Little Queens: Six the Musical

Chapter 5

Trigger Warnings: Panic Attack

The girls had just finished their final show for the week. They had the next two days off, giving all of them a much-needed break.

Jane, Anna, Kat, Cathy, and Catherine had just been ready to do stage door when there was a small cry coming from one of the dressing rooms. They looked around at each other before realizing it was the first beheaded queen.

"I can go find her." Catherine volunteered.

"Are you sure that's a good idea? You two kinda tear each other's heads off ninety percent of the  time?" Anna asked. Her hand has automatically come up to her mouth and she was biting her nails. She didn't want the oldest queen to leave. Nor did she want any more shouting between the first and second queen. Cathy gently grabbed Anna's hand, pulling it away from her mouth.

Catherine smiled at the two of them. "I'll be fine. I'll just go get her and come right back. You guys go-ahead to stage door. She probably just lost her Heelys or something."

Catherine walked back into their dressing room. She had not been expecting was to find a panic-stricken Anne in the farthest corner of the room.

Anne was in the corner of the room, surrounded by spare boxes and clothes. She was clawing at her neck. Her nails were leaving red scratch marks across the scar around her entire neck. Her eyes were tightly shut. She was rocking back and forth, muttering to herself.

Catherine quickly realized that Anne's signature choker was missing around her neck. She was already changed out of her costume, so she must have misplaced it inside the room when they had been changing. And apparently hadn't thought about going to stage door. She quickly looked around the room. She found the missing choker on top of a box of chocolates. She immediately picked it up.

"Hey, Anne...It's Catherine. Can you hear me?" Catherine asked softly, crouching down by the girl at a distance.

"I'm sorry...I'm sorry...I didn't mean to leave. No...Leave her alone...Don't touch her...It-It burns..." Anne made no indication that she could hear Catherine what so ever. Since she was closer to Anne now, she could see how panicked Anne's breathing was.

"I don't know if you can hear me right now, but you're safe, Annie. You're in the theater. You're in the dressing room. The rest of the queens are here outside. We just finished up a show, remember?"

"Safe..." She seemed to almost consider the word for a moment. Catherine thought she was getting through, even just a little bit. However, that was not the case. "No, she's not safe! Don't hurt her! Take me! Not her! I didn't mean to hurt anyone! I'm sorry!" Anne let out another sob.

"Anne, you gotta breathe, hon."

Anne choked out. "C-Can't."

"Yes you can, Annie. I know it might seem like you can't at the moment, but you can." She sighed softly. "Is it okay if I come closer? I have your choker."

"Choker?"

"Yeah, hon. It's right here, see?" Catherine held out the choker in her hand while remaining at a distance.

Anne's eyes slowly opened. She looked around, the panic once again filling her features as she momentarily forgot where she was before she saw Catherine. She almost immediately launched herself into the older woman's arms. Catherine was surprised, she had to admit. Anne was never very close to Catherine after everything that had happened with Henry. They had been working through it, though.

"Hey, it's okay. I'm right here." Catherine said soothingly.

Anne was playing with the choker in her hands, fixated by it. She then abruptly put the B pendant on the choker into her mouth. (A/N: Not gonna lie, I have no clue if that would be possible cause I don't know like how big it is, but I'm just gonna go with it. That's basically the mood of the entire chapter.) Catherine almost let out a laugh but stopped herself.

"Oh, baby girl, you can't be doing that. That's not for eating."

Catherine tried to coax the pendant out of the girl's mouth. Eventually, she managed to do it. She held the choker in her hand, making sure that she wasn't touching the now gross pendant.

"Do you want me to put it back on?"

Anne nodded meekly. She moved her hair out of the way. Catherine noted how tense Anne had become. She carefully put the choker around Anne's neck, clasping it in the back.

Anne flinched and cried out. "No! Hurts!"

"Do you want the choker off?"

Anne whimpered, scratching at her neck. The divorced queen realized that she was scratching at the scar, not the choker. She carefully grabbed Anne's hands in hers.

"No! Stop it! Let me go! I'm not a witch!"

"Of course you're not a witch, baby girl. Nobody thinks you're a witch."

"I'm a bitch...and a witch..."

"You are neither of those things, okay? None of us think you are. Especially not me. But you have to breathe, though, Annie. See? Just like I am." Catherine exaggerated her breathing steadily so Anne would be able to do it. Anne's hand rested on the older queen's chest, feeling her chest rise up and down as she breathed.

After a few minutes, Anne had managed to calm down. She was resting again Catherine's chest; the panic attack had taken away most of her energy. She was playing with one of the zippers attached to a pocket.

"Mama?" Anne asked so softly, Catherine almost missed it. She only had a brief second to be surprised. Oh, Jane was going to hear about this later.

"Yes, bebita? I'm right here." She smiled at the word. She hadn't expected Anne to be regressing...especially not with her. Maybe with Jane if something terrible happened but she wouldn't be the one to complain. Not if Anne needed her at the moment.

"Tired..."

"If you need to fall asleep, it's okay. I'll be here the entire time if you want."

Anne nodded sleepily. Soon she was asleep on Catherine. The older of the two queens didn't know what to do. She was still in her costume but didn't plan on leaving a regressed, asleep Anne Boleyn in a room by herself. That would be a recipe for disaster. A knock at the door, however, saved her from most of her worries.

"Cath? You in here?" Jane asked quietly.

"Over here...Quiet, though."

Jane quietly made her way over to the corner of the room. She covered her mouth with her hand, awwing at the sight. Seeing Anne asleep on top of Catherine was probably the cutest thing she had seen all day.

"Oh my gosh..." Jane crouched down to where they were. She brushed a strand of Anne's hair out of her closed eyes. The younger queen looked completely at peace in her sleep.

"You've changed already," Catherine observed quietly.

"Yeah. Stage door has been over for almost an hour. Everyone except you is changed, it seems."

"Oh. I can't really change with Anne on me, though."

"If you want I can take her by the others," Jane suggested.

"Take me where?" A sleepy Anne asked, sitting up slowly. She had only been in a very light sleep.

"To go play with the other girls, love." Jane tested softly. Neither of them could tell if Anne was mentally at the moment.

Anne looked at Jane, perplexed. "Play?"

"Yeah." The blonde gave Catherine a look. She gave a slight shrug. Well, this could go terribly. "I'm sure Cathy and Anna would be up for a game of tag or whatever else those two could imagine. Kat might join in if she's not doing an Instagram live."

She then looked up at Catherine, seemingly asking for permission. "Play?"

"Of course you can go play," Catherine said, nodding. A relieved smile made her way onto her face.

Jane held out a hand to Anne, who took it excitedly. She was smiling widely. Anne really did look like a little kid again. Jane briefly looked back at Catherine. Thank you, the latter mouthed. Of course. The former did.

Catherine started to change out of her costume and get off her show makeup. Her thoughts were on the other queens, especially on how the next events were going to play out.