It was Friday. Callie was planning on sleeping over tonight. She had gotten here less than 2 hours ago- I had gone in my room, since I just wanted to give them privacy. But, it was 12 am, and I wanted to go to bed.

I opened up my bedroom door, peeking down the hallway. I know Mom repeatedly said they were just watching movies. But I did not want to walk in on anything.

Mom looked over when I accidentally stepped on a creaky floor board.

"Olive!" She smiled.

"Hey... I just wanted to tell you I'm probably gonna go to sleep." I said quietly, standing a few feet away.

"Oh. What time is it..." She looked at her phone. "Oh wow." She started to stand up.

"Stay there it's fine." I didn't want to disrupt them.

"Come here" Mom stepped around the couch and held her arms out.

I smiled and hugged her. We pulled away and she kissed both my cheeks, then my forehead. She always did that, right before bed, every single night. I don't even remember how it started- that's how long she's done it.

"Goodnight. I love you." She said.

"I love you too, Mom. Goodnight." I replied as we both stepped away, her going back to her spot next to Callie. "Goodnight, Callie."

"Goodnight Olivia!" She smiled and waved to me, seemingly just happy I said goodnight to her.

I waved back and then headed off in my room, getting ready to sleep for the night.

The next time I woke up, it was still pitch black outside. But, I heard crying. My eyebrows furrowed as I looked at the time on my phone.

3:39 am.

I rubbed my eyes, for some reason thinking that would help me hear better.

"Arizona, honey, you need to breathe." Callie sounded worried. It was my mom that was crying.

Why was Mom crying?

"Hey, hey, you're fine." Callie continued, "Arizona... What happened? Come on. Talk to me... I promise you're fine."

What happened?

"Oh God." My mom cried.

I felt myself let out a breath of relief, at least Mom was speaking. But, what had happened? I had never heard her like this before.

"Alright..." Callie said.

"I'm so sorry, I-I didn't think..." Mom's voice trailed off as she cried more.

"Arizona," Callie's voice sounded soothing.

There was some silence. Scary silence. I was worried about Mom. I contemplated going in there. But, I wanted to know what was happening, first. Luckily, I was almost a pro at listening- even when voices were quiet- because of my parents. Maybe it wasn't so lucky. It was lucky in the current moment, though.

"I just... had a dream. I'm fine." Mom finally said. But, she sounded nothing but fine. "God, this is embarrassing. I told myself... not tonight." She laughed sadly.

"A nightmare?" Callie had asked. "There's nothing to be embarrassed about. It happens. Do you want to talk about it? Are you ok?"

More silence. I wondered what in the world my mom had had a nightmare about. And, what did she mean by 'not tonight'?

I heard some sniffles- Mom was still crying. I was just getting more and more worried.

"Sometimes I just... my head creates this terrible scenarios, or I have these terrible flashbacks in my dreams." Mom said quietly.

"What about?" Callie asked.

"Ben."

About my dad? She was having nightmares about my dad?

"Ah. Do you want to talk about what happened?"

"Not really." Mom sounded a little scared. I could hear it in her voice.

There was definitely a lot more to the story than I knew. But... Callie knew? That shocked me. I don't know why, I mean, they are dating.

But, how much did Callie know? More than me? The real story?

"Okay. What can I do for you?"

Callie was being nice to my mom, I appreciated that.

I still wasn't sure what to do. I probably should not go in there- that seems like a recipe for awkward. But, I wanted to know that my mom was ok.

There was a whole lot more silence. During that time, I got out of and back into my bed three times. I wanted to see my mom. But, part of me knew Callie was helping her. She was fine. I could ask her about it later.

"How often does this happen, Arizona?" Callie asked, drawing my attention back to the conversation happening on the other side of the wall.

"Um..." My mom hesitated. "I dunno." She mumbled. She knew. That meant it was a lot. Why had I never woken up before? Why didn't I know about this?

"What? Like... weekly?" A pause. " Twice a week?" A pause. "Three times?" A pause. "Arizona... what?"

"I don't know. It's not as big of a deal as you are making it, Calliope." She knew. She didn't want to say it. It was probably often, I assumed.

My mom always liked to make her pain seem like nothing. I thought that was just because I was her daughter. But, apparently she did the same thing with her girlfriend.

"Arizona, this isn't good." Callie caught on very quickly to my moms way of going about things.

"I know, I'm working on it."

"Are you seeing someone about it?"

"What? Like a therapist?" Mom asked.

"Yeah."

"No. I don't want Olivia to worry. That's a lot for her to handle."

Why would she think I wouldn't want her to get help? That made me mad.

"Arizona, this is your mental health we're talking about. And, eventually your physical health. Do you think this doesn't impact your sleeping?"

"Callie I'm aware." Mom sounded like she was trying to defend herself.

"I'm worried about you, Arizona." Callie said sweetly, clearly ignoring my mom's tone. "She is going to find out eventually. And, although I don't know her too well, I think she would want you to get the help you need."

I think I was 'she.' If so, Callie was spot on. If Mom needs help, I want her to get help. I wouldn't want her to suffer.

"Okay, please, Calliope. I don't need a lecture about this." Mom spoke quietly.

"Fine. But, I am worried."

Callie cared about Mom. This conversation proved it.

But, it also revealed that Mom was far from okay. My worry was spiked. I needed to talk to her. I needed to force her to get help.