Apparently, sleeping in in the psych ward was not a thing. Jaiden was roused by a nurse at the ungodly hour of 7 AM, and the first thing she woke up to was a pounding headache and bout of nausea. The symptoms of her hangover immediately brought up the fuzzy memories of last night, and how she had ended up here. They didn't sit well with Jaiden.
"Do you need a bucket, honey? Are you going to be sick?" The nurse interrupted her thoughts and she glanced up at the woman before shaking her head. Jaiden ran a shaky hand back through her hair and was only completely pulled out of her head when she saw Emily getting out of bed across the room. The younger brunette look just as bad as she felt and her eyes remained locked on the floor as her nurse ushered her out of the room and into the hall.
"Where is she taking her?" Jaiden asked quietly.
"Bathroom run," The older lady grunted. A frown crossed Jaiden's face and she looked at the nurse skeptically.
"We can't use the bathrooms by ourselves?"
"Nope."
"What? Why?" Jaiden scoffed.
"You answer that." The woman's reply was gruff and Jaiden could tell immediately that this woman was not a fan of her job. The chill of the room got to her as she reluctantly crawled out of bed and Jaiden winced as the cold tile floor pressed against her feet.
"Well, where are we going?" Jaiden dared to speak again as she was led out into the hallway.
"You have an appointment with Dr. Wilson."
"Can I make a phone call?"
"No phone calls for new patients in the first week." The nurse grunted in response. Jaiden's eyes widened worriedly as she took in the information. The idea that she wasn't going to be able to even apologize to Beca scared her. After being in contact with her practically every day since she got to Barden, the idea of going back into completely isolation from her sister made her feel panicky.
"But, I really need to talk to my sister-"
"Too bad." The nurse cut her off. Jaiden let out an exasperated sigh as they stopped outside of Dr. Wilson's door. She felt like she was being treated as a complete child; something that had always left her frustrated and insulted. The older woman knocked on the door with a few short raps and then stepped back a bit when the door handle turned.
"Jaiden, hi," She greeted her warmly. The nurse gave her a light shove and Jaiden moved forward into the office. Her hands gripped anxiously at the sides of her white bottoms and she looked at Dr. Wilson once the older brunette had shut the door to the nicely furnished room.
"Why don't you have a seat?" The psychiatrist suggested, gesturing towards a stereotypical, but inviting leather chair. Jaiden sat down hesitantly and kept her eyes on Dr. Wilson as the woman walked around her desk and sat across from her.
"Can I call Beca?"She requested.
"Not right now, no. We need to talk about you." Dr. Wilson replied with a sympathetic look.
"I'll say anything you want, please just let me call her. Let me talk to her for five minutes." Jaiden's voice was absolutely desperate and Dr. Wilson knew they weren't going to be able to focus on anything until the matter was resolved. Sighing reluctantly, Dr. Wilson picked up her phone and held it just out of Jaiden's reach.
"Why do you need to talk to Beca?" She prompted. Jaiden was taken aback for a few seconds, before she suddenly realized that she was going to have to work for this. Staring at the device in Dr. Wilson's hand, she wracked her brain for something that the woman would want to hear.
"I don't know. I just…last night was so bad and I need to make sure that she doesn't hate me."
"See, that's probably your biggest problem right there," Dr. Wilson leaned back, still keeping the phone out of Jaiden's proximity. "You have false thoughts. Your automatic default is that everyone has a reason to hate you. We need to reroute your thinking patterns." She said wisely. Jaiden took a few seconds to let her words settle before nodding.
"Okay." Jaiden murmured. To her utmost relief, Dr. Wilson handed her the phone and slid its keypad over to her. The teenager's fingers shook as she dialed Beca's cellphone number as fast as she could and anticipated the ring. The hand she had used to dial came down to grip the device's spiraled cord and her leg began to bounce up and down at a rapid pace. When her sister's familiar voice filled the speaker, Jaiden sucked in a deep breath.
"Hello? Dr. Wilson?"
It took Jaiden a few seconds to find her voice. "No. No. It's me."
"Jaiden?"
"Yeah," The 18 responded shakily. "I..I'm sorry."
"Are you okay? Nothing…nothing happened when they took you upstairs?"
"No. I want to come home, Beca." Jaiden's voice cracked and she turned away from Dr. Wilson; not wanting the other woman to see the tears that were threatening to spill from her eyes.
"Jay, please don't. You're not okay."
"I can't stay here Beca." Jaiden insisted. She wound the phone cord around her hand and clenched it shut.
"I can't do this right now. I love you, kid. You know that. I need you to get better and then you can come right home. But today is not the day." Beca paused; overwhelmed at how hard the words were to say. "I'm going to put Chloe on for a little bit, okay?"
"Okay," Jaiden mumbled. She heard a soft rustling on the other end of the line and then Chloe's voice filled the speaker.
"Hey."
"Hi."
"You hanging in there? Do you want me to send anything up there to you?" The redhead offered. Her voice was as kind as ever, and Jaiden's hand loosened a bit on the phone cord.
"Yeah, um, I guess."
"Okay. I'm sure they'd be okay with some books and some clothes right?"
"Probably."
"I'll get on that tonight; I promise. We love you Jaiden," Chloe's voice took on a more solemn tone and she sighed. "You'll be home soon. I know you will. Just try your hardest to get past this. Will you do that?"
"Yeah." Jaiden agreed.
"Okay. Let me put Beca back on so you can say goodbye." Once again, scuffling filled the speaker before the voice on the other end changed again.
"Go easy on your doctors, okay? We'll be in to visit as soon as we're allowed."
"That's not for two weeks though," Jaiden practically whimpered. She was getting scared all over again; after this she would have to wait six more days to talk to either one of them again. She was on her own for the rest of the week.
"You can do it, Jay. I promise you can. I love you, okay? You know I mean that."
"I love you too. I'm sorry." Jaiden felt the lump in her throat grow bigger as she attempted to swallow. "Promise you'll call at the end of the week."
"I swear. Goodbye."
"Bye." Jaiden let the phone fall from her ear and Dr. Wilson took it back when a soft buzzing sounded from its speaker; a sign of the connection's termination. "Is everything okay?" The psychiatrist questioned softly. Jaiden shook her head and collapsed backwards into the chair, fighting tears.
"She sounds so scared, Chlo." Beca's head rested in her hands on the kitchen counter.
"I'm sure she is. But she needs this to get better." Chloe reassured the younger girl. She glanced out the window at the sunlight that shimmered through and made her decision. "And you need to get better too. It's gorgeous out. Let's go to the park and take some pictures for your project."
"Babe, I really just don't feel like it."
"I know you don't, but you still have to do it. And we need to get your Zoloft prescription refilled today too." Chloe replied sternly. She wasn't about to let her girlfriend slip into a depressive fog; not if she could help it. Chloe was more than pleased when Beca got up from the bar stool and shot her a disgruntled look.
"Fine. I'll go get my camera." She relented. Chloe smiled a bit as the brunette shuffled out of the kitchen and down to their bedroom. She waited patiently for Beca to return, and when the small girl did, she couldn't help but grin. Dressed in an effortlessly thrown together outfit, complete with a loose fitting beanie to ward off the autumn chill, Beca fit the photographer stereotype perfectly.
"You look really cute." Chloe moved forward to press a chaste kiss to her lips, and the tiny smirk that Beca replied with sent butterflies through her stomach. That's all she wanted today; to make the younger girl smile every now and then.
"Let's just get going. Do you want to walk?" Beca asked. She slung the strap for her Canon around her neck and then kneeled down near the doorway to tie her boots.
"Yeah. It's gorgeous out." Chloe replied happily. Beca stood up and opened the door for her. As the two girls walked down the hallway together, Chloe couldn't help but notice Beca's hobbling had been reduced to a slight limp. She linked their arms together as they walked and stole a kiss on the cheek before Beca could protest. As they stepped out of the apartment building and into the golden autumn sunlight, Beca squinted for a few seconds in order to let her eyes adjust. It seemed to the young woman that fall had just suddenly appeared. She had been so enveloped in her life and the thoughts in her head that she hadn't even noticed the season changing.
"It's so pretty out today." Chloe spoke up as they strolled down the sidewalk. She wanted Beca to talk to her, just so that the brunette wouldn't get into her own head too much.
"Mmhmm." Beca grunted.
"Maybe we can go and get lunch after this? They just opened that new café right near the park."
"Okay. That'd actually be really nice." Beca nodded. They turned left at the corner of the sidewalk and continued to walk. It was only when Beca spotted a familiar tall figure that she paused. Chloe was jolted to a halt and she looked at Beca in confusion, and then followed her stare.
"I really want to say something." Beca growled. Her arm started to slip away from Chloe's and she grabbed it quickly.
"Baby, no. Don't get yourself worked up over her."
"I'm worked up over everything." Beca scoffed sarcastically. "But you and I know damn well she made things worse for Jaiden-"
"Exactly, and you can't fix that by starting a fight." Chloe reasoned. She felt the tension in Beca's body dissipate at her words. With a huff of frustration, Beca broke her gaze away from the oblivious woman across the street and started to walk again. Chloe switched her grip from Beca's arm to her hand; a bit proud of the younger girl was getting a hold on herself. Beca had a temper; that was no secret.
"What are we going to do about the Bella's? We're supposed to be the leaders and we haven't had rehearsal in forever. We're going to blow chunks at the finals." Beca said.
"The girls understand and it's probably a good thing that you and Stacie haven't been in the same room for a while. Also," Chloe paused and the way her voice rose in pitch on the last word made her sound nervous for what she was going to say next. "That's kind of the reason Aubrey is back in town. I called her in to stand in as a coach for us while you were recovering."
"You clever little shrew." Beca stared at her girlfriend in impressed disbelief. She always knew Chloe to be well prepared and responsible, but this was good even for her.
"Thank you? I think?" Chloe laughed. The two of them took another turn and the wall of trees that surrounded the park came into view. Their leaves were mostly a reddish-orange by this time in the year, and the light wind rustled through them noisily.
"I'm glad they'll at least have a chance to move onto the championship. I'm really sorry all of this shit has been keeping you from-"
"Beca, I loved the Bella's because I didn't have anyone else here. But now I have you, and your sister, and it's like we have a little family. I don't need anything else." Chloe cut her off and her words had a sharp impact on Beca. She knew damn well her girlfriend hadn't had a great family life growing up, especially after the situation with her brother. She and her parents had only grown more distant since she had gone off to Barden.
"Me neither." Beca said softly. She looked over at Chloe with a tiny smile and was surprised to see the redhead blushing for once. "Okay nerd, let's take some pictures." Beca squeezed her hand and pulled her into the small forest that was now in front of them. The two girls wove their way down the beaten trail and in between the trees, searching for a perfectly illuminated spot. Beca finally spotted a bit of an opening between the tightly clustered plants, and pulled Chloe over. Sun beams streamed down through the golden leaves and shone onto a cluster of large rocks. "This is perfect."
"What do I do?" Chloe looked to the smaller girl for direction.
"Just go walk around and be your pretty self." Beca encouraged her. The brunette raised her camera as Chloe let go of her hand and walked into the sunlight. Her red hair caught the light immediately and Beca snapped a few shots before Chloe her could turn around completely. Zooming in, she captured several close up's of her companion's eyes shimmering in the sun. Beca could tell already that she was going to absolutely nail this project.
I'm going to try to be incorporating more Bechloe into this story since you guys really seem to want some more of that. Any other requests/suggestions/feedback is/are welcome. Don't forget to review!