relax slightly once she was situated in the bath.
Santana went into the kitchen to have some time to gather her thoughts and made Rachel a sandwich.
Quinn grabbed the bath puff and lathered up some soap on it. She handed it to Rachel and Rachel slowly washed herself. It was very clumsily because she was extremely tired and in pain.
Once she was finished Quinn grabbed the cup on the edge of the tub and filled it with water. "Can I wash your hair?" She asked softly, noticing how tired Rachel was.
Rachel froze for a second but nodded and slowly tipped her head back. Quinn poured warm water on her hair a few times then got some shampoo on her hand. She reached out to wash her hair but Rachel flinched and let out a small whimper.
Quinn frowned. "It's okay, I'm just going to wash your hair and rinse it then when you come out we can go to bed." Quinn told her. She kept her voice quiet and soft and hoped that the mention of bed would make Rachel more wiling.
She waited for Rachel to relax a bit before she washed the shampoo into her slightly matted hair. Rachel closed her eyes and seemed to fully relax while Quinn massaged her head.
Brittany grabbed a towel and held it out for Rachel she wrapped it round her and helped her step out the bath. Rachel's whole body was tense. Brittany sighed and helped her walk over to Quinn's bed.
With the help of Quinn they got her to lie down on the bed and her thumb went straight in her mouth. Both girls smiled and Brittany moved away from the bed and poked her head out the door.
"Hey San, can you bring me the cream? It's labelled for bruises." She asked sadly.
Santana grabbed the cream and walked into the room to find Rachel lying down, wrapped in a towel, seemingly half asleep.
"I made her a sandwich, she needs to eat. Can you try and keep her awake for it?" Santana asked before she left the room to make Brittany some food as well and Quinn nodded.
Quinn ran her fingers through Rachel's hair soothingly. "Rachel sweetie, can you stay awake to eat something, then I promise you can sleep." She cooed.
Rachel's eyes fluttered open and she flinched slightly at the touch but Quinn carried on and she relaxed eventually.
While Rachel was occupied looking at Quinn, Brittany took her towel off and gently rubbed cream over Rachel's bruises.
Rachel winced and started crying softly. It was a mix between embarrassment and the fact that she was so tired. Tears streamed down her face, Quinn cooed reassuring words to her. "You're okay Rach, nothing's going to happen. It's just some cream for your bruises." Quinn explained sweetly.
When Brittany was done, Quinn quickly put the hair dryer on Rachel's hair, she put it on low so it wasn't too loud and Rachel actually didn't seem to mind, she liked the warmth from it.
"You go talk to Santana, I'll get her dressed." Brittany told Quinn who nodded and left the room.
Brittany quickly but carefully got her dressed, having to ignore Rachel's cries and protests because she needed to keep her warm and Brittany just wanted to get this over with so Rachel could sleep.
Quinn walked into the kitchen to find Santana nursing a coffee to her chest. "Where's Britt?" She asked after noticing Quinn.
"She said she would get Rachel dressed while I talk to you." Quinn said taking a seat at the table next to Santana.
Santana nodded. "How is she?"
"She's tired and scared." Quinn said honestly, getting up to make herself a coffee.
"She is scared, yes, but there's more to this. I've seen Rachel scared before but she still spoke like an adult and I'm pretty sure she didn't suck her thumb." Santana said calmly. To Quinn's surprise there was no judgment or sarcasm in her voice, just genuine concern.
Quinn sighed; she'd noticed the way Rachel was acting as well. "I'm really worried."
"Me too. We can try and talk to her in the morning. She might be more talkative after some sleep." Santana suggested.
Quinn nodded in agreement. "But I'm still not sure why she's acting younger. I mean we all know Rachel well and she likes to talk in long, very adult sentences. She just looks so scared and every time I touch her she flinches." Quinn said sadly.
"I'm not sure either but we need to just go with it for now until we know more." Santana said.
Both girls sat in comfortable silence for a while before Quinn spoke again. "So we just treat her like a toddler?" She asked curiously.
Santana shrugged. "If that's what she wants. I mean, I don't really get it but there must be a reason."
Quinn seemed to think about this for a moment, she nodded in agreement. "Okay."
Brittany finally managed to calm Rachel down and she came out of the room.
Quinn walked over to them and they took Rachel over to the kitchen and got her situated at the table. Quinn sat next to her and Rachel let Quinn feed her half the sandwich. The three girls spoke quietly to each other in hopes Rachel would feel more comfortable, until Rachel decided she'd had enough and her thumb went in her mouth.
Quinn gave her a warm smile and took Rachel back to her room and got her situated in bed, climbing in next to her.
Rachel was still very tense and wary, she moved as far away from Quinn as possible and Quinn gave her some space, she didn't want to push.
Santana and Brittany said good night to both of the girls, even though Rachel was already asleep. They placed a kiss on both girls' foreheads and left the room.
"Me and Quinn decided to let her get some rest so we can all talk in the morning and work out what's going on." Santana told Brittany quietly, sitting on the couch.
"Good idea, maybe if she gets some sleep she will be more willing to talk." Brittany said simply.
"Britt, did you notice the way Rachel was acting?" Santana asked curiously, wondering if Brittany had picked up on it too.
"What like a toddler? Yeah." Brittany said, she almost looked like she was going to say more but didn't.
"We were also talking about that. What do you think it is?" Santana asked, cuddling to Brittany's side.
"I think it's her way if escaping whatever happened." Brittany suggested.
"What do you mean?" Santana asked, relishing in the warmth of her girlfriend.
"I mean she's scared, right? What ever happened must have been bad and acting young is her way of dealing with it. I've heard of it before, people do it to feel safe." Brittany said quietly, so she didn't wake Rachel or Quinn.
"I feel awful, I should have known something was up when no one had heard from her in such a long time." Santana said on the verge of tears.
"Hey, don't blame yourself. How were you supposed to know? We all tried to get in contact with her." Brittany said hugging Santana tightly and placing a soft kiss to her forehead.
"It just brings back so many memories of my mom. Did you see her bruises?" Santana said and she started crying.
"I know. We'll fix this baby, I promise." Brittany cooed softly. She held Santana tight and waited for her to let it all out, it was rare for Santana to show her emotions. "I think we should go to bed. It's been long evening." She said with a yawn. Santana nodded in agreement and they turned in for the night.
Hope people liked that? I've been really nervous about posting this because I've read hate on other age play stories but never mind!