[A/N: Once again, TW sexual assault. Casey gives the details of her experience to her girlfriend.]
It was almost two in the morning, but Mariana couldn't fall asleep. It had been weeks since she and Casey had slept separately - usually they stayed together at one apartment, but Case had said she wanted to be alone after the incident, and Mariana had respected that. Now, though, in the muggy dark of the early morning, she felt lonely and scared without her girlfriend. Emilia, her roommate, was at her boyfriend's house, as usual, and the whole apartment felt echoey and big. She pulled her phone off the charger and sat up in bed, clicking it on. There was an email from Mom and a text from Mama, but nothing from Casey. She bit her lip, looking back and forth between the dark phone screen and the empty pillow beside her. Finally, the pressure became too much, and she unlocked her phone, opened her contacts, and selected the second number down in 'Favorites.' It rang only once before Casey answered.
"Hey," Mariana said, feeling the knot inside her chest loosen just at the sound of her girlfriend's voice. "I hope I didn't wake you up. I just... couldn't sleep."
"Me neither," Casey confessed, her own anxiety lessening. "I haven't spent a night without you in over a month."
"Yeah," Mariana agreed, wondering whether to bring up the reason they were apart.
"I'm sorry I didn't want you to come over," Casey blurted out. "I didn't mean to push you away or anything. I mean, I wasn't-" Mariana cut her off.
"I know, honey. I wasn't hurt, I promise. But..." She paused. "Do you want me there now?"
Casey nodded, tears in her eyes, before realizing Mariana couldn't see her. "Please," she said in a broken whisper.
"I'll be right over." She didn't know how she was going to get to her girlfriend's apartment at 2am, but dammit, she would find a way.
In the end, Mariana had literally run the entire way to Casey's place. It was too late for the bus system, she didn't have a car or a bike, and she couldn't exactly call her moms for a ride. She positioned her keys in between each of her fingers like spikes, texted Casey that she was leaving now and if she hadn't arrived in half an hour to call the police, and pulled on a zip-front sweatshirt that was far too warm for the night but covered her chest. In this ensemble she ran, hardly stopping, through the dark streets of San Diego. It was two and a half miles between their apartment buildings, and she made the trip in twenty two minutes. Using the key between her middle and third finger, she let herself into the building, and then climbed the stairs to Casey's place, where she knocked once before letting herself in via the fourth key in her hand. Upon opening the door, she immediately saw her girlfriend sitting on the couch, cell phone and heavy textbook in hand, with the living room lights on. She pushed the door shut behind her and rushed to take Casey into her arms. The second they connected, the other girl broke into tears. She had clearly been trying to push this all down unsuccessfully, and now that she'd let go, there was no more energy to spend on holding back. Mariana simply held her until the tears ran dry, at which point they shifted wordlessly from sitting to lying down and both girls fell asleep, Casey still tucked securely in Mariana's embrace.
Sometime later, Mariana felt her partner shift on the sofa and opened her eyes. Casey had rolled so they were face-to-face, only inches apart on the small couch, but had not woken. Mari felt a protective rush of anger surge over her as she laid a soft kiss onto her forehead. She swore she'd get justice, though she didn't know what that would look like. She swore she'd protect the girl she loved, and she swore those bastards would get what they deserved.
During all of this swearing, Casey had stirred, her eyelids fluttering, and a slow smile crept across both girls' faces. "Hi," Casey whispered.
"Hi," Mariana whispered back.
"Thanks for coming over last night."
"Of course, my love." She kissed her girlfriend, hearing her mom's voice in her own. "Do you want to talk about it?"
Casey shrugged. "After coffee," she said, leaning her head on Mariana's chest.
Coffee, of course, came two hours later, as both young women fell back asleep. It was only seven in the morning, and neither had fallen asleep until after three. At nine, though, both felt alert enough to consume a cup of heavily creamed caffeine, holding hands across the table in Casey's small apartment.
"So," Mariana said, the little word a whole sentence in and of itself.
"They made me touch them," Casey stated woodenly. "There were four of them. One grabbed my wrist and another stood behind me and," she shuddered, "unhooked my bra. The other two just watched. I think they were laughing. I recognized them, kind of. I don't know. I wasn't really thinking. I tried to pull away and the first guy put my hand into his pants." She swallowed thickly, her tongue feeling twice its usual size. "The other one reached around me and grabbed my boobs. He squeezed really hard and ground his crotch into me, and the other one used my hand to jerk himself off. I kind of froze, and then I came to and elbowed the guy behind me in the stomach, hard. When he bent over, I yanked my hand away and ran. They didn't follow me. I guess they'd had their fun."
Mariana waited with bated breath until she was sure Casey had finished. "Jesus, Case." She didn't know what else to say.
"Yeah."
After another silence, Mariana said, "Do you want to tell someone? Like, the police or something?" Casey shook her head. "Okay."
"This is enough," Casey replied, squeezing Mariana's hand. "Thank you."