"Another round, miss?" Chloe glanced up from her empty glass at the sound of the bartender's voice nodded. She watched through blurry vision as he pulled out of the bottles off of the shelf in the back and poured it into her glass. The redhead gave a half smile gratefully as he slid the alcohol back to her and took a few gulps. It was her fifth drink, and she truly didn't taste the whiskey anymore. Luckily, the bar was pretty much dead since it was a Tuesday night and she had three bar stools between herself and the nearest patron.
Chloe became immersed in her thoughts and in the booze in her system. Her mind went on a loop; wondering why Beca was the way she was, wondering why they were even together if she couldn't trust her, and wondering why she had even bothered to help with her family. Beca never appreciated anything she did-ever. She knew Beca would go to the ends of the earth for her, but the fact that the younger girl refused assistance in return hurt. She always thought that if she could just keep pushing, letting Beca know that she was here to stay, then eventually maybe the amateur DJ would let her in.
"Shit, you're wasted." Chloe flinched at the hand on her shoulder and nearly fell off of the bar stool when she tried to turn around. The drunken girl let her jaw drop in unhidden surprise as she came face to face with Jaiden.
"What're..what're you doing here?" She slurred. Ignoring the question, Jaiden took the seat next to her and pulled her wallet out of her purse. Flashing a plastic card from her wallet, the girl requested a beer and then slipped it away. Chloe watched the simple exchange in utter confusion. "You're 18."
"That's not what my ID says." Jaiden shrugged. Chloe frowned at her younger companion as she thanked the bartender for her drink and took a swig.
"You're a little sneaky." The redhead noted, fumbling for her own glass. Jaiden watched, a bit concerned for the glass's wellbeing, and Chloe barely managed to drain it without dropping it to the floor.
"How much have you had tonight?"
"That was her fifth, and after her ninth, I'm cutting her off. I assume you'll be taking care of her?" The bartender interjected. Jaiden's eyes widened, but she nodded, knowing that she couldn't leave her unattended at this point.
"So Beca isn't here then? You two have a fight or something?" Jaden asked, intrigued by the bartender's hint that she was alone. Chloe rolled her eyes and snapped at the bartender. The man grunted in annoyance, filled her glass again and then held up three fingers at Jaiden.
"Yeah. Cause she doesn't trust me." Chloe sighed. "Can I have a straw?" Jaiden nodded and reached across the bar to grab one before plopping it into her whiskey glass.
"This is about that guy from earlier, isn't it?" Jaiden guessed.
"She didn't show me a picture of you." Chloe's whined in response. Her bottom lip began to tremble and her younger companion looked away. Choosing instead to focus on her beer bottle to avoid the uncomfortable situation of watching the redhead cry, Jaiden began to peel at the small label.
"I think you're overreacting a little bit." She muttered, listening to Chloe slurp at her whiskey. A loud scoff came from the other girl and she snorted in laughter. Looking back up, Jaiden watched a few tears slip down her face as she continued to drink. Despite her better judgement, the 18 year old decided to let her go til her limit, knowing that if someone tried to stop her in this position, she'd be pissed. "So what's your plan for tonight? Get drunk and fall asleep outside the bar because you think you're not special enough for Beca?" She prodded, hoping to get Chloe to think about her current situation.
"Probably, yeah. She won't care anyways." The singer whimpered. She pushed her straw around with her tongue, trying to get the remaining liquid in her glass before the ice watered it down. Jaiden huffed in annoyance before catching the bartender's eye and nodding at the glass. He shot them both a skeptical look before refilling it and holding up two fingers.
"You know what, just bring them over. I'm sure she'll get there eventually." Jaiden requested. Chloe looked at her gratefully and clumsily moved her stool closer to the younger girl. Now with three glasses of whiskey in front of her, she looked like a regular alcoholic.
"You remind me off my step father right now." The brunette mumbled bitterly. A bit too intoxicated to catch the weight off the comment, Chloe slurped away at her 7th drink and leaned against her girlfriend's younger sister. Her eyelids were half closed and Jaiden could feel the heat rolling off of her companion. The bartender brought her over another beer and nodded at her sympathetically as she thanked him.
"Have you talked to your award winning girlfriend today?" Jaiden asked, drinking from her own bottle. She felt Chloe nod against her shoulder and waited for her to answer.
"Yes I did. And she knows I'm getting drunk and she didn't even wanna come look for me. You're a better girlfriend than her, you know?" Chloe rambled, looking upwards at the younger girl. She watched through blurry vision as Jaiden smirked and shook her head. And suddenly, her bottom lip was shaking again because it made her look like Beca. "Why doesn't she love me?" Her question was so quiet that Jaiden doubted for a few seconds that she had actually uttered it.
"She does. I'm sure she does. Take it from me-Beca's just lousy at showing it. We both are." Jaiden admitted. "Look, you can have your eighth one, and then I'm cutting you off. You're a hot mess right now-" The younger girl was cut off as Chloe lurched forward and grabbed her last two remaining glasses. The redhead downed them with impressive speed before Jaiden was able to react. Smiling triumphantly, Chloe threw both of her arms into the air and then nearly toppled off her stool. Jaiden managed to move in time to catch her by the waist and the older girl giggled.
"I don't think Beca would like this." She sang, using one hand to poke the younger girl's nose. Jaiden frowned in annoyance and then looked down at her hands, which she realized were on Chloe's waist. Afraid that if she released her grip, the intoxicated girl would drop, Jaiden found herself caught in a dilemma.
"Maybe I picked the wrong Mitchell…" Chloe's voice trailed off and her nearly closed eyes opened enough for Jaiden to catch sight of their blue hues. The hand that that touched her nose came down to trace a trail down her neck and onto her collar bone. Gulping and ignoring the twist in her abdomen, Jaiden shook her head and shifted her grip so that only one of her arms wrapped around Chloe's waist. The other one came up to take Chloe's wrist and stop her from going any further.
"Are you always this forward when you're drunk?" Chloe laughed and leaned her face closer to Jaiden's. The 18 year old could smell the whiskey rolling off of her breath and her eyes dropped down to her lips for a split second.
"Only when I want something." She purred in reply. Jaiden pulled out of the trance the redhead had nearly put her in and leaned away. This was her sister's girlfriend and as much as she wanted to, she couldn't do it. Not when she knew how devastated Chloe would be in the morning if she cheated. Without saying another word, Jaiden pulled Chloe's arm around her shoulders and kept her hold on her waist with the other. She began to drag the redhead towards the door while the bar's few amused patrons watched.
"Where are we going?" Chloe frowned as she realized that they were leaving. Jaiden struggled to shove through the door before turning her attention back to her inebriated companion.
"You are going back to your dorm and then I'm going back to mine. And then in the morning, you and Beca can talk out all of your feelings and everything will be great again, okay?" The last statement held an air of sarcasm that went far above Chloe's head. The older girl's head began to loll to the side and Jaiden came to a stop as Chloe's feet started to drag.
"Hey? Chloe? Can you at least stay awake long enough to get into bed?" Jostling the younger girl, Jaiden's expression quickly shifted from annoyed to concern. Chloe had practically fallen completely still, and she was slowly pulling the both of them downwards. Jaiden grunted in effort as she lifted her back into a mildly standing position. Chloe's head turned to the side and the 18 year old watched a stream of vomit trickle out of her mouth.
"Fuck. Fuck." Jaiden swore. She looked around the dark street frantically, but the small town was for the most part, empty. They were too far from campus for Jaiden to have any hope of dragging her back and the teen hesitated for only a second before sitting Chloe down against the wall of the closed shop beside them and pulling out her cellphone. The brunette dialed 911 and began to talk as soon as the operator picked up.
"Yeah, I need an ambulance outside of Mickey's Bar on Jane Boulevard. My, um, friend. I think she has alcohol poisoning…thanks, yeah, I know what to do. Please hurry." Jaiden hang up the phone and shoved it back into her pocket before kneeling down next to Chloe. The redhead was barely conscious, and her chin rested against her chest in an uncomfortable neck position.
"Chloe, you need to keep your eyes open, alright? Come here," Jaiden lifted Chloe's head up by the chin and lightly tapped the side of her face. The redhead's eyes fluttered open and she stared past Jaiden, completely out of it. A few seconds later, another wave of sickness hit her and she threw up weakly onto the sidewalk beside them.
"I'm going to call Beca, alright?" Jaiden reached into Chloe's front pocket and pulled out of her phone. Grateful that the redhead didn't have a lock on her phone, she scrolled through the contacts and found her sister's name. To her surprise, she got an answer a split second after the first ring.
"Chloe? Are you alright? I'm sorry-"
"Beca, it's Jaiden. Chloe's really messed up right now and we're waiting on an ambulance. I just figured you should know so you can meet her at the hospital." Jaiden cut her off quickly.
"What? Oh my God, are you with her? This is my fault-let me talk to her."
"She can't talk right now. Just get to the hospital, alright?" With that, Jaiden hung up the phone and stuck it in her own purse. Chloe had just finished throwing up again and she groaned pitifully. To Jaiden's relief, the sound of sirens became apparent in the background.
"She's going to meet you at the hospital, alright? You'll be fine." Jaiden assured her before standing up to look for the approaching vehicle. White and red lights flashed around the corner and she watched as an ambulance came into view and headed straight towards them. The 18 year old waved her arms to flag them down and breathed a sigh of relief as they stopped alongside the sidewalk.
Drama! I threw a little something in there for the Jaiden/Chloe shipper (fair warning: im not really planning on having them endgame). Let me know what you guys want to see in the next chapter!