Ohio Is for Lovers

"Why did I come back to this?" Lena sobbed to Carson, one arm wrapped around her waist.

"Because you love Jake, hun. That's why you went back."

Lena shook her head. "No, that's not why. You won't even believe what I just witnessed him do."

Lena went on to explain the whole ordeal to Carson and tried to hold back tears that were forcing their way out of her from just thinking about the horrific scene she watched. The blood caked to Andy's face, Jake's swollen knuckles, and the anger that rested on his face. It was all too much for her to take in, let alone relive through explanation.

"I need to come home." She said. "I can't be here any longer. I can't love someone who would hurt another person like that."

"Lena, you can't keep running back to Ohio to serve as your safe haven. You live in LA now and that's where you belong. If you keep coming home, you're never going to learn how to survive on your own. You're never going to keep your amazing dance career. You have to stay in LA. I don't agree with Jake's actions either, but you can't come home."

"Then what the fuck am I supposed to do?" Lena felt defeated and embarrassed as people walking by her on the street outside her apartment complex stared her down as they walked by. Some looked at her with pity and sympathy. Some had eyes that seemed to spit on her as though she were trash put out to rot in the alley way.

"Go find a hotel to stay in for the time being. Don't even go back upstairs. If you don't have any money right now, just go to a coffee shop, or somewhere public that you can just sit in for the time being. Call CC and have him go get some stuff for you. Eve and I will be on the next flight out. I promise you, everything will be okay. We're gonna help you restart your life without him. Jake has proven to you over and over again that he doesn't deserve to be with someone as amazing as you. So, move on. Do you. And we'll be there soon."

Lena hung up the phone and could feel her body shaking with anger, sadness, and most of all fear. She saw what Jake was capable of doing to Andy. What if he lost his shit again and wailed on her? Carson was right; she couldn't go back upstairs and face him again. She needed to get away.

As she started dialing CC's number, she could hear Jake's voice calling for her. Panic and fear set in and she began to walk away from the building. She didn't know where she was going, but she had to get away from him.

"What's up, buttercup?" CC answered the phone cheerfully and the sound of his sweet voice brought about a calmness to Lena's distressed mind.

"CC, just stay on the phone with me. I need to get far enough away from Jake and the apartment before I can explain."

Lena was just about at the corner of the street when Jake busted out of the front doors to the building and saw Lena hurriedly walking down the street, her phone pressed against her ear.

"Lena!" He called out.

She turned to look at him from over her shoulder, never taking the phone away from her ear. The walk signal at the crosswalk began flashing and Lena disappeared into a sea of Los Angeles pedestrians, all with somewhere to be; except Lena. She was lost in this big city and had no point of destination. All she knew was she had to get away from Jake. He wasn't okay. He wasn't safe.