Jaiden found herself awake at 7:02, staring at the alarm clock on her nightstand. Her stomach had twisted into a bundle of knots after a few seconds up blissful ignorance after waking and she knew she wasn't going to be able to fall back asleep. Stretching her limbs, she stood up and rubbed the sleep from her eyes. A small clank sounded from outside her door and Jaiden realized that someone else was awake. She debated for a few seconds before slipping out of her bedroom and wandering into the kitchen. A faint smell of coffee had guided her to the area and she found Chloe standing at the counter, waiting for their Keurig to finish brewing.
"Hey," Jaiden watched the older girl jump in surprise at her voice, which was still hoarse from sleep. Chloe's mildly scared features quickly turned to a warm smile and she put her hand to her chest.
"You scared the crap out of me. I never would have pegged you as a morning person." She laughed breathlessly and watched as the younger girl sat down at the bar. "Do you want coffee?" Chloe offered, already moving to grab her a mug. Jaiden nodded and watched as she reset the coffee machine with another K-Cup.
"Did you sleep okay?" Chloe asked, moving towards the fridge to grab a plastic bottle of creamer. She set it down in front of the teenager and waited for her reply. She would be lying to herself if she wasn't a bit nervous of the day to come herself, but her first priority, and Beca's, was to make sure Jaiden was as calm as possible.
"Yeah." The 18 year old replied quietly. The Keurig sputtered out the last of her coffee and Chloe crossed the kitchen to bring it to her. She gave the blue eyed girl a grateful look and then locked her gaze on the steaming mug in front of her.
"Everything's going to be okay, you know. Beca isn't going to let him anywhere near you. And neither am I for that matter." Chloe spoke reassuringly, picking up on the brunette's fried nerves.
"Thanks, 'That's So Raven'. I didn't know you could see the future." Jaiden scoffed as she took a sip of her coffee, ignoring the searing heat on her lips.
"There's the Jaiden I know and love." Chloe grinned. She felt a tiny bit of triumph as the comment earned a faint smirk from the freshman. The two girls sat in silence for the next 20 minutes, sipping at their coffees and thinking about every possible outcome for the day they were about to face. Jaiden finally stirred when the sound of footsteps came apparent from the hallway. As Beca came into view, she stood up from her stool and placed her empty mug in the sink.
"I'm going to go get dressed." She excused herself tiredly and made brief eye contact with her sister on the way back to her room. Beca paused long enough to watch her go and then turned to Chloe, who was already working on making her a cup of coffee.
"How long has she been up?" Beca asked as she hopped up on the seat Jaiden had been residing on.
"Since a little after 7. She seems alright. Anxious, of course, but I managed to get a little smile." Chloe informed her as she watched Beca's favorite blend stream into the purple mug she had grabbed.
"Good. I'm going to drive her car back, since I doubt she'll feel much like doing anything and I guess she can pick whoever she wants to ride with. Actually, she'll sleep the entire way back, so that won't really matter. She sleeps when she's stressed." Beca explained in between yawns. Chloe nodded in understanding and handed her the coffee. She finally kissed her good morning and then sat beside her.
"I'm so happy we're all living together." Chloe sighed contently, watching her girlfriend slowly begin to wake up. Even though she hated mornings, Chloe happened to love the brunette's early version. Sleepy Beca was the least defensive Beca there was and probably the most affectionate.
"Me too. I never imagined I'd be getting to see her this much at the beginning of the year. I was just going to keep my distance and hope that, you know, things would cool off eventually."
"And now you get to live with her and your beautiful girlfriend." Chloe reminded her happily. Beca glanced at her and set her coffee down. She spun around on her stool and leaned in towards the older girl, kissing her on the lips chastely.
"You're damn right I do. We should go get ready." Chloe nodded in agreement and hopped down off her stool. Beca followed her, trailing behind and squinting at the sunlight that streamed through their living room window.
Jaiden was ready at least 10 minutes before her new roommates and she perched on the arm of the couch around 7:50, waiting. She hadn't bothered with make-up beyond mascara and her hair hung down in messy waves. Figuring she might as well look as bad as she felt, she had thrown on an old hoodie and pair of ripped skinny jeans. The last thing she wanted that day was to draw any attention to herself.
Just before 8:00, the other bedroom door opened and Chloe and Beca stepped out. Jaiden shoved her hands in her pockets and followed them to the door, nodding at Chloe's "ready to go?". The trio walked silently out of the apartment complex and to Beca's car, which was several spaces away from the door, by the curb. Jaiden climbed into the backseat wordlessly and put her headphones in before pulling her hood up. The 18 year old rested her head against the window as they pulled away and Chloe and Beca exchanged worried glances in the front seat.
Two hours and 47 minutes later, Beca pulled into the driveway of her first childhood home and killed the engine. The sound of Jaiden unbuckling her seatbelt from behind caught her attention and she turned around to see the younger girl peering out the window.
"I don't think he's home. Either that, or they got rid of his truck." She noted quietly. Beca nodded, seeing that only Jaiden's car and her mother's red station wagon sat in the driveway, and turned the entire way around in her seat.
"We're going to be as quick as we can, but I do want to talk to her. I doubt I can change her mind, but…" Beca's voice trailed off.
"But she's our Mom." Jaiden finished for her. Beca sighed, grateful that she understood, and then turned to look at Chloe. The two girls opened their doors and stepped out and Jaiden finally relaxed when she watched the locks shoot down in the car. She leaned back across the seats and put her headphones back in before closing her eyes.
"Mom?" Beca called out, glancing around the house as she and Chloe walked in. The first thing that caught her eye was the litter of beer cans in the mudroom garbage can.
"Beca? Beca, is that you?" Rosanne Mitchell (who hadn't bothered to change her name back after her first marriage) replied from the top of the stairs and came down them draped in a pink robe. She froze as she noticed the unfamiliar girl beside her daughter and quickly combed her fingers through her hair. "You didn't warn me that you were coming. Or that you were bringing company, for that matter." She said indignantly.
"This is Chloe. We're just here to grab some stuff for Jaiden." Beca replied distantly. Chloe offered a small smile and a half-wave. Even she couldn't muster the ability to act approving of the older woman.
"I see. She isn't here, is she? I told her that now wasn't a good time to come home." Beca's jaw locked at her mother's words and she felt Chloe's hand on her lower back, reminding her to keep her cool. The redhead drew small circles with her fingertips, watching her girlfriend's features intently.
"Jaiden, your daughter, is out in the car. Is he here?" The brunette shot back with as much self-control as she could.
"No, he is not. But you should just grab whatever you came for and go before he gets back. I don't need things stirred up again. It was nice to meet you, Chloe." The 57 year old nodded curtly and walked back upstairs. Beca stood there, fuming, while Chloe held onto the back of her shirt, keeping her from losing it completely. As soon as the older woman was out of view, Beca stalked off towards the basement door, Chloe in tow. The two girls hurried down the wooden stairs and into the slightly furnished area.
"Okay, so she said her guitar," Chloe located the instrument leaning against the plaid sofa bed in the center of the cellar. "Her keys, and what else?" The redhead grabbed the lanyard off of the coffee table and turned towards Beca questioningly.
"These books," Beca pulled a list out of her back pocket and scanned the room. She noticed a pile of them on the desk in the far corner and began to root through them.
"Do you want to talk about that?" Chloe prompted gently. Beca clenched her teeth and shook her head, still fighting not to go upstairs and rip her mother a new one for putting some drunk ass ahead of her own kin.
"Not really much to talk about." She grunted as she found a select few titles. Her eyes ran down the list and came to the last title, which she hadn't been able to locate in the pile. "Can you look around for To Kill a Mockingbird?" Chloe nodded, not wanting to force the issue, and began to search around the disheveled basement for the paperback. Neither of them heard the truck pulling into the driveway.
Jaiden pulled her headphones out as she heard the slamming of a vehicle door and lurched up in the backseat. Her heart began to pound against her ribcage as she locked eyes on a beaten up, green truck in the space next to Beca's car and an all too familiar figure stumbling up towards the front porch. The 18 year old felt as though she was going to be sick as she watched her step father staggering through the grass, no doubt just getting home from a night at the bar down the street. God knows what he would be like now that he had gotten out of prison.
Jaiden knew Beca had promised to protect her, but now all she could think of was how Beca was even smaller than her and how Chloe had probably never been in a situation like this in her life. The 18 year old tossed her phone and earbuds to the floor of the car and threw open the door. She braced herself and ran past the drunken man who had just barely reached the steps and nearly flew into her house.
"Beca!" Jaiden yelled, slamming the door behind her and running down to the basement. Her sister met her halfway up the stairs and Chloe stood at the bottom, her blue eyes shining with panic.
"What? What's going on?" The smaller brunette asked frantically. Just then, they all heard the front door opening and then slamming shut, and Beca understood at once. She brushed around her sister and took her hand tightly before turning back to look at Chloe. "Just get ready to run towards the door, okay? Give me her keys, and you guys take my car." Beca handed Chloe her own car keys and then caught the lanyard as the redhead tossed it up to her. She felt Jaiden's hand grip her own as they crept up and out of the basement stairwell.
"There you are." Jaiden's feet froze in place as they practically came face to face with Ted. The man's face was unreadable, though significantly older, and he had taken to growing a patchy, unflattering beard. "I thought that was you."
"Get the fuck out of our way." Beca's voice reached a tone that neither Chloe nor Jaiden had ever heard before. She released her hold on Jaiden's hand and shifted so that the younger girl was completely behind her and Chloe stepped closer to her, eyeing the man cautiously.
"Now this is still my house, and you ain't leaving until I talk to that one." Her slurred, pointing past Beca at her sister. Jaiden tensed at the subtle threat and she stepped back, feeling Chloe behind her. The redhead put an arm around her protectively and pulled her close.
"You want me to call the cops? I can get your ass right back in jail with three little digits-"
"I want the fucking dyke that put me in jail!" Ted roared out of his drunken stupor suddenly and shoved his eldest step-daughter to the side. Before any of the girls could react, he had grabbed Jaiden by the arm and yanked her towards him. By the time Beca could catch her balance, he had thrown a hard punch at the 18 year old and caught her on the left eye. She cried out in pain and braced herself for another, a familiar fear coursing through her veins.
"Don't touch her!" Beca landed a harsh kick in between the middle aged man's leg just as his fist reached back. The intoxicated alcoholic dropped to his knees and lost his hold on Jaiden, who stumbled back, holding the left side of her face. Chloe rushed forward and took her by the shoulders, steering her out the front door with the confidence that Beca was behind her. The trio ran towards their respected vehicles; Beca booking it into the driver's seat of her sister's car while Chloe got Jaiden into the passenger seat of the car they had driven up in. The redhead jammed the keys into the ignition and peeled out of the driveway, her heart still pounding, and then glanced over at Jaiden.
"You're okay now. You're safe." She assured her, reaching across the console and squeezing Jaiden's shoulder. The 18 year old said nothing, but shook under Chloe's hand and attempted in vain to stifle a terrified sob. Chloe glanced in the rearview mirror to double check that Beca was, in fact, behind them, before releasing her hold on Jaiden and pulling out her phone. She hit Beca's contact name immediately and the slightly younger girl picked up on the first ring.
"There's a gas station in like, half a mile. Pull in there. Is she okay?" The girl in the other car blurted out.
"Alright. And, I mean, physically I think." Chloe answered the question uncertainly and hung up her phone as she stepped on the gas. Sure enough, less than a minute later, she rolled up to a dingy 7/11 and put on the brakes. She had been listening to Jaiden's breathing the entire time and could hear it getting faster by the second.
"Hey? Jaiden, let's get out. Get some air." Chloe coaxed, reaching across and opening the younger girl's door. The redhead got out and went around the front of the car, just as Beca screeched to a halt in the space beside them. Before she could even move to get Jaiden out of her seat, Beca had thrown open her own door and climbed out, kneeling down to where her sister sat.
"I'm so sorry." The brunette murmured. She reached up and moved Jaiden's hand to the side, scowling as she saw the already swollen mark from where Ted had hit her. Jaiden's breathing was getting more and more labored by the second and Beca pulled her up out of the car, a hand on each of her shoulders.
"A-are you okay?" Jaiden's stammered out questions sent both of the older girls into a few seconds of shock. Beca nodded her head finally and wrapped her arms around the taller brunette. She could feel Jaiden tremble a bit, no doubt a result of the adrenaline and fear coursing through her system, and Beca rubbed her back in a meager attempt to calm her down.
"You should have stayed in the car, kid." She sighed. Jaiden's hands came up to cling to the back of Beca's shirt and she buried her face in the crook of Beca's neck. The last of her hostility towards Beca dissipated and she couldn't fight the instinctual need to be comforted. Feeling somewhat useless, Chloe stepped forward hesitantly and put her arms around the siblings in a tight hug. The three girls stood like that for a few minutes, both Beca and Chloe waiting until they could feel Jaiden's breathing rate slowing, and then untangled themselves. They watched as the younger girl wiped away at her streaked mascara and then climbed into the driver's seat of her own car.
"I'll see you guys back at the apartment." She mumbled before slamming her door shut and starting the engine. She pulled out of the gas station parking lot and sped down the road, leaving Beca and Chloe in the dust.
"Come on babe, I'll drive." Chloe nudged her girlfriend and started around to the driver's seat. Beca collapsed down into the passenger's side and shut her door, still fighting the urge to turn around, go back, and beat the shit out of the bastard who had hit her sister. Her hand had just clenched into a fist when Chloe reached across and took it. Beca relaxed after a few seconds, allowing Chloe to interlock their fingers, and took to staring out the window for the long ride back.
So that was a long one! Let me know what you think, and quite honestly I'm at a little bit of a loss for inspo, so any suggestions would be great! Thank you all for reading! Don't forget to review!