When Dave, the group leader, finally dismissed the session, Jaiden was predictably the first out on her feet and out into the hallway. The entire hour and a half felt like at least an entire day, and she doubted there was another person on the planet with a voice as boring as Dave's. She was hallway out of the wing when she felt a light touch on her arm.
"Hey, um, Jaiden?" The 18 year old turned around to find the girl who had sat next to her, Emily, staring at her tentatively. She was about Jaiden's height, maybe an inch or so shorter, and apparently her nervous disposition hadn't only been caused by the therapy session. She shifted on her feet as Jaiden looked her up and down.
"Yeah?" She replied finally.
"I just wanted to say thank you for…for, um, just-"
"I understand what you're trying to say," Jaiden interrupted mercifully. She watched a burst of relief spread across Emily's face and couldn't help but feel a bit of pity for the other girl. "But you're welcome. It was nothing."
"It was more than you think," The long haired brunette admitted. "See you on Saturday." With that, she hurried past Jaiden and disappeared down the hallway quickly. Even her gate hinted at anxiety; it was fast and almost seemed like fleeing. After a few seconds, Jaiden started moving again and found herself thinking about the other people in her group. The only one she really didn't like was Dave; but the other patients weren't as bad as she thought they'd be. The boy in the group's name was Benji and he suffered from severe social anxiety. Then there was Tayler, who had severe PTSD from an incident Jaiden couldn't help but be curious about. Two of the other girls had eating disorders, bulimia for the brunette and anorexia for the red head, and then there was Shelby. Shelby had a bad case of OCD. They were quite the mix.
"Ready to leave?" Beca's voice drew Jaiden out of her thoughts and she looked at her surroundings in surprise. Truthfully, she hadn't even realized she had made it to the lobby until now. Jaiden didn't offer a reply, but simply walked towards the exit silently. Beca rolled her eyes at the attitude, but followed close behind anyways. "Are you really that mad at me for not letting you go by yourself?" She asked once they were both in the car. Once again, Jaiden didn't reply. And that was enough to set Beca off.
"Okay, enough of this bullshit. You don't have a huge team of people who have your back, and if you want to keep the ones you have around, you can't be a huge bitch." She snapped irritably. Just before Beca could put the car into drive, Jaiden ripped her seatbelt off and opened the door angrily. The 18 year old stormed down the sidewalk, away from the hospital, and Beca swore under her breath as she yanked the keys out of the admission and got out. Her ankle throbbed when she forced herself to jog, but Jaiden's pace was quick and she wasn't about to lose the girl in downtown Barden.
"Jaiden, stop," Beca called loudly. Her sister didn't so much as slow and she made herself speed up, despite the pain. When she finally managed to catch up, the hospital was almost half a block behind them. Beca reached out and grabbed Jaiden by the arm, a little rougher than she realized, and the younger girl whirled around with a fierceness that caught her completely off guard.
"Don't." Jaiden looked strangely defensive, and she eyed Beca with cold eyes. And that's when Beca realizes how much the past few months have changed her sister.
"Jay, please just calm down. I'm not the enemy here," Beca reminded her softly. She loosened her grip on Jaiden's arm, not wanting her to feel threatened, and worked to soften her demeanor as much as she could. She knew approaching her with force would just make things worse at this point.
"I just want some space!" Jaiden tugged out of her grasp and went to walk away again.
"Don't make me call the hospital. Please, Jaiden, don't make me send you back there." Beca hobbled after her again and snagged her by the shirt this time. Jaiden was making her more and more nervous by the second and she reached into her back pocket with her free hand for her phone.
"I'm not making you do anything," Jaiden glared at her angrily. "Just leave me alone. I'm 18 and I don't need you telling me what to do-"
"I'm in charge of you, Jay. You don't have Mom, you won't talk to Dad, and since you're legally considered a danger to yourself, I'm in charge. And I'm going to give you five seconds to start walking back towards that car, or I'm going to call Dr. Wilson and have you admitted again." Beca pointed the hand holding her phone back towards their car and tilted her head to the side, questioning her sister's next move. To her utmost relief, Jaiden pulled out of her grip and stalked back down the sidewalk in the direction of the hospital.
"I should have left and never come back," Jaiden mumbled, just loud enough for Beca to hear.
Stacie stared up at her ceiling, sweat still clinging to her skin, and mulled over what she had just done. Sex had always been a casual thing to her; it felt good and it meant nothing. Sex with Jaiden had been different of course, but with anyone else, it was really nothing to blink at. As much as she tried to tell herself that what she had just done nothing, she knew it would to Jaiden.
The guy, Steven, had left less than a minute after they had finished. He had worn a smug look on his face and had said something along the lines of "let's do that again soon". And the worst part was, this felt completely normal for Stacie.
Although Stacie never had a real problem with feeling guilty after sex, she did have a problem dealing with guilt from anything else. She knew she wouldn't be able to hide what had happened for long. And the more she thought about it, the more it scared her. Jaiden wasn't in a good place, and God knows she had no way or idea about how to help her. Something like this…it could push her over the edge again.
She couldn't tell Jaiden. Not without there being some risk of her hurting herself again, or running. Which meant she would have to step up and tell Beca first and let her figure out the way she wanted to handle it. The notion of telling Beca was terrifying, however, and the more she thought about it, the more she felt like she was going to be sick. She had really screwed up. But at the same time, Stacie knew somewhere inside her head that she really couldn't help Jaiden at this point either. The younger girl was dealing with something so foreign and unimaginable to her, and she really didn't know how to deal with it.
"Just get it over with," Stacie muttered to herself. She picked her phone up off of the dresser and hesitated a few seconds before finally managing to unlock it. Beca's name was near the top of her "Recent" list and she forced herself to tap the small phone icon. As it started to ring, she lifted the device to her ear and listened. Stacie found herself a bit let down when Beca actually answered.
"Hello?"
"Beca, I have to tell you something and I need you not to hate me," She blurted out.
"What did you do?" Beca asked slowly.
"I…I cheated on her today. I'm so sorry-"
"How the fuck could you do this, Stacie? Now, of all times? What were you even thinking?"
"I don't know," Stacie's voice cracked and she bit her bottom lip in a feeble attempt not to cry. "You know me, Beca. You know this is just how I am. I couldn't help her anymore either way."
"You could have fucking tried. Just…just leave her alone from now on. She doesn't need you messing with her head. I'll take care of this." With that, Beca hung up, leaving Stacie in a shocked and sad silence. She knew that she deserved this; but that did change the fact that it hurt.
"Tell me what that was about. Why are you two fighting? What did she do?" Jaiden asked for the fifth time in a row. She and Beca were almost back to the apartment and her sister hadn't even bothered to hide her fury after she had hung up the phone. She had let Stacie's name slip when she was shouting into the small device's speaker and since then, Jaiden had been on full alert.
"We'll talk about it later," Beca muttered. She had no idea how to go about this without setting Jaiden off. She knew she would have to tell her eventually, especially if Stacie was decent enough to listen to her and keep her distance.
"Beca, no. I'm not a little kid; you can't just hide stuff from me," Jaiden said firmly.
"Fine," Beca sighed. "But when I tell you this, you…just don't freak out. Stacie…Stacie cheated on you."
Silence rested in between the siblings and Beca glanced over at Jaiden several times as they pulled onto their street. She could see that the younger girl's hands were clenched and from the look on Jaiden's face, she was having trouble believing what she had just been told.
"Why?" The small question came out in a whisper, and it was enough to break Beca's heart even further for her sister.
"She's just…she's just that type of girl." Beca offered. She pulled into their usual space and killed the engine; fully prepared to run after her sister should the younger girl bolt again.
"She wouldn't have had to if we were…if we were doing stuff. I haven't even been a girlfriend to her and she got bored. This is my fault-"
"Jay, no, it's not." Beca told her firmly. With that, she got out of the car, which prompted Jaiden to follow. Her mind was reeling and despite the news she had just gotten, she still found herself wanting to call Stacie. Just to hear it from her. But from what she had overheard from Beca, the older girl wasn't going to pick up.
By the time they got up into the apartment, Jaiden was fully introverted and she headed straight towards her room. As much as she knew Jaiden wanted to be alone, Beca forced herself to intercept the 18 right before she could disappear behind the door.
"Stay out here. Please," She masked the order as a request, but Jaiden picked up on the fact that it wasn't an option. So, the taller brunette silently pulled out of her sister's grasp and headed to the living room. Chloe was on the couch, working on some sort of document on her laptop, and Jaiden took the spot beside her tentatively.
"Hey," The redhead perked up obliviously. She frowned when Jaiden didn't so much as blink in response. Knowing that something must have happened, she checked her phone and surely enough, she had a text from Beca that was only 2 minutes old.
Stacie called. Said she cheated. They're done.
The message hit Chloe hard and she feigned to hide how shocked she was. Luckily, Jaiden seemed too occupied by her own thoughts to notice. The 18 year old yanked the blanket off of the spot behind them and curled up in it, obviously planning on sleeping for the rest of the day. That seemed to be her only past time anymore. Against her better judgement, Chloe shut her laptop and turned towards her.
"Can I give you a hug?" She asked hopefully. Much to her surprise, Jaiden nodded and shifted her weight to lean towards her. The redhead wrapped her in a tight embrace and glanced out into the kitchen at her girlfriend when Jaiden didn't pull away after a few seconds. Apparently comfortable enough, the 18 year old chose to remain against Chloe's chest and eventually fell asleep.
Lot's of drama now. Let me know what you'd like to see in the next chapter and I'll do my best to get it up soon!