Chloe stared catatonic out of the window, her jaw clenched as she watched Stacie and Aubrey laughing together on the grass outside. It had been two weeks since Beca had left. The brunette had visited her nine days out of the fourteen that she had been out. And even though she promised that she would visit every day, she had explained that she had to work at the radio station with Luke if she wanted to pay rent this month. Of course, Chloe understood this.
Although Beca had her own apartment off of campus, she had been staying with Luke because he wanted to keep an eye on her. The brunette had warned him beforehand that if he treated her like a patient, and not a friend, she'd move out. And she knows that the man means well, and it's inevitable that he'd be worried about her, but she's better now, and she doesn't need him smothering her. It's not like she's going to try and commit again.
It's different, because now she actually has a reason to live.
"Chloe, did you hear me?"
The redhead snapped out of her trance, looking at Janet who sat with a patient look on her face, softly tapping her pen on the desk.
"What?" Chloe asked quietly.
"I said.. Are you upset because Beca left?"
Chloe's eyes narrowed at the woman in front of her. She shook her head with a scoff, turning to look out of the window again. Stacie and Aubrey were sat beside each other, the blonde's head on Stacie's shoulder as the brunette played with her hands. She wouldn't lie, she was jealous. Just two weeks ago, that was her and Beca. But now, she hasn't seen the brunette in three days, and she feels, to put it in simpler terms, empty.
"Am I ever gonna get out?" she asked, ignoring Janet's question as she turned to look at the older woman, who looked taken aback by the question.
"Why? Are you getting sick of me?" she asked jokingly, smiling when Chloe let out a soft, barely audible laugh.
"What I'm getting sick of is fish stick Fridays."
"You will be leaving a some point, yes." Janet said with a hopeful smile. "Your progress is excellent, Chloe. But.. you know, when you leave, our therapy sessions don't have to end. I'd like to be a regular part of your life."
Chloe frowned, tilting her head as she glared at the woman. "What life?"
"Chloe-"
"-No, you don't understand. I know what my life should look like. I know that I should be in law school, and.. I should be making money, and getting a job. I should be with Beca right now, having fun. Going on dates and making out in inappropriate places. But I'm never gonna be able to do that. I know how the world sees me, okay? And people with schizophrenia aren't lawyers, or doctors. They're bag ladies."
Chloe breathed out a sigh, looking down at her hands as she stroked over her knuckles. It was an action that Beca always did, and it always seemed to calm her down. Except, it wasn't the same when Beca wasn't here to do it. So instead, she brought her hand up to her mouth and started to tap on her bottom lip, a habit that she had picked up a few years ago.
Janet was looking at her sympathetically, the remorse obvious in her face when she noticed how worked up the redhead got, but she knew that Chloe didn't want to cry about it. She knew that Chloe had been crying too much these past few weeks, and frankly, she hated seeing the redhead like this. She hated seeing her so vulnerable, and so upset, for things that she didn't deserve. She didn't deserve to be in here, and she didn't deserve schizophrenia or epilepsy. And she definitely didn't deserve to be in here while the love of her life is now out, living her life on the outside.
The older woman placed her pen on the table, adjusting her glasses, and smiling as Chloe looked up at her.
"So prove the world wrong. Finish law school." she said, giving the redhead a smile so full of hope, that Chloe almost thought that it was possible.
"Luke!" Beca yelled from the living room as she put her leather jacket on. She heard footsteps coming from the man's bedroom, before he burst through the door with a worried look on his face.
"What's wrong? You okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. I'm going to see Chloe."
"Again?"
"Yeah." she said as she slipped her feet into her converse. "Is that okay?"
"Yeah, it's.. it's fine, but.. Beca, we've hardly spent any time together since you got home, and you've visited her like, every day this week."
"I haven't seen her in three days." Beca said, trying not to get agitated at her best friend.
"Yeah, but.. I was gonna ask if you wanna go out tonight. You know, we haven't been to the club in a while-"
"-We haven't been to the club in a while, Luke, because I've been in a psych hospital. Did you forget about that?"
"No, I know. I'm sorry. But can't we go out? You can see Chloe tomorrow."
"Tomorrow is Sunday, there's no visitors on Sunday."
"Well, Monday then."
Beca clenched her jaw, her teeth pressing together as she tried to stay calm.
"I'm going to visit her, Luke. We can hang out later."
"Why?"
"Why what?"
"Why is she so special?"
"I love her, Luke."
"Why? How do you know? You've-"
"-Because.." she interrupted in an angry tone, but quickly calmed down and immediately lowered her voice. "Because the moment I saw her, I just remember thinking to myself 'God, I fucking want her.' And dude, I'd been hearing my name for 21 years but she made it sound like it was worth something."
The man stared at his best friend for a few seconds, before he nodded his head.
"You're right. I'm sorry, I just.. I've missed you, man. You have no idea how much I've missed you."
Beca's face seemed to soften when she saw her best friend look at the floor, a miserable look on his face as he crossed his arms across his chest. It wasn't often that she saw her best friend get emotional, but whenever he did, she hated it. Because for some unknown reason, she had a soft spot for vulnerable Luke. Probably because it was so odd to see such a strong man looking so sad, but still.. she hated it.
"I've missed you too, but.. I need to see her. I'll be an hour, tops." she said as she opened the door, checking her pocket to see if she had her key with her. "One hour, and then we can go out, okay?"
The man just nodded, shooting Beca a small smile before the brunette made her way out of the door.
Chloe was sat on the sofa in the dining room. There was a show about whales on the TV on the wall, but she wasn't paying much attention to it. Plus, the sound was on low enough so she couldn't hear it at all. She looked over to see Jesse and Cynthia Rose playing chess on the table, while Stacie and Aubrey sat on the other end, their chairs close to each other as they talked.
Before Chloe knew it, she had stood up and made her way over to the foursome, standing awkwardly in front of them until they noticed her. It was Cynthia who saw her first, immediately smiling at her which made her a little less anxious.
"Hey. Chloe, right?" the woman said, squinting her eyes at her before pointing to herself. "I'm Cynthia Rose. This is Jesse."
"Hi." Chloe just smiled. She pointed to the empty seat beside Cynthia. "Is it okay if I-"
"-Sure, sure! Sit down. Here." Cynthia pulled the chair out from under the table, and Chloe smiled sheepishly before she sat down next to her.
"You know how to play chess?" Jesse asked Chloe as he moved a chess piece, not taking his eyes off of the board.
"Yeah, Beca taught me."
"Oh." he took his eyes off of the board to look at Chloe. "You must miss her, huh?"
The redhead just nodded, looking at Cynthia Rose to see that she looked like she was struggling with her next move. The redhead then reached a hand out, moving CR's horse so that it took out one of Jesse's pawns.
"Thanks." Cynthia said to her with a smile, laughing when Jesse huffed loudly, mumbling that it wasn't fair for Chloe to pick sides.
The game went on, with Chloe occasionally helping Cynthia Rose when she was struggling. Stacie and Aubrey even moved closer to them as they watched, laughing and helping Jesse with his pieces too. Eventually, the game ended and to the trio's surprise, Jesse won. Cynthia then gave her seat to Chloe, telling her to play Jesse at the game. A few games had passed, with Chloe winning most of them, when the redhead felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned around, eyes immediately widening and sucking in a sharp breath when she saw who it was.
"Baby!" she yelled, catching the attention of most of the other patients in the dining room. She pushed her chair out, the legs scraping across the floor loudly before she latched herself onto her girlfriend.
"Hey you." Beca laughed as she slid her arms around the redhead, holding her against her as she turned to place a soft kiss on the side of her head. The redhead pulled back after a moment, and immediately, Beca cupped the redhead's face in her hands.
"How are you feeling?" the brunette asked, stroking her thumb across Chloe's cheeks, unaware of almost everybody looking at them with attentive eyes. The redhead just smiled, grabbing onto Beca's hand and pulling her along. Suddenly though, she stopped and turned around, to see Jesse, Cynthia Rose, Aubrey and Stacie all looking at her.
"I'll finish the game later guys." she said, and they all nodded and smiled, telling her to go spend time with Beca before visitation hour ended.