A forceful cascade of water broke Ashley from her daze, forcing her eyelids to snap shut. The lukewarm water poured over her face, soaking her honeyed locks and washing her face free of her embarrassing regurgitation. Her prone body was suddenly edged forward just a smidgen more, allowing the cleansing waterfall to do its work on the bile resting on her neck, as well as dampening the shoulders of her t-shirt.

A squeak from above signaled an end to the torrent, and Ashley opened her eyes. Above her, she could see the metal faucet of a sink. The hand she rested on suddenly jerked to her right, just in time for a lingering droplet of water to whiz past her head and into the ceramic bowl below. Tilting her head forward, Jenna's face once more became visible. Her expression was flat, her eyes narrowed slightly. The hand below continued to move, eventually clearing the sink and hovering over what Ashley recognized as the bathroom counter top. Her current resting place tilted to the right, and Ashley found herself lightly rolling off the columns of Jenna's fingers and onto the quartz landscape below.

The hand left her there, resting on her back once more, and returned to the sink. Idly, she watched as Jenna once more turned the water on, pumped a dollop of soap onto a hand, and began to wash. Jenna's gaze was on her hands as she washed them clean, likely of the mess Ashley had made that had dribbled down her neck and onto her hand.

"You know, I still have a session to do," Jenna stated simply, not even looking at her as she continued to wash.

To her own surprise, Ashley actually let out a soft, gasping laugh at that. Of course she did. Thinking back, recalling those recent miserable events, no one had ever actually told Jenna to start, had they? Not like Claire had done before Mellie's foot arrived atop her, not like Jenna had done before Claire treated her like a little toy made of putty. No, Jenna had ultimately just talked, hadn't she? Just told her how stupid she was. How awful. All as a prelude to whatever hell she had in store for her.

"Just get it over with already," she croaked up as the water stopped flowing once more. Jenna's eyes briefly shifted to look at her, to consider her, before her attention turned to drying her hands on the crimson towel that hung next to the sink.

"Now why would you actually ask that of me, Ashley?" the looming woman casually asked as she wiped her hands dry. Finishing, she turned her full attention to Ashley once more.

"I'm just tired of waiting for it, Jenna," Ashley blubbered, her tears returning as she continued to think of what she could have done to Jack in her utter carelessness, what she could have become. "I'm sick of sitting here, scared out of my mind about what you're going to do to me! Of sitting here close to pissing myself! So just...just do it already!" Ashley's breathing was deep as she finished her pained outburst, and it only got deeper as Jenna's towering form began to lower, as her face moved in closer and closer until it was hovering mere feet away from her prone form.

"What do you think I'm going to do to you, Ashley, that has you so scared?" she asked softly, her warm breath washing down upon Ashley's body.

"Hurt me," Ashley answered with a shiver as she looked up and into the blue eyes that hovered above her.

"Hm," Jenna sounded, and her sullen face began to rise once more. Her hand appeared once more, scooping Ashley up into yet another embrace within her closed fist with only her head popping out and lifting her level with Jenna's chest. "So you want me to do this, then? Get this whole thing over with?"

"Yes," Ashley begged, a sense of horror seeping through her body as she realized what she was asking for.

"We can do that, then" Jenna replied simply, before the tip of her tongue emerged from the corner of her mouth, thick and coated in saliva. Watching the muscle slowly glide along Jenna's lips as the young woman's narrowed eyes began to open, Ashley's breathing began to intensify.

"Close your eyes, Ashley," Jenna commanded with a whisper as the tongue retreated back into her mouth, and Ashley complied with a whimper. She wanted to throw up again. Why had she invited this? This...whatever Jenna was going to do to her? Had she lost her mind from the combination of humiliation and self-disgust? God, what was Jenna going to do? There were so many things she could do, and...oh, God, it was just the two of them in here, wasn't it? Mellie wasn't here, Claire wasn't here...no one was here to protect her, to take pity on her, to-

Something touched her, then. Something wet, and somewhat sticky. Something soft and yielding, that pressed softly into the side of her face and enveloped it.

Something familiar, something warm. Something that had preceded this whole awful affair.

A kiss.

Slowly opening her eyes, Ashley's vision was crowded by Jenna's unpainted lips as they lingered on her. What was...?

Jenna separated, then, leaving a small smattering of saliva on her face, and Ashley soon found herself being pulled away from Jenna's lips.

"Jenna, please stop messing-"

"No 'messing', Ashley," Jenna softly interrupted, cutting her mewling short. "We're done. That's it."

Ashley was being lowered, and within seconds was below Jenna's chin as Jenna pulled her closer and closer to her neck. The mighty fingers that gripped her began to unfurl as the hand she occupied tilted backward slightly to accept her weight, and soon her freed body was being pressed into the fair skin of Jenna's neck in the familiar feeling of the larger girl's preferred embrace.

"I don't understand," Ashley sniffled into the soft skin. And she didn't. She knew Jenna. Knew what she wanted to do, knew of her proclivities toward people who had...had done what Ashley had done. Knew that she received gratification from those tendencies. Why wasn't she...

"I was never going to go beyond our talk," Jenna answered, her voice rumbling from just beyond Ashley's location. "I was never going to hurt you, Ashley. I could never...would never do that. I'm terrified of the very idea of it. Of hurting you, of hurting anyone I love, of hurting someone who just...who just doesn't deserve it, Ashley. Because you know how I am, don't you? How hurting people makes me feel." Ashley nodded into the skin she was being pressed against. Of course she did. She had seen it all over her face.

A gulp sounded in Jenna's throat, the action sending a pulse through her neck.

"That disgusts me," Jenna confessed lowly, her embrace becoming somewhat tighter. "The thought that I could hurt you, or some innocent person, and actually enjoy it. That's...I don't want to be that type of person, Ashley."

"But I'm not innocent," Ashley commented sadly, even as she nuzzled into the fair skin she was being held against. She had still violated that Beta, had hurt him. And she could have done worse.

"Ashley," Jenna started, pulling her away from her neck and entrapping her gently between her fingers once more as Ashley was brought before her face, "the only thing you're truly guilty of is not thinking. And I don't think you're ever going to make that mistake again, are you?" The question had been asked gently, but Ashley still vigorously shook her head. "You're a good person, Ashley. You're kind of dumb sometimes, but I've known you long enough to know that there isn't a malicious bone in your body. I was actually glad when you threw up, because that one involuntary action told me...told all of us that you understand the gravity of that possibility, and told us how much that bothered you. You aren't some monster."

"I've seen real monsters," her friend continued, a slight sneer peaking through her sad visage. "Monsters who would have fucking smiled at that lesson in lines. Monsters who would have wished they had crossed the line between life and death. Every day, from around the world, I see them. Rapists, murderers, cannibals, among other things. People who break the bones of a Beta just because they can. And you don't deserve anywhere close to what they do."

Ashley grunted at that. The words were comforting, somewhat. It was...nice, to hear that distinction. That she wasn't like those people. That her friends didn't think of her as one of them. But there was still so much more to this, so many thoughts rattling around in her head. About what she had done and could have done. About what had been done to her.

"Ashley," Jenna stated, catching her attention once more. The older girl was sucking on her lower lip now. "I know you have a lot on your mind. A lot to think about. But we want one more talk with you, and I mean just a talk, as a group. Your mother is going to be home soon, and we need to talk before that."

Her mother...God, she had almost forgotten about her mother in all the anguish of the afternoon. A renewed sense of dread overcame her. She had likely seen the report as well, and...and Ashley didn't know how she would react. Would she have another titan humiliating her soon, even as this apparently drew to a close?

"So let's go back to the den," Jenna declared as she slowly turned to face the doorway, her eyes still focused on Ashley. Eyes that were suddenly becoming increasingly wet. "And no matter what happens, or what you decide going forward...please, above all else, remember that we love you, and that we always will."

"Please, believe us when we say that, if nothing else."