"Should we get her into bed?" Chloe asked. Jaiden had sprawled out on the couch the second they had gotten back into the apartment and had been sleeping the entire day away. Beca, who was still shaken up from their call to the hospital, sighed and shook her head.

"Just let her sleep," She decided. "I think I'm just going to get a shower and go to bed."

Chloe watched as her girlfriend got up and walked into their bedroom without another word, effectively leaving her alone with Jaiden. Although the 18 year old would never admit it, she had been terrified that morning. The various triggers she had undergone had brought back a lot more memories than she had been prepared for. Chloe had picked up on her guarded disposition before they had even left the hospital, and it was sad to see the girl almost exactly as she was when they had first met. Against her better judgement, Chloe moved over to the edge of the couch and perched in the space beside Jaiden's head. The younger girl flinched back almost immediately, and her eyes shot open.

"It's just me," Chloe assured her quickly. Jaiden relaxed, but only a bit, and she lifted her head slightly.

"What do you want?"

"It's almost dark out," Chloe informed her softly. "Maybe you should get into bed."

"Okay," Jaiden grunted as she got to her feet and then staggered a bit; still not quite sobered up. Chloe jumped to her feet in an attempt to help, but Jaiden brushed her hand off as soon as it came to rest on her lower back. "I'm fine."

"Alright. Goodnight," Chloe called after her. A feeling of hopelessness was starting to nag at her when she thought about Jaiden. Recovery seemed to be a fleeting goal for the teenager and Chloe had no idea on how to be any more supportive. Sometimes it seemed like Jaiden didn't even have the energy to care about getting better.

"Chlo? Do you want to come in here for a second?" Chloe was pulled out of her thoughts by her girlfriend's voice from the bedroom. She turned around to see Beca standing in the doorway; her robe hanging loosely off of her shoulders. Chloe got to her feet, a little unsure of what Beca needed, and walked over towards her curiously.

"Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, um, just come into the bathroom." Beca replied as nonchalantly as she could. The tiny brunette took her girlfriend's hand and pulled her through their bedroom and into the combined master bath. Chloe couldn't suppress a little gasp of surprise as they entered, and she looked down to find Beca smiling shyly. "I know this has been a really stressful few weeks. I figured we could use a little relaxation." Beca explained. The small girl let her robe fall to the floor and Chloe watched the light from the freshly lit candles flicker off her bare skin.

"Beca," The redhead murmured. Her girlfriend reached up and pulled at Chloe's shirt, and she lifted her arms in order to let her lift it over her head. "This is…so nice."

"Yes, it is. So let's get in before the water cools off." Beca smirked. She watched Chloe strip in subtle adoration and then took the taller girl's hand. Her lips brushed against Chloe's cheek before they both stepped into the steaming bathtub. Beca tapped her phone once before lowering herself into the water, and the soft sound of one of her acoustic mixes began to sound from the Bluetooth speaker on the sink as she leaned back against Chloe's bare torso.

"They're almost gone," Chloe noted, running her fingers over Beca's nearly faded bruises.

"Mmmhmm," Beca agreed.

"Are you alright after, you know, today?"

"Yeah. I'm just…I'm getting so tired of this. Nothing we do helps her and I just don't know what to do anymore." Beca admitted.

"Have you…have you thought about maybe sending her to a treatment center?" Chloe suggested nervously. Beca lifted her head enough to look back at the older girl and chewed her bottom lip.

"I've been thinking about it."

"Do you think that's what's best for her?" Chloe prompted. Quite honestly, she couldn't imagine their apartment without the younger girl. It would just seem empty.

"I don't know. I mean, I know she wouldn't go willingly. Getting her there would be awful, and I can't handle the thought of her hating me again." Beca sighed. She traced an absentminded pattern over Chloe's thigh and watched as goosebumps covered her flesh.

"Well, if it comes to that, her doctor will probably bring it up first." Chloe pointed out. She lifted her hands and started to rub Beca's shoulders soothingly. Although Beca had never admitted it out loud, she knew that the younger girl loved it when she gave her massages. Beca stifled a groan as Chloe's thumbs dug into her upper back and forced her muscles to relax.

"I keep having these dreams where we don't get back to the apartment in time. Like there's an accident and we're stuck in traffic, or we don't see the text, or something like that." Beca spoke up after a few seconds. Chloe frowned in concern, having been unaware that she had been having nightmares. "I just…I can't lose her. We can't lose her."

"We won't." Chloe replied firmly. She continued to work out the knots in Beca's back, massaging just hard enough to make the brunette close her eyes in satisfaction. Chloe placed a light kiss on the shoulder tattoo that somehow always managed to remind her of their incident in the shower. "We should do this more often."

"We should. I know things have been crazy lately. But I promise, I'll start making more time for stuff like this. We'll start going on dates again and get out of the apartment more."

"I would love that," Chloe grinned.

"Actually, I have a project for that photography class I signed up from this semester. And I was hoping you'd want to be my subject…" Beca let her voice trail off hopefully and she tilted her head up again to look at her girlfriend.

"What kind of pictures are they?"

"Okay, gross, get your head out of the gutter," Beca scoffed. "We're just supposed to take pictures of our favorite thing." Chloe blushed at the explanation.

"When did you get so smooth, Mitchell?"

"I don't know. It's really just a gift." Beca shrugged.

"And you're even humble too."

"I know. I'm like the Kanye West of humility."

Jaiden was getting restless. The sedative they had used on her at the hospital had completely worn off, and sleeping all day had made her wide awake. She didn't want to be around her sister, or Chloe, or anyone she knew really. In times like this, she would usually text Stacie, but the realization that she couldn't even talk to the older girl left an empty ache in her chest.

"I need to go." Jaiden muttered to herself. She rolled out of her unmade bed and snatched her keys from where Chloe had laid them on her dresser. The redhead had driven her car home from the hospital, due to her own drugged state. Jaiden dug through her backpack until she found her fake ID and slid it into her wallet in place of her real driver's license. The 18 year old crept out into the main part of the apartment and relaxed when she realized that it was empty and the master bedroom's door was shut. Jaiden paused by the door, and decided her best course of action would be to leave a note. That way, Beca wouldn't think she had bailed again.

Went out of a drive; needed fresh air. Be back soon.

Satisfied with the explanation, Jaiden stuck the sticky note on the door and then let herself out into the hallway. It was still early in the night, only about 10, and she hurried down to her car just in case Beca had already realized she was leaving. Once she had pulled out of her parking spot, Jaiden rolled down the windows and turned on the radio, grateful for the chilly air that whistled through her car. She knew the route to Mickey's Bar quite well by now, and it wasn't long before she pulled up to the dingy joint. It was relatively empty, considering the fact it was Tuesday night in a small town, and she grabbed a beer from the bar before settling into an empty booth. That one beer turned into two, and then three, and eventually progressed to six. Jaiden had quite a collection of empty bottles by the time the familiar blonde woman sat down across from her.

"Aren't you a little young?" Jaiden blinked in drunken surprise as the girl from the motel arched an eyebrow at her.

"Why does this keep happening?" Jaiden rolled her eyes dramatically and slumped down in her seat, ready to be defeated. Aubrey was Chloe's best friend; of course she was going to rat her out.

"Just the universe doing its job, I guess." She shrugged. "Could we get two whiskeys? On the rocks please." Aubrey flagged down the waitress and Jaiden let her jaw drop a bit. She hadn't expected that.

"Aren't you going to call Chloe?" She asked.

"Well, you're only like 15 minutes from your apartment. You aren't planning on running away again, are you?"

"No." Jaiden muttered.

"Then I don't see a reason to call her," Aubrey paused as their waitress brought the drinks. "Thank you," She said politely. Jaiden twirled the glass around on the table and debated whether or not she should drink it. She was already feeling pretty buzzed, and she knew that when she stood up, it would be far worse. "So, what are you doing out by yourself?"

"Getting drunk."

"Does your sister know that?"

"She knows I'm out," Jaiden replied defensively. Aubrey smirked and sipped at her liquor, seeing so much of Beca in the younger girl.

"Chloe's been keeping me pretty updated on everything. How're you doing lately?" Well, that wasn't a big surprise. Nevertheless, Jaiden's already flushed face reddened even further and she sighed. All she had wanted to do was not think about her life tonight. Now she had to talk about it.

"Doesn't the fact that I'm out by myself tonight tell you how I'm doing? I'm single, depressed, and drunk." Jaiden snorted. She hadn't meant to be quite so forward, but then again, why care? Everyone knew that her life was a shit show.

"Wow. You are a Mitchell." Aubrey smirked. She already knew she was going to be taking the 18 year old home, considering her current state.

"Tell me about it," Jaiden sighed. She finally gave in and took a long drink of the whiskey in front of her. She frowned at the sudden change in Aubrey's expression and found the blonde looking past her with a sort of uncomfortable concern. Following her gaze, Jaiden turned to see her ex-girlfriend walking into the bar on the arm of a guy she recognized from her psych class. Her heart dropped.

"Well, time to go. Come on; I'll drive you home." Aubrey got up from the booth, slapped down a 20, and pulled Jaiden to her feet. By that time, Stacie had noticed her too and she could tell that the brunette was going to approach them. Aubrey positioned herself in between the drunk 18 year old and Stacie as she drug her out the door. Much to her relief, Jaiden didn't protest. She just locked her gaze on her stumbling feet and followed her down the sidewalk.

"You okay?" Aubrey asked, fumbling for her keys. Jaiden shrugged.

"She sure moved on fast."

"Yeah, well, that's Stacie for you." Aubrey said. She finally managed to unlock her SUV and helped Jaiden into the passenger seat. "Please don't throw up."

"Please," Jaiden laughed suddenly. "This is nothing. I could drive."

"I'd rather not test that." Aubrey responded as she shut the door. The tall blonde rounded the front of the vehicle and then climbed in beside Jaiden. The engine revved to life and Jaiden sat up; wanting to appear as sober as she could when she got to the apartment. She knew Beca wasn't going to be happy.

Let me know what you think! (points to whoever noticed the Anna quote i snuck in)