Jaden was sat at the bar in the basement, nursing her flask of whiskey despite there being rows and rows of any alcoholic beverage you could want. Picking up her phone from the bar, she checked the time. Malibu's sisters should be here at any minute. She knew exactly why Skipper had called her down here, it wasn't that hard to figure it out. If anything, the hard part was going to be coming up with a lie that didn't give away as to why she was actually dating Ken, whilst also trying to not make her look like a bad guy. She understood how it must look to outsiders, that she played Barbie. If only she could tell someone the truth. But alas, she was on her own with that one. People could theorise what they like, it didn't change the fact that they didn't have the honest truth.
The mage smirked when she heard footsteps coming down the stairs. This was it, this was her chance to prove that she hadn't played Barbie, that Ken wasn't abusing her and though the others wouldn't realise it, that she was protecting Barbie from this repulsive man-child. She turned to face Skipper, Stacie and Chelsea once they entered the room, all three young women looking tense and nervous. "Well, Skipper, I've walked into your trap, so now what?"
Skipper frowned. Taking one look at Jaden confirmed her suspicions that there was definitely something more going on with the mage than simply just her relationship with Ken. Jaden looked skinner somehow, her appearance making her look scruffy and unkempt in her dirty, oversized clothes. She really didn't look so good. "Trap? I have no idea what you mean, Jaden." Skipper said, obvious confusion present both in her face and voice.
Jaden had to restrain herself from laughing right in Skipper's face. "Oh, don't play games, Roberts. I know why you called me down here. You want to know why I'm dating Ken. Let's not waste any more time here, I've got work to get back to." There was no point in beating around the bush, Jaden supposed. She just wanted to get straight to the point.
Skipper sighed in response. She should have expected something like this. "Well, yes. Come on Jaden, why would you go on all those dates and do all those nice things for Barbie, only for you to end up with Ken? None of this makes any sort of sense, we're just trying to make sense of it all here." Skipper reasoned, hoping that was a good enough question for Jaden to answer.
With her heart now racing in her throat, Jaden looked away from Skipper, almost ashamed. It came to her realisation that she didn't really have an answer for that. She really couldn't come up with a good enough lie to explain her recent actions. How could you easily explain away abuse? You just couldn't.
Stacie regarded Jaden with a sympathetic stare, all of her open hostility towards the mage gone as her heart went out to Jaden. "Look," Stacie began with a sigh, taking a deep breath, "all we want to know is if there's something wrong or if you're being a bitch." Stacie said and then added, "and if you're being a bitch then we'll warn Barbie."
Taking a sip of her whiskey, Jaden chose to stay silent for several seconds to allow Stacie's answer to fully sink in. She couldn't blame them really, they were only looking out for their older sibling. They were good sisters, Jaden silently praised them. "No matter what I say, you'd think I'm being a bitch. But I will say this: I do care for Barbie, love her even. I do not give a shit about Ken. Have you seen the way that he treats Barbie? I can't stand it." The mage said with such disgust that she practically spat the last few words out.
"Then why are you dating him?" Skipper questioned her.
Jaden shrugged. "Because apparently I don't hate myself enough. Look, I get what you're doing, you're only trying to protect your sister, but I'm not dating him just to hurt Barbie. In fact, it's quite the opposite…" Jaden trailed off her sentence there, hoping that neither of the ladies heard the dissolute crack in her voice.
The sisters all exchange looks of bewilderment as they tried to comprehend what Jaden meant by that. Finally, Stacie spoke up. "What do you mean?" But do I really want to understand what she's trying to tell us? Stacie thought with growing doubt.
Jaden sighed. "I wish I could explain, but I can't. I'm sorry, just believe whatever you want." She mumbled under her breath, casting her eyes down to the floor.
When the three ladies realised that they weren't going to be getting much more out of Jaden, she said their goodbyes to the mage, leaving her still sitting at the bar as they all headed back upstairs. Not paying any sort of attention as to where they were going, Chelsea bumped into Malibu as the trio had walked past the living room.
"What are you three up to? It's late, shouldn't you be in bed?" Malibu questioned them, acting as if they were still children who needed a set bedtime and not as the young women that they were now today.
Chelsea flustered on the spot. "Uh, nothing! We totally weren't questioning Jaden about her relationship with Ken!" The youngest of the sisters faltered. Even as an adult, she had never really grown up from her childhood ways of trying to keep secrets. She could almost feel the disappointment of her two sisters who were standing right behind her, as Skipper undoubtedly facepalmed herself with frustration, whilst Stacie rolled her eyes towards the ceiling.
"You were what?" Malibu narrowed her eyes at them. Oh, they still haven't changed since they were all kids. She thought with slight amusement.
"We were just trying to protect you." Skipper cut in, trying to salvage what was left of this operation. Nice going, Chels. Skipper mentally scolded her sister.
Malibu looked upon her three younger sisters with admiration. She really couldn't ask for better siblings, she could always count on them to watch her back. "Well, I appreciate what you're trying to do for me, but you don't need to protect me. Especially not from Jaden. She can date whoever she wants." Malibu ended with a shrug, though the sound of her disappointed, heartbroken voice was not lost on her sisters.
"But don't you think it's a bit weird how she's done all that stuff for you, you know, built your Dreamhouse, took you out on dates, wrote you love letters," Stacie listed off on her fingers, attempting to further emphasise her point, before ending it off with a confused expression and a bewildered voice, "and then ends up dating Ken? Something isn't right here. Either she's been playing you from the beginning, or something's seriously wrong here." Stacie argued her point, hoping that Malibu would start to see sense.
"The thing is though," Skipper carried on from Stacie's argument, "she didn't exactly give us an answer, but she's clearly hiding something." Skipper stated.
Malibu shrugged her shoulders. "If she's hiding something, then I seriously doubt she would have told you anything. Jaden isn't exactly an open person." Malibu told them. "Listen, I just think it would be best if you stuck your nose out of Jaden's business. You'll only end up pushing her away…" Malibu said sadly before walking past her sisters and into the living room.
The three younger sisters exchanged worried glances with one another. They really couldn't argue with that.
When Jaden returned home that night, she saw Brooklyn sitting on the sofa, her posture turned towards the door. It was as if she had been waiting for Jaden's arrival. Slowly, Jaden approached her, a little uncertain about her visit. If this was what she was thinking it was, then she was already tired of it. It was bad enough that Malibu's sisters had tried to grill her for the facts.
Brooklyn stood up and gestured to the empty space on the sofa beside her, telling the mage to sit down. Begrudgingly, Jaden did as she was told, something that Brooklyn was pleasantly surprised about. At least she wouldn't have to fight about it.
"Let me guess," Jaden began with a sigh, "you're here to confront me about Ken, right?" Jaden asked, her voice already sounding bored.
Brooklyn gave her a confused look. "Uh, what? I mean, yes I am, but how did you know that?"
Jaden gave another sigh. "Skipper also confronted me. What a fun talk that was." She said sarcastically.
Putting her hands up in mock surrender, Brooklyn tried to defuse the situation. "Look, I'm only concerned for you, Jay. You and Ken don't really get along and given to what he's done to you in the past, you can't blame me for thinking that this relationship isn't such a good idea." She was hoping that her comment hadn't made Jaden's irritation worse. Despite her being sat there for quite some time, Brooklyn had only just realised that she hadn't really thought through on what she was going to say to Jaden.
"Save your breath," Jaden said almost sadly, "I can take care of myself…" She cast her eyes downward to the floor in an effort to avoid meeting Brooklyn's gaze. She knew that her argument didn't sound convincing, but at least she couldn't say that she never tried.
Brooklyn shook her head in disbelief. Did Jaden honestly believe that she could take care of herself? "No, I don't think you can. Look at yourself, Jaden. I hate to say this, but you're a broken mess. Just how long have you and Ken been dating?"
Jaden shrugged. "I don't know, but that's none of your business." Her voice sounded dismissive, indicating that she was done talking about this subject.
Heaving a giant sigh, Brooklyn relented and allowed Jaden to have this victory. "I'm just trying to help you." She ended the discussion there.
Or at least, she would have if Jaden hadn't decided to jump to her feet, immediately regretting the decision as pain shot up through her legs. She cried out in pain, collapsing to the floor and curled into a ball, holding both of her legs in extreme pain.
Brooklyn shook her head and knelt down beside the mage, examining her over for any more injuries. "You seriously aren't convincing me that you can take care of yourself." She chided Jaden, helping the mage up from the floor and back onto the sofa. "I think it would be best if I stayed here tonight. Someone has to keep an eye on you." Just when Jaden was about to protest, Brooklyn put up a hand to stop her. "Besides, Ken is still at the Dreamhouse. Not that I trust him to look after you, mind you." Brooklyn added that last part bitterly.
As Jaden tried to push herself back up to her feet and realising that she really was more injured than she initially thought, she let herself fall back down to the floor with a small thud. "I take it I don't have much of a say in the matter, huh? Fine, at least you're better company than Ken." When she saw Brooklyn's face flash with sadness, Jaden's features softened. "Look, I'm sorry. I'm just a little fed up with all the questions tonight. Skipper was concerned for Malibu, whilst you're concerned for me. Hmm, I figured you'd also try and protect Malibu." Jaden considered out loud.
"I had a feeling that you weren't doing this to hurt Malibu." Brooklyn said as she stroked Jaden's hair. "I'm still not sure what's going on, but I know for sure that it isn't good."
"Yeah, just don't expect me to tell you anything more." Jaden said casually, hoping as to not hurt Brooklyn's feelings. "Now, if you don't mind, I'm going to bed. It's late and I have to wake up early to cook a certain mouse breakfast. You're welcome to join me in bed or you can sleep on the sofa. The choice is yours." Jaden told Brooklyn, figuring she'd offer her the choice on whether or not she even wanted to share a bed with Jaden. And with that, Jaden weakly stood up and walked to her bedroom, hoping that Brooklyn would take the first option and follow her. She really didn't want to be alone tonight.
Brooklyn stood rooted to the spot for several seconds, wondering on what she should do. Her head told her that the most sensible thing to do was to sleep on the sofa. That way, at least Ken wouldn't try to excuse her for sleeping with his girlfriend, considering that he wasn't exactly Brooklyn's biggest fan at the moment. She did not want to be on the receiving end of his anger again. But on the other hand, her heart was telling her to follow Jaden into bed, knowing that the mage could do with some company. The decision was a no-brainer really. Brooklyn ended up following Jaden into her bedroom, much to the mage's relief.
As Jaden took off her clothes, Brooklyn couldn't help but notice all of the bruises all over the mage's body. Of course, this wasn't the first time she was seeing them, though she couldn't help but feel a little sad, knowing the pain Jaden must be going through must be agonising. And yet despite all this, the mage still refused help from anybody.
That was the last sobering thought that Brooklyn had before climbing into bed beside Jaden, taking the broken mage carefully into her warm, inviting arms.