Family Troubles || Redlyn

Panicking

Ashlyn's POV

My fever went away and I was able to go to school the next day. Luckily, Big Red had t gotten sick. Unfortunately, he still hadn't talked to Ricky yet. I stuck with him until class. His first few periods leading up to lunch weren't with Ricky, so I didn't worry much.

Once we got to lunch they sat as far away from each other as they could. Since the table was a circle, this resulted in them sitting across from each other. I gripped Big Red's hand. He was keeping his head down, and I could tell he didn't want to be the one to apologize. I don't think he was the one who needed to, though.

"He'll realize what happened. You guys will talk." I tried to assure him.

"Thanks Ash. I just... don't wanna think about it unless he is apologizing."

"That's alright, yeah. That makes sense. Just focus on eating?"

"Yeah, yeah." He nodded, beginning to eat.

"There you go." I forced a smile at him. I started eating to, glancing up at Ricky. He had to be upset, but he wasn't showing it. Or maybe I just couldn't read his face like Big Red's.

By the end of the day, they still hadn't talked. I was now angry at Ricky. Originally, I was a little mad, but knew he would try harder to make Big Red feel better. It's not like he made a conscious decision to exclude him. But now he had the chance to apologize, and he didn't.

The next day, however, Big Red couldn't hold himself together. At lunch again, he kept glancing at Ricky. I continued to try and assure him he'd apologize too. It would've worked better if I fully believed myself. Don't get me wrong, I knew this wasn't the end of their friendship. But I was mad.

"It's gonna be okay." I held his hand. He pulled away.

"St- Stop. I don't need a r- reminder." He stuttered.

"I just want to help you..."

"I know." He nodded. I noticed sweat drip down his face. "I know, I know, thank you. I just— I can't do this right now— and I— never mind." He ran off. I followed him, but stopped. He had gone in the bathroom, so I couldn't follow him. There were many other people in there, so I couldn't talk through the door. I went back to our table.

"Guys, one of you go get Big Red, please. He's in the bathroom, and I don't think he feels well." I looked at everyone. Carlos and Seb weren't there, helping Miss Jenn. EJ was with other friends. It was only Ricky. "I— please."

"Fine." Ricky stubbornly got up and went to the bathroom.

I sat back down, putting my face on the table. "Please be okay." I whispered. A minute later, it got silent. I looked up, at both Big Red and Ricky sitting down. "Are— Are you okay? We can talk, we can leave, just don't run off please." I was freaking out, a few tears in my eyes. I held his hand, glad that he didn't pull away this time.

"Can we just be quiet?"

"Sure, sure." I nodded. Everyone else's conversations got loud again, and Big Red squeezed my hand. I looked back at him. He was sweating, looked on the verge of tears, and looked overwhelmed. "Oh... come on, come on." I pulled him with me, to an empty hallway.

"What are... what are we doing?"

"Shh, don't talk. You're panicking. Just... just try and focus on being calm." I sat down with him and pulled him into a hug. I felt how tense he was. "Look at me. Right now, think about right now. It's just the two of us sitting here."

"Mhm..." His grip on me was tight, but I didn't mind. It took 30 minutes (I remembered this hallway was unused) for him to fully calm down. We were late for class, but I didn't care.