*FREE WITH PAID BONUS CHAPTER*After being dumped by her boyfriend, Elodie Shepherd resigns herself to loving her older brother's best friend from afar, just like she always has, even though he only sees her as his best friend's immature kid sister.
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I could barely believe my eyes at the sight before me.
Elodie had always been strong--too strong--for her own good, but watching her as she crumbled to pieces in front of me was something I couldn't bare the sight of, and the thought of everyone else just standing there while she fell apart?
It was heartbreaking, seeing what this world had done to her, when all I wanted to do was shelter her from the storms inside of her head.
"Everyone get the fuck out."
"Matthew," Elodie gasped out, latching onto my hands as I strode towards her and scooped her up into my arms, cradling her against my chest as she leaned on me as if I were the solid ground she needed to keep herself from falling.
"Hey, we were doing just fine with her before you showed up, and--"
"No Dorian, I agree with him. She needs some space and not a shit ton of people hovering over her. Taryn, can you stay with Ben tonight?"
"I mean, uh...we're not really talking right now, but I can find somewhere..."
Phoebe shook her leg distractedly, trying to think of something to come up with.
"My roommate is out tonight. You can stay at my dorm, if you want. I wouldn't ask, but..."
"No, that's fine, it actually works perfectly."
"Okay. Good, Matthew, we'll leave you to it."
Thank fuck.
Phoebe's blushing cheeks burned scarlet red as Taryn linked her elbows through the redhead's arm, Zeke watching the whole exchange with a curious, almost envious look on his face.
I didn't have time to decipher the group's dynamics then, though, not as Elodie began trembling in my arms once more.
I rubbed my hands down her back soothingly as the rest of her friends filed out of the room, Dorian lingering even as Lan tried to shove him through the door.
"Just..." he began, the words seemingly stuck on the words in his throat.
"Just make sure she's alright."
"I'm fine."
I shushed Elodie with a kiss to her lips.
That seemed to get Lan to push Dorian through the doors once and for all, and then we were finally, blessedly alone.
She pulled away quickly, long enough for her to ask, "Who called you? How'd you get here so fast?"
"Fast? Phoebe called me two and a half hours ago, and after that I sped through the traffic to make it here. I wouldn't call that fast."
"Oh. No, I just thought...it felt like it just happened, is all."
I understood what she meant all too well. My first panic attack happened after Eli framed me for the steroids in high school, and since then, it had been a steady downhill descent into mental health issues that finally prompted me to get on anxiety medication that kept me balanced daily.
