"Jaiden? Come on, wake up. Chloe's getting discharged." Jaiden groaned in response to her sister pulling one of her headphones out of her ear and nudging her lightly. Her back immediately flared in pain because of the uncomfortable position she had slept in and she stood up stiffly. Blinking the sleep from her eyes, Jaiden saw Chloe was sitting in a wheelchair, dressed in a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt, ready to go.
"How're you feeling?" The 18 year old asked as she picked up her purse and stepped over to the door. Chloe, who felt even rougher than she looked, forced an embarrassed smile.
"I'm okay." She answered quietly. Her otherwise pale skin had started to turn red and Jaiden could tell she was more than mortified about what had happened. The nurse that had been waiting on them started pushing the chair and the quartet entered the hallway, which was already teeming with doctors. Jaiden caught sight of a clock on the wall and realized that it was only 9 in the morning.
"Do you want to come back to our place or?" Beca let her voice trail off hopefully and Jaiden glanced over at her. She could tell that the older girl was hoping that they could pick up where they left off last night at some point. Exhausted, but not wanting to seem hostile in front of Chloe, Jaiden shrugged.
"I don't care. Do you need me to stick around today?"
"Yes, we do." Chloe piped up. Jaiden rolled her eyes as she realized the redhead was trying to force them together despite her own situation.
"Okay then." Jaiden replied. She caught Beca nudging Chloe's shoulder in annoyance out of the corner of her eye. The group walked out of the emergency room doors and into the parking lot. Chloe's car was one of the only ones out front, and the nurse followed Beca and Jaiden as they made their way to it.
"I can drive if you want to sit with her in the back." Jaiden offered, noticing the way Beca was watching her girlfriend vigilantly. The last thing she needed was for Beca to wreck on the way back because she couldn't stop checking on Chloe. The older Mitchell nodded at her gratefully before opening the car's back door. Jaiden took the keys from her older sister and hopped in the front and waited until she and Chloe were situated in the back before starting the engine.
"Do you guys want to stop anywhere on the way? Chloe should probably eat." Jaiden asked as she pulled out of the parking lot. Traffic hadn't yet gotten started in town, and there were barely any cars to be seen as they started driving past several restaurants.
"She's right, babe. Do you want to go through a drive-thru?" Beca prodded the exhausted girl beside her and Chloe shook her head.
"No. I just want to go home." Chloe mumbled, burying her face in Beca's shoulder.
"That's fine. We can just make you something at home." Jaiden interjected before Beca could argue with the redhead. She had a pretty decent idea of how Chloe was feeling, considering she had handled a bout of alcohol poisoning her junior year of high school. If Chloe was feeling anything like Jaiden had, she probably wanted nothing more than to get a shower and curl up in bed.
"I want pancakes." Chloe requested tiredly. Her girlfriend nodded and rested her head on top of her's.
The rest of the ride home was mostly silent, with Chloe drifting in and out of consciousness and Jaiden turning on the radio in order to fill the quiet void. The three of them made it back to campus in half an hour and Beca waited until they were parked outside of the dorm to wake up Chloe. The redhead still had some alcohol in her system and leaned on Beca for support as they walked into the dorm building. Jaiden hurried ahead of them, still clutching Beca's keys, and unlocked the door. Chloe breathed an audible sigh of relief as they entered the living space at last.
"I'm going to help her get a shower and into bed." Beca looked at her sister, unsure of what the younger girl would want to do from there. Jaiden nodded and looked towards the kitchen.
"Alright. I'll start on some food for her." She replied finally. Chloe smiled weakly, but gratefully at the freshman, and then tugged on Beca's sleeve. Taking the cue, the brunette mouthed a 'thank you' to her sister and turned to walk to their bathroom with Chloe. One of the perks of the upperclassmen dorms, Beca found a new level of thankfulness for the fact that they had a private bathroom.
Jaiden waited until she heard the door shut down the short hall section before she began to root through the small kitchen. It only took her a few minutes to find a box of Bisquick and the necessary ingredients, as well as a bowl and a skillet. Thanking her mostly independent teenage years for teaching her the cooking basics, Jaiden set to work mixing a single batch of batter. By the time she had half of the pancakes done, the door to the bathroom opened and Jaiden could hear a soft shuffling as Beca got the redhead into bed. The small brunette emerged a few minutes later and smiled anxiously at her sister.
"Smells good." Beca noted. Jaiden nodded as she flipped two of the golden pancakes onto the growing stack beside the stove.
"Thanks. How's she feeling?" The younger girl asked. She turned from Beca for a few seconds in order to grab her bowl. Looking up expectantly, she poured the last of the batter into one giant glob before sprinkling a few chocolate chips she had managed to find in. "Chocolate helps hangovers," She elaborated.
"I'm sure it does. She's exhausted and still a little drunk, I think. Do you need any help?" Beca stepped around to the opposite side of the island. Jaiden glanced around, knowing that if her sister was distracted, she'd be less likely to make things awkward.
"Can you handle scrambled eggs?" The younger of the two asked. Beca nodded and opened the fridge to grab a half empty carton of eggs.
"Yeah, that's like one of the three things I can make."
"What are the other two?" Jaiden smirked.
"Cereal and toast. Anything beyond basic breakfast foods is a loss." Beca cracked an egg into the bowl she had pulled down out of one of the cabinets and hen glanced over at her sister again. Jaiden was fixed on flipping the large chocolate chip pancake, though a trace of a smile still remained on her face. "I still can't get over how grown up you are."
"Do we really have to do this?" Jaiden sounded exasperated and she turned the stove down before turning to her sister. Beca blinked in confusion.
"Do what?"
"It's like you can't be in a room with me without trying to say something stupid or sappy or apologetic. God, can you just act normal?" The taller girl snapped. She turned back around and slid her last pancake onto a new plate before slamming the skillet down on the counter again.
"No, I can't! We don't have a normal fucking relationship, Jaiden! I can't just tiptoe around the fact that you've been blaming me for what happened for the last few years-"
"Wow. You're unbelievable. Pin our screwed up relationship on me," She scoffed. "You know what? I'm done. I quit your stupid singing group and tell your dumbass girlfriend to leave me alone." Jaiden shook her head and stalked off towards the door. Every bit of her showed the anger she held for what had happened. Beca followed her immediately, and barricaded the door with her body just before Jaiden could open it.
"Enough, okay? I get that you're pissed about all of this; I really do. But guess what? You weren't the only one that got affected. I've spent the last few years trying to figure out a way to apologize for something I didn't even have control over. Yeah, I probably should have called the police instead of just telling Dad, but I was a freaking kid. Move the fuck on." Beca snarled, straightening up to her full height and staring her sister in the eye. Jaiden's gaze softened and Beca knew, finally, that she had gotten through. The younger girl stepped back from the door in silence and let her eyes fall to the floor.
"I don't actually blame you." She muttered. Beca released her death grip on the door handle and tentatively stepped towards her.
"What do you mean?" The brunette prompted softly. To Beca's surprise, Jaiden looked up with tears welling in her eyes.
"It was my fault for..f-for being gay." The 18 year old stammered out. The weight of her statement rested in the silence that followed. After a few seconds, Jaiden started towards the door again.
"No, I'm sorry, I just didn't know what to say. Please don't go." Beca unfroze and took her older sister by the shoulders. Jaiden was struggling to keep her composure and pulled out of Beca's grasp immediately. "Jay, come on." Beca pleaded.
"Please just leave me alone." The younger Mitchell whispered. Her stare remained locked on the floor and she reached up to discreetly wipe at her eyes. Beca found herself torn between letting her go and forcing her to stay, not knowing which would push her away more.
"I'm not gonna do that, Jay. Stay." Beca coaxed. She took her sister by the forearm and pulled her away from the door. Jaiden relented silently and followed the shorter girl back into the kitchen. She locked her jaw and forced herself to swallow the lump in her throat before grabbing two of the filled plates from the counter and starting towards Chloe's room. Beca watched as she took the lead and followed Jaiden into the bedroom.
"Here," Jaiden nudged Chloe awake and set a plate of food in her lap. The redhead yawned tiredly; her hair still wet from the shower, and looked between the two siblings. Too tired to sense the tension between them, she blinked the sleep from her eyes and sat up the rest of the way.
"Thank you." Chloe ignored the sickness she still felt from the previous night's whiskey and took a bite of the pancake she knew very well had been made by the freshman.
"I'm going to go start the eggs." Beca said suddenly. She had been searching for an excuse to give Jaiden some space and finally found one when she remembered that the younger girl had asked her to scramble a few eggs. She hurried out of the bedroom and returned to her half completed task in the kitchen, effectively leaving Jaiden alone with Chloe.
"It was really nice of you to stay." Chloe spoke up after they had sat in silence for a few minutes. Jaiden had been picking at her own breakfast, deep in thought, and Chloe had finally managed to pick up on the fact that something had obviously happened.
"It's no problem." The freshman replied quietly. She went back to stabbing at her pancakes and glancing at the doorway every so often.
"Are you okay?" Jaiden finally looked at Chloe and nodded.
"I'm fine. Shouldn't I be asking you that?" She replied. Chloe blushed a bit and nodded in admission.
"Touché. But did something happen with you and-"
"Chloe, please don't do this right now. I can't." There wasn't a defensive note in Jaiden's voice. In fact, to Chloe it seemed like more of a plea. The older of the two set down her fork and gave her full attention to her girlfriend's younger sister.
"Alright, I'm sorry. But you can talk to me about things, okay?" Chloe reminded her lightly. Jaiden nodded as her gaze fell again and she resumed pulling apart the food on her plate.
Little angst thrown in there for you guys. I hope you like the story so far and thank you so much for all your support. As always, let me know what you think/would like to see