Love, Eternal

Time

Little bit of a trigger warning in this and the next chapter, mentioning anxiety, panic attacks and things like that.
Sending love to anyone that suffers with any illness❤️

"Sit down" Charlotte ordered as they got outside. Nola was panicking. Charlotte knew she needed to breath and calm her down, she knew Nola well. Charlotte knelt down in front of Nola and held her hands, her breathing was too fast and she was shaking.
"I know you're overwhelmed but just focus on my voice. A lot was going on, but you've done nothing wrong and you don't need to worry about anything. Just focus on yourself" she said, Charlotte tried to keep her voice as soothing and calm as possible. She was scared for Nola, but she had to keep it together for her.
"What's going on?" Pierre had come outside wondering what was going on and saw Nola sitting on the wall outside the back of restaurant, Charlotte in front of her holding her hands
"Leave her be" Charlotte said to Pierre. Charlotte couldn't have anyone else here, it would overwhelm Nola more than she already was and she had to focus on Nola.
"I'll get Charles" he said
"No leave it, just go inside" Charlotte replied. Nola could hear everything but their voices sounded distant and it was making her worse, "Seriously Pierre you're not helping right now. Please just go" she said. Nola felt dizzy and she couldn't see. She had to keep her whew closed As she wasn't sure if she was going to be sick or not
"Nola, sweetie listen to me okay. I'm right here with you. Look at me, you can see me, focus on my voice and that you can see me" Nola opened her eyes and locked eyes with Charlotte. "Now just breathe, follow me okay, deep breath in.. and out" Nola followed her breathing which slowed it down dramatically. She was still felt all over the place. "Look, you can feel my hands squeezing yours, I'm right here with you. I'm not going anywhere"

Nola sat for what felt like hours outside with Charlotte. She was shivering but she wasn't cold. Charlotte got out her phone and realised it had been 10 minutes. The door to the restaurant opened and Charlotte looked up and saw Charles walking quickly towards them.
"Nola, Nola are you okay?" Charles sat down next to his sister, this is what he was afraid of.
"She still needs time but she's better" Charlotte said to him, Charles put his arm around Nola, Charlotte was still holding her hands, rubbing circles with her thumbs over the top.

"Right, now we've calmed down. Let's take it step by step. What are you thinking?" Charlotte asked
"I didn't like it. I felt trapped when he spoke to me, it shook me up and then I felt like I was under attack, like I had done something wrong and I don't want to upset anybody" Nola started panicking again and Charles started rocking his sister a little to soothe her. There voices going distant once again, Nola could just about make out what they were saying, she couldn't tell who was saying what.
"I thought she was okay, she's been so happy"
"I know but it comes and goes, you know that"
"I wish I could take away her suffering"
"I know but it's not anyones fault, not yours and especially not hers"
"I know but I put her through the same thing every week. She's like this because of what happened, and then she worries for me and now probably Pierre to"
"Charles, this is not anyones fault. We need to focus on Nola, she needs you"
"I'm okay, I'm fine I just don't want to answer everyone's questions, i didn't mean to do anything wrong, I don't want to upset Pierre, or you guys, I just wanted to celebrate with everyone" Charlotte looked towards Nola as she spoke
"You haven't upset anyone Nola, Pierre is worried about you. We all are, but you haven't upset anyone. And you certainly have done nothing wrong" Charlotte spoke, her voice helping was so soothing to Nola. Charles pulled his sister close to him
"We can go home, we don't need to stay" Charles said
"No! You can't leave" Nola yelled
"Then I'll take you home" Charlotte spoke
"No no, I'm okay. I just need a minute. I don't want to leave"
"Okay, we don't need to, don't worry" Charlotte said again.
"Are you cold?" Charles asked, noticing Nola she we shivering she shook my head, "do you want to speak to Pierre" Nola shook her head again. She didn't want him worrying or being upset, right now she couldn't face him. The coldness or the disappointment she would get from him was too much for her, she just wanted to calm down. She felt so drained but she just wanted to celebrate Charles and his win.

After another ten minutes, Charlotte helped Nola up, and held her hand as we walked back into the restaurant. No one had ordered food yet, they all had drinks and they all fell silent as Nola walked back in which made her feel worse. Charlotte took Nola with her and sat her down on the opposite side of the table so she was sitting between Lando and Charlotte, and Charles took Nola's seat next to Pierre. Nola took a sip of her drink, Charlotte's hand still entwined with hers, it was comforting. Nola couldn't bring herself to look at anyone, let alone Pierre. Lando put his arm round Nola's shoulders. He was worried about her, he cared for, like a sister.
"You okay?" He whispered to Nola, she nodded and Lando didn't believe her in the slightest but he was going to push. Lando and Nola had gotten close over the couple of weeks she had been travelling around with her brother. It was comforting to know he was being nice. Everyone settled back into conversation once they had ordered food, Lando's arm left Nola's shoulders but went to the back of her chair practically the whole time. Nola felt sad for being that person that had made things awkward, she felt disappointed that she had ruined the celebrations for her brother and the rest of the team. It was all her fault and it just kept replaying in her head, maybe she should of gone back to the hotel, the rest of the evening only made her feel worse as the minutes passed.

"I'm coming to Italy. I've arranged it with work. Im not leaving you on your own, I know you'll be with Charles and have others as well, but I don't want you to be alone. So im coming" Charlotte said as she walked into the hotel with Nola
"No you can't do that" She said to her
"I already have, I will work remotely like I've been doing here and there while we've been in Australia, they're fine with it. I want you to have support, especially while Charles can't always be with you" she said. Nola hugged her as they waited for the lift, Charles and Carlos were coming over
"Thank you" Nola whispered. She was grateful for Charlotte, she had helped her in so many ways.
"Nola I wanted to say I'm sorry for making that a thing, I didn't know it would make you so uncomfortable" Carlos said as the lift doors closed
"It's okay, it's not your fault" Nola said, her voice was so quiet, it scared her, but she was so drained and just wanted to be on her own. Carlos nodded and gave Nola's shoulder a squeeze.

"Sleep, we're right next door if you need us. Ring me or come and knock okay?" Charles said as they stood at Nola's door. She smiled and Charles scooped his sister up into a bear hug
"I will, goodnight" She said to him and went into her room and closed the door. She felt awful. Her phone buzzed and she pulled it out of her bag and saw Lando's name on the screen.

"I hope you're okay, if you need anything I'm here"

He was so lovely, she typed a reply back and then there was a knock on the door. She was still leaning against it, so the sound vibrated through her and made her jump. She turned and opened the door and saw Pierre.
Pierre was so worried about her, he couldn't go back and not make sure she was okay. So he turned up at her hotel room to make sure.
"What are you doing here?" She asked quietly. He sighed and stepped into the room and put his arms around Nola
"I'm not going to leave you alone when you're probably feeling fragile and out of it" he said into her ear
"Pierre I-" she started to speak and the words just stopped
"Listen, I don't care if you got asked on a date or whatever happened, I don't care about your response or anything. You're allowed to do what you want to do, I just got jealous and didn't like it, I didn't know you would get so upset. It scared me to see you like that Nola. I don't expect you to say anything either, you don't have to tell anyone anything about us, I mean I don't even know what you would say because I don't even know what to say. So I'm sorry for being snappy and blunt, I just got jealous" Pierre said, as he let go of Nola and stood in front of me with his hands on my arms.
"I just need some time, I don't feel okay" She said to him. He nodded
"I'll go then, but I'm only a text away okay?" He said. Nola nodded and Pierre stepped back into the corridor. "Sleep well" he said and then he walked away. Nola closed the door and sighed. Pierre didn't want to leave her, but he wasn't going to force her to talk or be with him either, he had no choice but to let her have her space and hope they she would feel better in the morning.