the best friend ; czk

fifteen¡

the bahamas trip flew by faster than laela would've liked. especially since 98% of the time, her mind was wondering how tuesday was going to go.

well, it was tuesday, and there was no turning back now as it was 1:45pm and she was on her way to the prettymuch house.

zionkuwonu
got everyone to sit down in the living room. told them it was important.

laemontique
im outside.

laela's hands shook as she got out of her car and zion walked out of the front door, a sign that she was anxious.

"hey," zion almost whispered. laela managed to give him a small smile back.

"come in." zion told her, his hand hovering over the small of her back as he walked behind her.

they walked into the living room, the rest of the crew having mixed reactions as they saw laela. some of them had confused looks on their faces. others had disgusted looks, as if zion had just brought a dead rat into the room.

"what is she doing here?!" karsen exclaimed.

"i, um, have something to tell you all." zion said. laela looked down at her shoes as she felt all eyes on her.

zion was silent for a few seconds.

"it's fine, z. just say it." austin reassured him.

zion nodded. "i- um i lied. about what happened at the party." he shut his eyes tightly, not wanting to see their reactions.

laela looked up slightly, seeing them all, except austin, having confused looks on their faces.

"what do you mean?" alexys spoke up.

"laela didn't force herself onto me. i forced myself onto her. she tried to push me off, but i was drunk and, um, when karsen came up to us i panicked and lied." zion blinked back the tears as his body slightly started to shake.

laela took his hand instinctively, squeezing it hard. his body shaking was a sign of his rare panic attacks.

the group's eyes all shot to their joined hands.

"let go of him, you bitch." karsen said through gritted teeth.

"don't." zion whispered. laela nodded at him, squeezing his hand again reassuringly.

"i can't believe you lied." nick said, emotionless.

"why?" edwin asked.

"i don't know." zion's voice cracked. "i regretted it as soon as i did it. laela's been there for me for years, and i threw away our friendship like it was nothing." he looked down, tears starting to flow out of his eyes.

"laela, i'm so sorry." charlotte looked apologetically at her. laela nodded softly, making eye contact with her.

"same here." brandon smiled weakly.

"all of us are." fiffany said, speaking for the rest of the group. everyone nodded in agreement, except karsen.

"i can't believe you lied to me, zion. we're over." karsen got up from next to him and slapped him before storming out of the door.

that's all it took.

zion's body shook more violently and he shut his eyes tightly as taunting voices filled his head. he cried harder, eventually becoming too weak to hold himself up. he leaned on laela for support.

laela's eyes widened, though she knew it would happen. he always had panic attacks in high stress situations.

"z, oh my god, what's happening?!" edwin asked frantically.

laela carefully brought them down to the floor.

"laela? speak to us, what the fuck is going on?!" nick said aggressively.

laela looked at him, hurt flashing across her eyes for a split second. "he's having a panic attack." she said softly.

"zion, z, listen to me," she said, lifting zion's head up so he could look at her in the eyes.

"you're fine. i'm here. i always will be. shh, calm down." she whispered, holding his face delicately in her small hands.

"i knew it. th- they're all gonna leave me." he sobbed.

"no, no, baby. they're all here for you. until the very end. no matter what. we all are. if she's going to leave you that easily, she wasn't worth it to begin with, babe." she whispered, holding him close as she stroked his cheeks with her thumbs, wiping away his tears.

zion eventually calmed down and wrapped his arms around laela tightly.

"thank you." he mumbled into her neck.

"anytime, z."

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word count: 707 words
published: mar. 6, 2018
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karsen a bitch and zion a softie <3

but its ok cause i can relate ha