A/N: Wow guys, thanks for the responses! I'm glad you are all enjoying it. One of the reviewers asked the time-line of the story, so just to clarify, this story takes place after the National competition (after Beca kisses Jesse) but before the end of the school year. It is assumed that Beca and Jesse have been dating since the competition.

Also, I'm gonna warn you that this is some talk about sexual abuse in this chapter. It is nothing graphic, and really more of a hint than anything else, but if this is something that may trigger you, then you should be aware of that.

Thanks, guys!

"Beca, what happened to your arms?! Who did this?"

"Jesse."

Chloe sat in stunned silence. She had a million questions running around her mind, but she didn't know which one to ask first. "How… What…" Chloe shook her head and gathered her thoughts. "Beca, are you hurt somewhere else? Do you need to, like, go to a hospital or something?" Though her curiosity was killing her, she knew she had make sure Beca wasn't seriously injured.

"No!" Beca answered quickly, alarmed at the thought of having to go to a hospital. Chloe raised her eyebrows suspiciously. "I swear, Chloe. I'm o-… I'm not hurt anywhere else." She had been about to say that she was okay, but she knew that was far from the truth. She was anything but okay right now.

"Okay. Good, that's good." Chloe thought carefully about what she should say next. "I… God, Beca. What happened? I thought everything was going well with Jesse, especially after you kissed him at Nationals. You guys seemed so happy together."

"We were happy, mostly at least. I liked him a lot."

"But?" Chloe pressed.

"After Nationals, things started moving really fast. Before I knew it, he was asking me to be his girlfriend and then he was telling me he loved me. If it were anyone else, I would've backed out, but Jesse was just so sweet and caring. He looked at me like I was the only girl in the world. No guy has ever made me feel special like that. So I stayed with him. I thought that, with time, things would get better, but they didn't. We started fighting a couple weeks ago. He would get mad because he felt like I wasn't opening up to him. He thought that I didn't trust him and wasn't invested in the relationship. I tried telling him that I just needed time, but he didn't get it." Beca paused, taking a deep breath. Chloe desperately wanted to pull her into a hug, but she saw the far-away look in Beca's eyes and knew that she needed to finish her story. She settled with taking her hands again, rubbing her thumbs along the back in in a comforting motion.

"Take your time. I'm not going anywhere." Chloe said softly and Beca sent her an appreciative look. She took a couple more deep breaths and then continued.

"We had a bad fight on Friday, and he walked out. After I calmed down, I went looking for him. I felt really bad about how we left things and I wanted to apologize. I found him at some Treble party. I could tell that he had been drinking, so I told him I'd talk to him tomorrow, but he insisted that we go somewhere private to talk now. He took me up to one of the rooms. I told him I was sorry and that I would try harder to trust him and stuff. He started kissing me and I asked him what he was doing. He said that if I wanted to prove that I trusted him, then I would have sex with him right then."

"What?!" Chloe exclaimed, unable to keep her anger under control. She immediately felt guilty when she saw Beca flinch. "I'm sorry, it just makes me so angry that he would pressure you into sex if you aren't ready."

"I told him to stop, but it was like he wasn't listening to me. He pushed me onto the bed and started to take off my shirt." Chloe's stomach dropped as she realized where this story was going. Beca began talking faster, getting caught up in the memories. "I tried to push him off me and that's when he grabbed my wrists. He kept telling me to relax, to enjoy it. He said that it was natural, that this is what boyfriends and girlfriends do. I didn't want to; I wanted him to stop. I swear I tried to fight him, Chloe. I tried so hard. But he didn't get off. He didn't…" Beca's voice trailed off as she began to sob, the reality of the situation hitting her hard. Within seconds, Chloe enveloped her in a hug, silent tears falling from her face as she watched her best friend break down.

Beca clung to Chloe like a lifeline, desperately gasping for the oxygen that refused to enter her lungs. Chloe recognized the beginnings of a panic attack. "Beca, I need you to focus on breathing, honey. There you go, just copy mine. Everything is going to be okay. You're safe with me, I promise you." Beca's breathing slowed down and her sobs began to subside. "That's it. In and out." Chloe rubbed the small girl's back soothingly, continuing to whisper reassurances in her ear.

When she finally quieted down, Chloe pulled back slightly so she could look Beca in the eyes. "Beca, I… I am so sorry that this happened to you. I wish I could've been there to protect you. No one should have to go through something like this, least of all you. I know that you've been dealing with this alone for days now, but I'm here now, okay? Please, let me help. You don't have to go through this alone." Chloe saw uncertainty and insecurity in Beca's eyes and she wanted to single-handedly strangle every single person who had caused that.

"I just… You're a senior and you've got so many things going on. I didn't want to burden you."

Chloe sighed and closed her eyes, pulling Beca into a hug once more. "You are never, and will never be, a burden to me, Beca Mitchell. I love you, and I want to be here for you, through the good and the bad, okay?"

Beca nodded and quietly mumbled, "I love you too, Chloe", into her shoulder. And, although she was still upset and scared and hurting, the strangest feeling of peace overcame Beca at that very moment because she knew, without a doubt, that she was safe as long as she was inside Chloe's arms. She found herself wishing that this moment would last forever, and that she could spend eternity inside this very embrace, protected from the world's troubles.

A/N: So I'm not sure what happens now. I could end it like this, I could continue. Thoughts? I will leave it as incomplete for now, and we'll see how this goes. Thank you all for reading!