AJR- Little Sister

Chapter 35-

"What do you mean Lil?" Cat asks.

"My Mom and Dad are in the audience." Lilly gets more anxious. Cat looks at Lilly with confusion until it finally sinks in. Lilly starts shaking, not taking her eyes off of the curtain blocking the crowd from seeing backstage. The thoughts take over Lilly's head, scaring her more with each one.

'Why are they here? Weren't they in jail? Are they going to find me? Are they going to hurt me? Are they going to try to take me back? Are they going to beat me and abuse me and scare me?'

Lilly's breath starts to accelerate, her fingers tightening their grip on Cat.

"Lilly!" Cat calls out. It was clearly not the first or second time she tried to get Lilly's attention. Lilly looks at Cat with wide eyes, starting a panic attack that they both knew would be bad. Cat pulls Lilly into her chest, wrapping her in a hug. Lilly starts crying into Cat's shoulder. The boys only had three songs after Lilly's song, so they would be off soon, but not soon enough.

"Lilly, you're ok." Cat tries to calm her down.

"Wh-what if they find me a-and h-hurt me!" Lilly cries.

"They won't Lil, I promise. We will keep you safe."

"I w-want J-Jack and R-Ryan!"

"They'll be off in just a minute Lil, ok?" The boys were on their last song as Lilly's panic attack only gets worse. The boys do their bows and run off stage. Upon seeing Cat and Lilly, they quickly take off their in-ears and rush over to help.

"What's wrong?"

"What happened?" They ask frantically.

"Lilly's parents are in the audience and she's scared they're gonna find her and hurt her." Cat explains.

"How are they here??" Jack asks. Cat just shrugs.

"Hey Lil, you're ok, you're safe with us, ok?" Ryan explains. Lilly turns quickly to Ryan, hiding in his shoulder. The rest of them circle around her, Jack and Cat resting a hand on her shoulders, Ryan slowly rubbing her back. Dane comes running over to them frantically, saying,

"Someone is trying to get on the stage, we need you guys to head back to the dressing room ASAP." As Lilly hears this, she gets worse and starts freaking out more, only thinking about who is trying to get on the stage. Ryan picks Lilly up, them all speed-walking back to the dressing room. As they get back, they leave the lights off, closing the door behind them.

"I-I'm scared!" Lilly cries.

"It's ok Lil, we've got you. You're safe." Jack speaks calmly.

"What if we go into the change room thing over there and close that door, would that help?" Cat suggests.

"Great idea." Ryan responds. They all walk into the change room, plenty big enough for all five of them, with some room to spare. Adam closes the door, Ryan sitting with Lilly in the back corner.

"Look Lil, we're safe. We're not going anywhere. We've got ya." Ryan says.

"I w-want Jack." Lilly mumbles out. Everyone is surprised by Lilly's decision.

"Come here Lil!" Jack smiles, opening his arms for his sister. Ryan helps Lilly move over to Jack.

"I guess all our work wasn't lost." Adam mentions, only loud enough for everyone but Lilly to hear. They hear the door to the dressing room open, and Lilly tenses up. The footsteps of the person gets closer to the room they were hiding in, and then they hear a pitter of a knock on the door. Lilly gets more nervous and scared.

"Guys? You in there?" It's Rob. Adam opens the door, Rob kneeling down to talk to Adam, not letting anyone else hear it. The rest of them see Adam nodding along, and it seems like everything is ok. Other then the fact Lilly is having the worst panic attack she's ever had. Lilly reaches her hand to Ryan, him grabbing it and slowly rubbing gentle circles around the back of her hand with his thumb. Lilly's grip on Ryan's hand was incredibly tense, as was her grip around Jack. Rob leaves, and Adam keeps the door open, then explains what Rob told him.

"So, Lilly was right, her parents were here. They were also the ones trying to get on stage. One of the security guards happens to work for the jail, and noticed who they were and knew that they escaped. Rob just told me that they were both arrested and have been taken away." Everyone breaths a sigh of relief upon hearing they were gone.

"There Lil, they're gone. You're safe." Ryan says, rubbing Lilly's shoulder.

"Do you want to head to the bus now Lil?" Jack asks. Lilly shakes her head as she's still mid-panic attack.

"I think she still needs to calm down." Cat mentions.

"Ok. Lil, do you feel safe on Jack? Or do you want to go to someone else?" Ryan asks. Jack feels Lilly nuzzle into him, so Jack nods, letting the rest of them know her decision.

"Ok. Do you remember your breathing tricks Lil?" Lilly shakes her head.

"Want me to remind you Lil?" Cat asks. Lilly nods. "Alright. Close your eyes and pretend you have a dandelion. Smell it for 5 seconds, then blow it away for 5 seconds."

"It's not working I-I can't!" Lilly cries.

"It's ok Lil!" Ryan says, rubbing Lilly's shoulder. "You're ok. You are safe, and we're all right here, ok?

"Let's try breathing again." Adam recommends.

"Can we all do it with you?" Jack suggests. The rest of them nod, then start breathing slowly, hoping Lilly follows. After a moment, Lilly starts to follow along, and before long she calms down.

"Good job Lil!" Ryan applauds.

"Want to head to the bus now?" Adam asks. Lilly nods. They all stand up, Lilly slower then everyone else, and Lilly reaches up to Ryan. Ryan picks her up and they walk to the bus. Almost everyone on the bus went straight to their bunks, them all falling asleep shortly after.