Just A Crush

❊ NINE ❊

february 29th, 2020

"Mum, Mum, calm down, I can't understand you."

It was four in the morning and Lily was sitting in her apartment utterly confused as her Mum Olivia was hysterical over the phone.

"Kit, he's in the hospital!" Lily took a shaky breath as she put her Mum on speakerphone.

"What?" she asked as she began packing, "wh-what happened?"

"He got this new virus," Olivia said, "Covid or whatever. He tested positive last night and had to go to hospital."

"Okay," Lily said, her voice shaky, "I'll be on the next flight home." She grabbed her suitcase, unlocked the door door and was about to leave before her Mum told her otherwise. 

"No Lily," Olivia said, "Stay in Barcelona. Don't come back." Lily froze as she looked horrified.

"Mum, I can't abandon my brother!" she said, "I'm coming home!"

"Lily!" Olivia said sternly. "No, stay there. I mean it."

The call ended as Lily stood frozen in the bedroom. The blood pounded in her ears. Her heart thudded in her chest. Her hands shook. Her feet tingled. Her vision disfigured, as if she were looking through a fish-eye lens. She reached for her phone and found Lando's contact. She pressed the call button and he answered after a few rings.

"Cherry?" he asked, his voice sounding slightly husky. 

"I-I need y-you, " she spluttered, as she stumbled into the bedroom and slid down the wall. 

"Baby, are you okay?" Lando asked as she clutched onto the sleeve of her jumper.

"N-No," she panted. Breathing was hard. Really hard. As if she'd just run the London Marathon. She cried harder, her chest growing tight as bile rose in her throat.

"Okay, I'm coming," he said, "just stay on the phone and I'll keep talking."

Suddenly, a wave of nausea swept over Lily. It was an intense, all-consuming feeling as if she were on a boat being rocked by a stormy sea. The room seemed to spin, adding to her sense of unease, and she was acutely aware of the terrifying onset of a panic attack.

"I'm getting in the car now," Lando said as Lily heard the sound of the engine starting. "I'm going to keep talking to you okay?'

"O-Okay," she sobbed as she gasped for breath. She felt as though a hand of ice had reached inside her chest, gripping her heart with a vice-like hold. It was an unshakeable fear, one that seemed to seep into her bones, magnifying the panic that was rapidly overtaking her.

"Okay, I'm about five minutes away," he said. Lily gasped for air, but each breath felt shallower than the last. The terror of not being able to breathe properly further fuelled the panic attack.

"I-I can't," she tried to say but Lando shushed her.

"Baby don't speak okay?" he said, "I'm here now. Is the door unlocked?"

"Y-Yeah," she sobbed. 

She tried to move but unseen force was pushing her down, holding her in place. Her muscles wouldn't obey her commands, and she found herself unable to move. She was paralysed by the panic, trapped in her own body, as terror gripped her. She faintly heard the door open and the running sounds of Lando's footsteps as he ran into the bedroom. His eyes went wide when he found Juliet on the floor. 

"hey, hey, hey," he said, putting his hands on her freckled face. "Baby, look at me. Look at me." Juliet's eyes locked onto Lando's ocean coloured ones and he smiled. "I'm right here, okay?" She nodded. "Can you breath with me?" 

He began breathing deeply as Lily began trying to copy. 

"Okay ready?" he asked as she nodded "In." They both breathed in. "Out." They breathed out. 

He reached for her hand but before he could take it, she wrapped her arms around his neck and held onto him tightly. 

"I'm gonna pick you up now okay?" 

She nodded as he wrapped his arms under her legs and around her waist and picked her up with ease. He carried her to the living room and sat down on the sofa. Lily was sat sideways on his lap as he wrapped his arms around her and held her tightly. 

❊ ❊ ❊ ❊ ❊

Two hours later, Lily's anxiety attack had stopped and she was just lying in Lando's arms. Her eyes were bloodshot, her nose and cheeks were red as she was holding onto his hand tightly. 

"What happened?" Lando asked softly. 

"Kit's got Covid," she said, her voice hoarse, "and I tried to go home but Mum told me I wasn't allowed. She told me to stay here but, I, I can't."

"Stay with me," he said as she looked up at him.

"W-What?" she asked, looking up at him.

"If you have to stay here, stay with me," he said, "I've got room in my apartment. And besides, I've seen all of you before so that's not an issue." Lily let out a laugh as she looked at him. "There's that laugh." Lily smiled as Lando kissed the top of her head. She smiled as she sniffed and rested her head on his shoulder. "But I mean it, you can stay with me. Even if we have to travel back to the UK, I've got room at my place."

"Thank you," Lily said as she smiled. Lando smiled and rested his head on top of her blonde hair and smiled.

"You're welcome," he said.