Trigger warning for self-harm.
Hey! The reaction to Chloe in the last chapter was; quite frankly, exactly how I wanted it to be :P I hope you lot like this chapter. I thank you all again for reading and I thank all of those who have favourited, followed and reviewed this fic and please don't hesitate to pm me if you need to talk, I know these chapters can be very personal to some people and I'm here for all of you. In response to "Another Guest" (Again) Make an Account! I wanted to pm you something earlier but I can only communicate via these authors' notes! Please remember favourite, follow and review! Enjoy!
Chloe sat for a few moments, frozen in her seat. She knew exactly what Beca had assumed. The look in Beca's eyes had told Chloe that the walls were back up.
"What's up? You look like you've seen a ghost. Chloe?" Said the tall brunette from the other side of the booth.
"I have to go. I hope you sort everything out with Bree. See you later Stace'." Chloe said quickly before she downed her coffee and then rushed out of the shop to her car. She quickly rammed the keys into the ignition and drove towards Baker Hall. The all too familiar feeling of pure terror made Chloe drive faster. She couldn't stop thinking about what Beca might do. Beca hadn't done anything in weeks and Chloe couldn't bare the idea of being the cause of the younger girls' pain.
A few minutes later she arrived at the large apartment building. Chloe jumped out of the car and locked it as fast as she possibly could before running into the building. She ran up the stairs, skipping steps in the hope she got to Beca's room faster. The redhead fumbled for her keys when the door of apartment 3b was in sight. She struggled with the lock and eventually opened to door. She almost hit her head on the door frame when the door was stopped short of opening by a chain.
"Oh shit..." Chloe cursed to herself. "Beca please open the door! I can explain, it's not what you think." she said, pleadingly. It was then that she heard a wince of pain and the sound of running water. Her heart started beating faster. Her head started rushing with all the important information she would need. First aid box in the kitchen. Towels in the cupboard above the sink. Chloe was trying to prepare herself but knew that it would be difficult to hold strong when she saw Beca. "Beca!" Chloe called. The redhead felt tears pooling in her eyes and knew she had to get into the apartment as fast as possible.
Chloe prepared herself for impact as she took a few steps back. She lunged with all of her effort, shoulder first towards the door and felt a rush of relief when she found herself inside the apartment. The door had splintered slightly on the lock but it was an easy fix, nothing mattered to Chloe but Beca. She rushed into the kitchen and grabbed the first aid kit and a couple of towels.
When Chloe made it to the bathroom, she stood just outside the door and took a deep breath. She reached for the handle. She turned it and with a slow push, as not to shock Beca, she opened the door. Beca was sat, in the same place as before, in the exact same position. Only this time there wasn't one cut, nor two or three. There were at least four strong thick lines across Beca's forearm. The sight broke Chloe, she felt tears spring to her eyes.
"No." Chloe thought to herself. She had to stay strong for Beca now. She moved slowly towards the broken figure in front of her.
"Leave." Beca said with a cold tone. Chloe slowed down, but she didn't stop. "Did you not hear me? I told you to leave." Beca raised her head with a cold, stern look in her eyes. The hatred that Chloe could see was something that she never expected of Beca.
"Beca, I can explain what you saw later, but I need to help you right now okay?" Chloe said kindly, with complete disregard to Beca's previous words.
"Fuck!" Beca suddenly screamed. Throwing her blood covered razor across the room, leaving red spots against the tiled wall. "Why Chloe? Why, after everything we've had. Would you talk to that bitch?!" Beca let go. Her cold wall that she was so determined to keep up, came tumbling, falling, crashing down. Tears started streaming from her eyes, she started to shake in sobs as she bowed her head in defeat.
The steam from the hot shower started to fill the room, making a haze between the two girls. Chloe could almost feel Beca's walls fall and instantly moved to her knees in front of the younger girl.
"Beca I can explain everything, but you're just going to have to work with me for a minute." Chloe said whilst inspecting Beca's arm. "Stand up for me babe." Beca obeyed and stood in silence. Taking Chloe's offered hand as the redhead led her to the shower. Chloe turned the handle so the water was only just warm and then gestured to Beca to put her arm under the water. With hesitation Beca put her arm under the stream of liquid and winced in pain. The water falling from her hand turned a vivid crimson as the blood ran from the multiple cuts off her arm.
Once Chloe was happy that Beca's arm was cleared of blood enough to actually see the extent of the damage, she grabbed one of the towels that she had collected and dabbed at the younger girl's skin, resulting in small twitches and hissing noises from Beca. However, the brunette held her silence, the whole time Chloe used the antiseptic wash and wipes and when she applied the butterfly stiches.
Before placing the dressing and bandage, Chloe left a delicate kiss on each and every cut and when she applied the dressing and bandage she left a final kiss, but this time her lips lingered. Beca was confused as to how the girl that broke her heart not an hour before had managed to make her forget about everything and make fall in love all over again.
. . .
"Can we talk about it now?" Beca asked, weakly. They were led in Beca's large double bed in the exact same position they had been in for many nights over the previous weeks, regardless of the fact it was only 7 O'clock. Chloe's clothes where wet through and stained with blood and she didn't bring any pyjamas due to the short notice so was simply in her underwear. Beca had only taken off her trousers but kept her signature black vest on.
"It was Stacie. Can you remember her?" Chloe said softly. Beca instantly sank her face further into the pillow at the realisation that it wasn't Rachel in the café.
"Yeah." Beca mumbled in reply. "You said you were sorting something out with Aubrey. It makes sense now. Fuck!" Chloe could feel Beca tense up. "I'm such a fucking idiot! I'm so paranoid that you were going to leave me that instead of letting you explain I just jumped to fucking conclusions." Beca said, starting to get louder.
"Hey hey hey.. Beca look. You're not an idiot. Really, you're not. Anyone that has had to deal with what you have would be like this, maybe even worse." Chloe said in her usual calming tone. Beca felt a pang of guilt as she remembered that the only thing Chloe knew got to Beca, was Rachel. The redhead knew nothing of her father, nor her mother. Nothing of her childhood. Almost as if Chloe could read the younger girl's mind, she began speaking again. "I know it's not just about Rachel. I know there's more to everything than what you've told me Beca. Don't get me wrong, I'm not angry at you or anything for not telling me Because I understand that it can be hard for you to trust anyone let alone reveal so much, but I really, really like you Beca and I want to know you. So no matter when you tell me, whether it's tomorrow or in a year's time, I will listen closely and I won't judge you for anything you say. Okay?"
"I'll tell you about what I see in my nightmares, no more. I want to tell you more but thank you for understanding it's not that simple, you listening?" Beca said with a surprising amount of confidence. Chloe turned Beca around so that they were facing each other before letting out a small whisper.
"yeah."