Too Close For Comfort (LH) (PT1&2)

BC: Fly Away

Kaytlin collapsed in my arms. She tried to shield her face as her body trembled. At first I was confused. Is that not what she wanted to hear? These certainly aren't tears of joy. Did I just make a fool of myself by opening up to her? But, that wasn't the case.

Her body was trembling furiously. Her sobs were getting louder. Should I go get Bradly?

The look on her face made me panic. Something wasn't right. "Baby stop!" I tried to calm her down, but nothing seemed to be working. "Kaytlin," I tried to pry her hands off her face, another fail. It was like she couldn't hear me.

Her phone screen lit up and started vibrating against the dirt. It must have fell out of her pocket when she slid down the wall. Right away I recognized the picture of her and Benny.

Either Kaytlin didn't notice, or she didn't care. Panicked and unsure of what to do I answered, "Benny, it's Luke."

"Oh," he paused, sounding disappointed, "where's Kaytlin?" Kaytlin let out a whimper, slapping her hand over her mouth, applying as much pressure as she could to silence herself. Her other hand clung to her heaving chest. "What the hell was that?" Benny's voice was full of concern. He clearly heard his friend, but he didn't want to believe it was her.

"It's Kaytlin! She's crying and- and I don't know what to do!"

"She's having a panic attack," Benny cut off my frantic rant, "you've got to calm her down!"

I tried to pull her into my arms, but she jerked away from me, "she won't let me touch her! What do you do when she's like this?" People have different needs when they have an anxiety attack. I have to be held tightly, while others need space. I didn't know what helped Kaytlin, and doing something that wasn't comforting could make it worse. All I could do was watch and wait for Benny's instructions.

"I-," he cursed my name under his breath, "I just usually hold her until she passes out."

"Passes out! What kind of shit help is that?" Kaytlin was muffling herself, mumbling incoherent things. My loud, off guard tone only made things worse.

"Do something!" Benny shouted at me.

"Not helping," I grunted, tossing her phone down. Think Luke! What would you need?

"Kaytlin! Katie," using more strength then I would have liked I broke her hands away from her body. She fought against me, "grab my arms! Take my arm and hold onto me." Her cold, damp palms stuck to my skin, her fingers clamping around my wrist, her nails digging into me. "Good," ignoring the pain, I brushed her matted hair out of her face, "look at me. Breathe."

"Just go away," she muttered between sobs, closing her eyes.

"Hey! Look at me. Baby look at me," her crystal eyes looked pastel between the redness and the tears. Even like this she was beyond beautiful, "I'm not going anywhere."

She was taking short quick breaths. I knew I'd she kept this up she would pass out. "You've got to breathe," She shook her head violently. "Stop," I crouched closer to her, nearly on top of her. "Follow me okay?" My voice was like a whisper. I took a deep breath, blowing on her face. I made sure that the flow was even and long. She mimicked me, but shorter and more choppy. We repeated this until she started to calm down.