"Oh, peach." Alexander breathed out softly, petting the smaller of the two. "You've never been good at this. Why'd you start back up again?" He breathed out quietly, his fingers twisting and combing through Leo's hair.
"Lex... it hurts." she breathed out heavily between broken gasps. "I can't.. can't" trailing off before breaking back into full hysterical sobs again.
Leo had tried her hardest to prove a point between Alexander and her best friends Savannah and Penelope. And since Leo was the weakest of the four, it was no shocker that when she tried to ride the dirt bike, she crashed into a tree. The shocker isn't that she practiced riding the dirt bike either. Everyone knew. What was a surprise is that Eliana May was practicing by herself, crashed and broke a bone, and didn't plan on calling Alexander, Savannah, or Penelope for help. No, she didn't even plan on calling her dad for help either.
Leo was only caught when Alexander called her and she answered, planning to pretend that she wasn't freaked out and about to cry. So naturally when Alexander found his way to her, it was inevitable for the older girl to burst into tears and panic. And Alexander had never been more thankful for Leo's shared location rule.
Alexander just sighed, waiting for Matt Tyler to show up so that they could use his truck to transport Leo and the dirt bike.
"Lex.. Lex.." the shorter girl sniffled out between long gasps of air. A messy method of trying to calm herself down quickly proving to be ineffective to the pair. "Can't.. can't breathe.." With all the words on the tip of her tongue, but nothing could shove them off, no matter how hard she tried.
Alexander pushed her hair away from her face once again as he cradled her head in his lap. "What are five things that you see, peach?"
"Leaves.." she stopped to take a breath between each response. "Two birds.. dog shaped cloud.." and her eyes stayed wide and fearful as tears continued to fall and run down the sides of her face. "Power lines and," her s sobs reducing to sniffles. "And that brick wall that.. that leads to the schoolyard in the distance."
"Okay, four things you hear." His voice was calm and assertive. Focused only on what her responses were, Alexander continued to soothe her.
"Fuck.. your breathing.. leaves rustling.." another large inhale that flooded her lungs with what felt like water. "The highway in the distance.. those birds."
"Good job, Leo. Now three things you feel?" Was Alexander's only response.
Her eyes fell shut, slowly coming down from the panicked state she was in. "Cool blades of grass, the breeze, your hands in my hair."
"Two things you can smell?" He pressed on, voice now less assertive and more delicate.
"You smell like fresh cream and cinnamon..." the way Alexander carded his fingers through her hair helped push her along. "And it smells smoky.. from the fires."
Alexander let out a small chuckle that was weak and airy. "Taste?" He asked. A smile slid onto his face at the thought of knowing the girl hated the last question.
"My mouth is dry." She deflected. "Wish I could taste ice cream." She breathed out softly. Her eyes fluttered open as Alexander wiped her tears with his thumbs.
As they stared at each other, Alexander readjusted Leo's head in his lap. He smiled as the girl let out a small laugh; something similar to wind chimes; pleasant, light, and flat out beautiful. It reminded him how much his world revolves around this girl. How his world is this girl. He would give up anything and drop everything if she needed him, without hesitation.
Before Alexander could speak up, the horn of Matt Tyler's pickup was blaring just a small bit away from the pair. The two jumped slightly, Leo whining and whimpering at the pain shooting through her leg when she settled back into Alexander's lap.
"Hey you fucking dweebs! Let's go!" Matt yelled from his window. He had already placed Leo's dirt bike in the truck bed.
Leo and Alexander laughed before Alexander picked her up bridal style and climbed in the back as well, still holding the love of his life.
