Potterhead0013: Thank you. I hope you're recovering well, lol.
Bechloe-bible-49: I wasn't expecting the mystery to expand to Aubrey's family, and, yet, here we are.
Joanshea: exclamation point! exclamation point! exclamation point!
FromTumblr: Part 2 will move at a (slightly) faster rate than Part 1. At least I think it will.
SunDanceQT: My lips are sealed.
96itadakimasu96: There were a few very very tiny hints, like how it always seemed like the cafe was only open for Brian at night.
Pixie1913: I thought they were just dating when I very first developed them, and then they surprised me too.
G: It gets even bigger than that.
A/N: I thought the mystery aspect of this story was basically over, but this story is just writing and expanding itself at this point, and this whole thing goes way deeper than I originally thought.
Dysrhythmia
We'll do it all,
Everything,
On our own.
We don't need,
Anything,
Or anyone.
- Snow Patrol
"Aubrey…"
Aubrey groans as a hand gently shakes her. It can't be morning. The level of exhausted she is tells her it's the middle of the night, and she's being woken up for no good reason. "Stop," she mumbles and slides herself over to the other side of the bed. She doesn't remember her bed being so small.
"Careful," she's warned after she almost falls off.
"It's time to wake up."
Isn't it clear that Aubrey is tired? "Chloe, stop," she half snaps, half begs as she's being shaken again. She tries to roll over, but her shoulder igniting in pain stops her. And it sinks in that Chloe isn't here.
Chloe's mom stops. Her hand stills on Aubrey's stomach, and she exhales a quiet sigh. There is a few seconds where she just rubs the fabric of Aubrey's shirt between her fingers, before she speaks again, softer, sadder this time. "Your boss and friends are going to want to be here soon, and we need to figure out the shower situation with your arm."
Aubrey wants to be awake even less now. She has been awake for two days, and Chloe is still unconscious. No. She will not get up. Only, if she wants to see Chloe at some point today, she's going to have to. And, also, she'll be damned if her brother walks in to see her collapsed in a hospital bed. She just needs a second to wake up. "Where is Beca?" she asks, before she realizes what she's asking out loud.
"Literally beside you," Beca answers, "If you'd open your eyes…"
"Give her a moment, Beca," Julia says, "You weren't exactly the most pleasant to wake up either."
"I am always pleasant," Beca states.
Aubrey releases a sharp exhale. That's funny.
"If you hadn't woken me up in the middle of the night…" Beca tells Aubrey.
"You were already awake," Aubrey knows.
"It is too early for this nonsense," Julia ends their banter, "Act like adults. Get up."
Aubrey cracks one eye opened, offended.
"I said what I said." Julia stands up. "Get up."
"What if I don't…?" Beca asks curiously.
"Try it," Julia dares her, "I'll wake you up the same way I used to wake up Chloe."
Self-preservation kicks in immediately, and Aubrey sits up. She knows one thing for sure, and that is that she is not going to try Chloe's mom like that. There has to be a reason Chloe fears getting in trouble as much as she does, Aubrey is beginning to realize. Beca, on the other hand, looks like she's debating just to see what will happen – then she wraps herself up in the blanket and doesn't move.
Julia walks around the bed to Beca's cot. It's low to the ground in a way that she has to bend down to place her hands under it. In one swift movement, she flips the entire thing, and sends Beca rolling to the ground. "Up."
Aubrey's jaw drops, and she covers her mouth with her hand.
"Dude!" Beca flails. "What the hell!"
"I gave you your warning. Next time, heed it." Julia lets the cot fall on top of her, then turns to look at Aubrey with her hands in her hips. "Are you getting up? Because you're next."
Aubrey doubts that Chloe's mom would flip her bed in her condition, but she nods anyway, because now she has no doubt there will be a consequence if she refuses. "Yes, Ma'-om."
"That was a good save," Julia tells her.
Aubrey can't look at Beca turning her bed back over without smirking, so she ducks her head, not looking at either of them. If she gets caught laughing at Beca, she has basically screwed herself over too.
"We have see what to do about your arm in the shower," Julia repeats, "Do you need anything before you start getting ready for the day? Beca, do you need anything?"
Beca shakes her head, and stands up, just staring at her bed.
"A razor," Aubrey answers. She hasn't shaved in, well, she doesn't know the exact number of days, which means it has been too long.
"You're thinking about shaving right now?" Beca asks.
Aubrey ignores her. Because, yes, not being clean shaven does not feel right. Aubrey always has smooth skin. Always. Except right now. And she feels disgusting enough already.
"Okay," Julia says simply, "Anything else?"
"And sandals." Aubrey can't stand barefoot in a public shower, no matter how well it has been cleaned. God knows who has peed in there.
"I second that," Beca says.
Julia nods. "Are we okay using the soap and shampoo from the hospital?"
Beca shrugs.
Aubrey shakes her head.
"How about this," Julia says, motioning Beca over to the bed, "You two type me a list of what you need, and I will go to the store and get it." She locates her phone and then hands it to Aubrey.
That means she's going to leave. Like, leave the hospital. To go out into Seattle. Where Jesse might be waiting. Shaving isn't worth that risk. Nothing is. Aubrey slowly slides the phone across the table, away from her.
Julia sits down on the edge of the bed. "Honey, you were just listing all the things you need…"
Aubrey shakes her head.
"You know what you could do," Beca suggests to Chloe's mom, crawling into bed next to Aubrey, "You could give the list to one of those useless people sitting at the nurse's desk, and have them go."
Aubrey nods.
"Well, they're working…" Julia says.
"Are they?" Aubrey asks.
"Are you telling me you don't want me to leave?" Julia asks, "Is that what you're trying to get at here?"
Neither Aubrey nor Beca respond.
"No wonder you two are always at each other," Julia says, "You're exactly the same."
"Seriously?" Beca asks, "I am nothing like that."
Aubrey frowns at Beca. "Well, maybe if you were-"
"Aubrey, come with me. I need to talk to you about something," Julia stops her.
Aubrey shakes her head and quits talking.
Julia looks around the room and taps her fingers on the table, like there is some sort of solution right in front of her. Apparently, there is. "I'm going to send your friend Conrad. He seems capable enough of finding his way around the area of self-care. Is that okay?"
Aubrey nods. He's already out there in Seattle, and there is nothing she can do about that, except hope that Jesse doesn't know who he is.
"Alright." Julia opens up a text message. "Tell me what you need."
xxxxx
"Why are you the only one who gets a comfortable bed?" Beca asks while they wait. She leans over Aubrey, and presses the buttons, repeatedly raising and lowering the back of the bed, until Aubrey smacks her hand. "Are you not going to say anything about her hitting me?" she asks Chloe's mom.
Julia lowers her phone. "Oh my goodness, you two. Stop."
Beca waits until she looks away again before lowering the bed all the way down then all the way back up.
Aubrey's temper flares all the way up with the back of the bed. She stares straight ahead, her lips pressed tightly together, and breathes hard through her nose. She's going to shove her off the god damn bed.
"You're asking for it, Beca," Julia warns her, not looking up again, "You can see that you're making her mad. Leave her be."
Beca smirks and moves her hands to her lap. She looks at Aubrey.
Aubrey refuses to look at her. She can't tell if she's trying to push Aubrey's buttons or determine whether or not Chloe's mom has buttons to push at this point. But if she pushes the bed's buttons one more time...
Beca snorts and moves to lean back against the bed.
Aubrey hits the button to lower the bed, and Beca nearly falls off without Aubrey needing to push her.
Julia looks up and locks eyes with her, without lifting her head. "If I have to put down my phone and separate you…"
Aubrey looks away.
Beca reaches to lift the bed again, and Aubrey shoves her arm away with a shrill sound of annoyance.
Julia lifts both guardrails on either side of the bed so there is no escape, then sits directly in between them. She wraps an arm around Aubrey, and forces Aubrey's head against her shoulder. "I said stop."
Aubrey's head is absolutely pounding, so she just ends up curling into her a little and trying to get comfortable.
"Great," Julia says, looking down at her, "Now I've positively reinforced it."
"What are you playing?" Aubrey asks, looking at her phone. It's a black screen with a colorful umbrella like image surrounded by a dotted blue circle – and, at the top, it says, 'outside people with umbrellas stopped to help'. It's intriguing.
"A Memory Maze," Julia answers her, moving her phone out of the way when Beca tries to touch the screen, "It's a puzzle game about a cognitive disorder. You wanna try?"
Aubrey shakes her head. Looking at the screen hurts her eyes, which makes her head hurt worse, which reminds her she feels sick to her stomach. She's pretty shit at phone games anyway – probably because she doesn't actively play them. But that doesn't mean she wants Beca to play it. She reaches over and pushes Beca away when she tries to spin the blue circle around the umbrella.
Julia sighs and places her phone face down on the table, then rests her hand on her forehead. "Do you two bother Chloe as much as you're bothering me?"
Aubrey and Beca both shake their heads.
Chloe…
Aubrey has never been away from her this long.
Even when they're apart, they still call or text…
She misses her.
"Oh, well, I'm honored," Julia says, rubbing her face.
Beca rests her elbow on the rail, and her head against her hand. "Your friend is taking forever." She sighs and lowers her head to the rail.
Is he? Aubrey is having difficulty internally calculating the passage of time.
"It has not been that long." Julia sighs and pinches the bridge of her nose.
Aubrey frowns and lifts her head to look at her.
Julia opens her eyes when Aubrey moves and offers her a half-smile. "I'm tired," she explains.
Because of them…
"Hey, you're not allowed to worry about me." Julia eases her head back down. "It's against the rules." She presses the back of her hand against Aubrey's forehead then cheek, distracting her. "You're still so cold. I don't like it."
Aubrey can't really feel it anymore. She can feel the temperature difference of Julia's hand though, and she subconsciously leans in.
Julia fixes the blanket, then resumes touching Aubrey's cheek and forehead, trying to warm her up. She reaches over and moves Beca's hair to the side with her other hand, then rests the back of her fingers against the back of Beca's neck. "You're cold too. Do you want to lay down?" she asks when Beca, shockingly, does not move. She moves her hand from Beca's neck to share some of the blanket with her, then scratches her hand up and down Beca's back.
That's when Beca moves and gets up. She pushes the railing down, and returns to her cot, placing her back to them in a sudden outburst.
"Too far. I'm sorry," Julia apologizes to her, "If you want to come back, I won't touch you anymore."
"Dude, leave me alone. You're not my mom," Beca snaps at her.
"She's just trying to help," Aubrey is quick to defend her, sitting up as she does so.
"I don't need her help," Beca informs her.
Julia sits up too, quickly leaning over to whisper in Aubrey's ear. "She's hurting, Aubrey, be kind or back down. Whatever you went through, she went through it too. Maybe not the same way, but she still went through it. And she's reacting the same way you react to me all the time."
Aubrey backs down, shrinks down really – partially out of empathy regarding Beca, partially out of guilt for how she lashes out at Chloe's mom.
"It's okay," Julia whispers to her before she can sink too far into the latter, "I don't take it personally. If I couldn't take it, I wouldn't put myself in the position to. I know my limits and boundaries. You have never crossed them. If you did, you would know, and I'm sure we could work through that too. You're not a bad person, Aubrey, and neither is she."
That doesn't make Aubrey feel any better. It's different to be in the moment and say something than it is to hear for herself what it sounds like when she says it. "I'm sorry."
"I know." Julia nods. "I forgive you."
It's not enough. Just sorry is not enough. Because Chloe's mom is never anything but kind and patient.
"It's okay," Julia repeats, watching her carefully, still trying to talk her down, "It really is. I think that we have actually come a very long way. I remember back when talking to you was like trying to talk to an electronic Encyclopedia, when you wouldn't even talk to me unless I asked you a question. Now look. I've seen so many pieces of you that you would not trust with anyone else other than Chloe. So, we are good, okay?"
Aubrey glances up at her.
"Okay?" Julia asks again.
It still doesn't feel like enough.
"I need some form of acknowledgment that you're processing what I am telling you," Julia says, "And do not say 'Yes, Ma'am'. That is an automatic response."
She is expecting Aubrey to say or do something.
To respond.
Everything keeps happening so fast, Aubrey can't even keep up.
She feels like a computer lag.
It takes a minute, but, as long as she's quiet, she's given the time.
Aubrey slowly maneuvers herself up onto her knees, and leans forward against her, wrapping her arms around her in a hug. Not really because she's processing, her mind is everywhere, but because she's sorry – and this seems like maybe the kind of effort she'll appreciate. She isn't sure she has ever hugged Chloe's mom first before. Or, really even actually hugged her back.
Julia doesn't seem to understand what's happening at first, but the moment passes quickly. She turns to make Aubrey leaning on her more comfortable for the both of them, and hugs her back, sliding her hand up and down Aubrey's back. And Aubrey expects her to say something. Like how this isn't the kind of response that she was expecting or something about Aubrey being the one to initiate contact. Instead, Chloe's mom is quiet, and the awkwardness fades away.
Aubrey rests her head against Julia's shoulder, and looks at the blanket lump that is Beca.
Julia looks in that direction too, then at Aubrey. "You're the only people who know what you've both been through right now," she whispers, "Until Chloe wakes up, it's just the two of you."
Aubrey sits up and looks down. She doesn't know what to say. Not to Beca. If she was trying to comfort Chloe, it would be different. Chloe seeks her out. She can't just go over there and talk to Beca. She'll fight her.
Aubrey's thoughts feel numb again, and she can't think of words.
She stops trying to think.
It's too overwhelming with so much coming at her at once.
Fortunately, she is a woman of action.
"Maybe I use your phone?"
"Yeah, you may." Julia hands it to her. "What are you doing?"
Aubrey opens the text conversation with Conrad, hoping he is still at the store. "I have something else I want."
Julia leans back with her to read what she's asking for. She wraps Aubrey up in another hug, and this time it is awkward, because she is dramatic about it, practically hugging Aubrey with her entire body. Fortunately, she remembers to be gentle, and she's warm. "You're such a good girl," she tells Aubrey for what feels like the hundred millionth time, but the next words, she rarely hears, from anyone, "I'm always so proud of you."
