Part 2. Again warning of talk of self harm.

"She cut herself!"

Lena froze. Her eyes closed as she inhaled deeply. She turned around and was met with the worried eyes of her wife. Quickly, she made her way over to the blonde and gave her a look that Stef understood perfectly.

The blonde stood up, kissed Callie on the side of the head before kissing Lena on the lips and hurried after her youngest daughter. Both moms knew Stef would be able to stay stronger when talking to Mariana, and Lena could be able to console Callie better, as Stef's mama tiger was coming out and she needed to take action.

Lena watched as her wife began after her younger daughter before exhaling deeply and turning to gain some sort of understanding from her oldest.

"Mariana." Stef said as she chased after the brunette. "Mariana stop!" Stef yelled, her tone mixing with worry and fear.

Finally, the girl stopped, but remain facing away from her mom. Stef exhaled in relief and quickly caught up.

"Come here, my baby."

Stef's words surprised Mariana. She had half expected her mother to begin yelling, but when she instead pulled her into her strong arms, the teen came apart. Hot tears soaked Stef's shirt as Stef held and rocked her daughter while whispering soft affirmations into her ear.

After Mariana's breathing began to slow down, Stef pushed back slightly and took her daughter's face into her hands- knowing she needed to discuss the issue at hand. The blonde smiled sadly as she feared into her daughter's dark brown eyes. They were filled with sadness, worry, frustration and guilt. "Can you tell me what happened?" She finally asked as she brushed away some stray tears from her daughter's cheek.

Mariana opened and closed her mouth but couldn't pull together a complete sentence. With obvious frustration, the teen looked down and started picking at her fresh cuts.

Stef quickly, but gently, grabbed child of her daughter's hands and kissed them softly before tilting her head in order to capture the eyesight of the girl.

"Look at my, my baby." She coaxed, waiting until big brown eyes met her own. "Just breathe. It's ok. I'm not mad. Mama is not mad. Callie is not mad." Stef wanted to reassure her daughter that she was not being punished. "But this" she continued, lifting the girl's hands, which were still in her own, "is something we need to talk about." She concluded.

"I know." Mariana answered, eyes averting her mother's once more.

Stef could tell that they weren't going to get very far outside on the school's beach, so she used her finger to life up her daughter's chin. "Let's go find Mama and Callie and go home, yes?" She asked, though it wasn't an option.

Mariana nodded but remained still as she realized she was probably going to have to go to therapy again and her moms would constantly worry. Here I a mad a burden again. The girl thought to herself as se shoulders shagged in defeat.

"Mari?" Stef called her daughter's name again as she realized the girl was deep in thought and didn't hear her. Stef snaked her arm around her daughter's shoulders and immediately felt the teen shaking. She sighed before looking down and kissing the girl's head.

"It's going to be ok, my love." She reassured the girl. "We will get you through this."

Mariana nodded and buried her face once again into her mother's shirt as the tears poured out.

"Oh, my love. My sweet, sweet love." Stef rocked her daughter and rubbed soothing patterns on her back. She wanted to hold her daughter, but she knew she needed to check on the severity of the cuts before any sort of infection, so Stef pulled away after a moment.

"Come on. Mama and Callie are waiting for us."

Reluctantly, Mariana allowed her mother to lead her back to the beach.

"Mom had her." Lena assured her daughter as she girl tried to get up and follow her sister after she took off. "come here, sweetheart." she added gently, guiding Callie away from the sight of where Stef had Mariana.

Once out of sight of the other two women, Lena pulled Callie into a tight embrace. She felt the teen tense up at first, but the reciprocate the affection.

Finally able to breathe now that her moms were there, Callie was able to take in the event. Mariana cut herself. She thought, biting her lip as she recalled the previous minutes. She asked me not to tell. Was her next thought. I'm a terrible sister.

Lost in her thoughts, she didn't register when Lena pulled away from the hug in order to look at her daughter.

Lena tilted her head as she tried to understand what was going through her daughter's head. Finally, Callie focused on her surroundings and blushed when she saw Lena's concerning look. Lena waited for the girl to keep eye contact before beginning to talk.

"First off, thank you for calling me." she said, hoping that she did a good thing. At this praise, the teen looked back down, still feeling guilty.

"Hey look at me." Lena coaxed as she lifted her daughter's chin up with her finger. "I don't care what Mariana asked you to do, or not to do" Lena said, raising her eyebrows as she knew what the girl was thinking. "Mom and I..." she paused and echoed deeply, "we are thankful that you called us." She finished with a teary-eyed smile.

Callie began to fight, as she was at a loss as to what to say or do. Realizing that the teen wasn't going to talk, Lena continued. "Do you know..." she exhaled again, dreading this conversation. "Uhh know what happened exactly?"

This time, it was Callie who exhaled. She was still toying with how much she should disclose, though in all honesty, she didn't know much. "Uhhh... I don't wally know much more than you" she began and Lena set her fill attention to the girl.

"That's ok, just tell me what happened from when you got here to when you called me."

Callie nodded and continued talking. "Well I uhh found her just sitting here. Uhh and when I tried to talk to her, she uhh she just turned away." Lena nodded to indicate that she was listening and that Callie should continue. "When I got closer, I saw..." she looked down "I saw the blood." Her voice softened and Lena had to strain to hear. Callie heard Lena's attempt to stifle a sob, but didn't look up- knowing she would break down if she did. "Then I uhh I found the uhhh..." thoughts of her past came flooding back and she found it becoming harder to breathe.

Suddenly, Callie felt herself being wrapped into a hug. She melted into the loving arms of her mom.

"It's ok, honey." Lena assured her daughter. "What did you find?" she asked, hoping if she got just one more added piece of information, it would help her understanding of the situation.

Unable to form words, Callie simply lifter her hand and placed the piece of glass in Lena's hand, hoping she would make the connection.

Lena's forehead crinkled in confusion as she looked down at what Callie had placed in her hand. However, it only took her a moment to realize what it was and more importantly, what it had been used for.

I piece of glass?! Lena thought to herself as she tried to calm her thoughts. A random piece of glass that could have come from anywhere?! At this point, she was beginning to get mad, but quickly remembered the bigger picture. Callie's sobs pulled her out of her thoughts and she tightened her grip on the girl. "Ok, sweetie. You're ok. Mari is going to be ok."

Callie began feeling overwhelmed, to the point where it felt as though her throat was closing up. Frantically, she pushed herself out of Lena's grasp and tried to take in a full breath.

Shocked by the sudden change in her daughter, Lena watched as the girl struggled to breathe. She knew that Callie was protective of Mariana, but this reaction seemed to be linked to something more, though at the moment, she didn't have time to figure out what. Quickly, Lena made her way over to the teen, but refrained from touching her.

"Breathe, Cal. Just breathe. You're ok."

Callie's head was spinning. All of her past experiences with self harm were bubbling up into her brain and it was becoming too much. Not Mariana. I can't... I need to help her. She scolded herself as she tried to stay strong in order to help her sister, but the anxiety and pain was pushing her further down.

Reaching the point of full panic, Callie leaned against the side of the small building and slid down to the ground, holding her head in her hands and lowering her head in between her legs. "Can't... Br... Bre..." She gasped as her chest tightened even more.

Lena was frozen. She was at a loss as to what to do to help her daughter. She knew Callie typically pulled away from physical touch, and at this point, she couldn't even hear verbal help. Finally, she decided to take a chance and quickly squatted in front of the girl.

"Callie. Look at me." She said, forcefully, but with the kindness that Lena always showed. "Good. Now follow my breathing." She instructed. "That's great, honey. Come on. Slow your breathing down." Lena continued as the teen began to inhale deeper.

After a few more moments, Callie was able to breath regularly and she pulled her head up, her eyes full of shame. "Sorry" She mumbled as Lena chuckled quietly and brushed hair away from the girl's face.

"What do you have to be sorry for? You're ok." Lena made sure the girl understood her words before standing up, bringing the girl up with her.

"Do you wanna talk about it?" Lena asked quietly after a moment of silence.

Just as Callie opened her mouth to respond, the two brunettes heard soft talking and soon Stef and Mariana's figures appeared.

"Ready?" Stef asked, indicating that the girl did not want to talk at that moment.

Lena nodded, getting the message. "Yup. Right, Cal?" She added, looking at the girl.

Callie looked at Mariana, who was clinging to Stef's side and refusing to look her way, and nodded.

The four women slowly began their walk back home; each lost in their own thoughts as to what happened and what was coming.