Healing closed wounds

Part 27 - i'll try

~ IVANS POV ~

I follow close behind Eleanor, Aly, and Hazel and they walk to the car.

Everyone else stayed back inside the mall. Eleanor unlocks the car so Aly can grab her stuff. When I finally see her face I can tell she's tired.

"Ready to go?" I ask.

She nods her head. Hazel walks up to aly and hugs her. "I'm sorry about what happened."

"It was your fault." Aly pulls away and forces a smile to both of them. "Thank you for driving me here Eleanor. And thank you both for walking me here." Aly says as she walks to my side.

"Of course. Text us later okay?" Eleanor smiles.

Aly nods and we begin walking to my car.

"I can carry those." Aly goes to take her bags I'm still holding but I don't give them to her. "No I'll hold them just keep walking."

Once we get to the car I open the passenger door for her. As she gets in I put her bags in the back seat.

"Thank you." She says once I get inside the car.

"Anytime Lis." I smile at her as I start the car.

The car ride is pretty silent but it's a comfortable silence.

Once I pull into her driveway I turn to her. "Does that happen often?" I ask hesitantly.

She looks down at her hands. "Yeah.. but never that bad. They're usually easy to handle."

Panic attacks aren't ever easy to handle. "When did they start?" I ask.

"After mom." Her voice catches and a strand of hair falls from her face. I move it.

"I'm sorry Lis. I'm sorry you have to go through that." She looks up at me.

"It's okay. I can handle it." She whispers.

I shake my head. "No one should have to handle that. Panic attacks aren't something you should have to get used to. I'm just glad you have brothers who are there to help you." I move her chin to look into her eyes.

"Yeah me too." She says as she searches my eyes. Her beautiful light brown eyes glimmer as the sun shines through the window. The same eyes I always saw as a child.

"I should probably go inside." She pulls away from my hand and turns to the door.

"Wait." I say making her stop.

"Give me your number." I give her my phone.

"Just incase." I smile.

She takes my phone and puts her number into my contacts.

"Thank you for driving me." She smiles as she gets out of the car taking her bags with her.

I make sure she gets inside before I drive away.

—————

Once I'm home I slump into my bed. I'm about to fall asleep when I hear mom come inside my room.

"Hi baby." She sits on my bed and rubs my back.

"How was the mall?" She asks.

I sigh sitting up. "It was good until I Aly had a panic attack."

Moms face goes blank.

"I bumped into her and her friends so we all ate together. Graham started saying things about Fiona and Aly had a panic attack. It was hard to watch." I look down at my hands.

"I should've been with her." Mom shakes her head. "I should've known it would get to her too."

"What do you mean?" I look at her.

"Her mom used to have panic attacks all the time." She pauses as if she shouldn't be telling me this. "I could tell it was because of how she stressed she was in her marriage." Mom looks down at her hands.

"Dan was never good to her." I lean in now interested.

"What do you mean Dan was never good to her?" I ask.

"It's all in the past I really don't want to get into it honey. I just feel bad for Aly. I should've tried harder to bring her here." Moms hand goes to her mouth to cover her shivering lip.

I suddenly feel my heart drop. I look at mom confused and she takes in a deep breath. "There's a lot to what happened Ivan. I want to tell you but I don't think I can." Her voice cracks which makes my heart hurt. I hate seeing her in pain.

"It hurts a lot." She looks into my eyes and grabs my hand. "I was just worried Aly would go through the same thing her mom did. I tried to take care of her but Dan would push me away. everything I did didn't work. I hope everything with her is okay now considering we saw her awhile ago and they all looked happy." She smiles.

But Aly never looks happy. She looks far from it. "I don't know what to think anymore. I just hope whatever is happening with her is just from her mothers grief that she'll soon come to terms with it." She forces a smile and shakes off her sad feelings. "I'm sure Dans taking good care of her."

I nod and hug my mom. "Okay I'm going to be downstairs reading my book. Come to me if you need anything." She kisses my cheek and walks out of my room.

Now I'm wide awake and sleep isn't an option anymore. My mind is racing with thoughts. What did mom mean about Fiona and Dan having a stressful marriage? They always looked.. happy?

They always looked normal to me. Maybe because I was a child I didn't see it?

But how does this connect to Aly and her panic attacks. Did she somehow inherit it from her mom, because I don't think that's how it works. I'm not sure what mom might've been thinking but I'm sure it wasn't good.

Getting stressed and worried I quickly open my phone and press on Alys contact.

Me: what are you up to right now?

Aly doesn't answer right away. I don't know why I expected to. After about 30 minutes she responds.

Lis: nothing much. I did my homework. What about you?

Me: laying in bed

Lis: sounds peaceful, I wish I could lay down right now.

Me: wdym?

Lis: dads over so I'm in the living room with everyone. I want to be alone.

Her dads over? Doesn't he live with them?

Me: wdym your dads over? Doesn't he live with you?

dots come up on my screen a couple times before I get a response.

Lis: sort of, It's complicated.

Me: I'm confused. You're going to have to explain later.

Lis: I'll try..

Im left there staring at my phone.

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