Love Sets You Free • Elena Alvarez [✓]

twenty | self-care, huh?

"hi, mi vida." elena grins, "how was your day?"

"it was good- therapy went well, mamita." carlotta answered honestly, "how are you?"

"classes are okay. it's not too tough at the moment. but i mean...it's only been like, what, seven weeks? it's bound to get a little stressful with projects and all. but, it's okay. that's school life." elena rambles a little, making carlotta giggle.

"what?" elena purses her lips together.

"nothing. you're so cute. and i just miss you pretty much like crazy. but yeah." carlotta shrugs.

"leave the door open." penelope knocks and opened the bedroom door.

of course. even though she was the only one home at the moment, the door had to be open.

penelope gets a text from elena soon after her call with carlotta.

it's not that they didn't want to settle it. they didn't know how to go about doing it. carlotta definitely wasn't ready to deal with it yet. they'd tried bringing it up and she'd immediately ask them to just drop it. however, therapy seems to really be helping her, so they were also hoping the incident might come up in a session and that her therapist could help guide her towards a solution. or just, help her be more willing to talk about it.

"pen?" penelope hears a knock that makes her jump of her skin since she was so lost in thought.

"yeah?" penelope turns her head around, facing the door of her bedroom, "come in, lotta. what's up?"

"are you free to talk?"

"sure, of course." penelope nodded, patting the space beside her on the bed. they were seated at the side.

"okay, i know both you and elena have brought this up a couple times and i chose to avoid it. it came up in therapy and we've been talking about it. i'm very slowly coming to terms with it- with the fact that it'd happened." she began, "i know that we said we'd do something about it, too."

penelope let her speak as she listened attentively, somewhat amazed that she'd brought it up.

"i know moving's going to make things hard. but i don't want to let him get away with it. i know, its too late for there to be any evidence for a police report. but, i want to confront him- and i need your help."

penelope agreed in a heartbeat, tearing up while hearing the girl speak. she could see how nervous she was, but she still did it anyway.

"you're so freaking strong and brave, mija." penelope envelopes her into a comforting hug, "i'm so proud of how far you've come."

— * —

schneider's lived each and every day since that incident as if nothing's happened. probably because he was using again and had no clue what he'd done, but it was so very wrong. though, the alvarez apartment was the one place he's never been allowed to set foot in since. penelope and lydia made it clear that they didn't want him anywhere near them. why? he was a disgusting man and seeing him just made carlotta start hyperventilating and have an anxiety attack. he denied it every time...either he was really clueless or just acting stupid to avoid the confrontation.