She's My Angel

Chapter Nineteen

"So are you and Kirsten okay now?" Luke asked.

"I mean I know she stayed over the other night bu-"

"We're fine," I smiled. We've been doing great. It's been a couple of weeks since everything with Alex went down. I didn't have to be to the studio until ten this morning, so I thought I'd take the boys out for breakfast. It's been a while since it has been just the three of us. We went to Happy Days, of course, and we sat down, and the boys told the waitress that they'd be going over to the breakfast buffet, while I just had an omelet and some toast.

Luke has been rehearsing for his role in the play every day, all day long. It was nice to have him singing around the house again. I missed it. He's in glee club, but he never lets me hear the sets before a competition. In primary school, he'd continuously be singing and dancing throughout the house. It was nice to have that back.

"Are you looking forward to college next year?" I asked Luke as he began piling food into his mouth and nodded.

"I think I'm looking forward to meeting some new people ya know," he explained.

"I get it, that was my favorite part of college to," I laughed, and my breath hitched. Alex just walked in, looked directly at me, and started walking over to us.

"Luke, take Ozzy, now," I ordered him, and he turned around and nodded at me. He picked up his nephew and whizzed past Alex and right out to my truck.

"Well, it's good to know you're not avoiding me," Alex laughed.

"What do you want?" I snapped at her. I could feel my nerves building up. This was the first time that we've spoken one on one in a little over three years.

"I want my family back," she sighed.

"You lost any chance of that happening every single time you ignored my thousands of calls and texts," I snarked.

"I was an idiot, I get that," she admitted.

"Talk about the understatement of the century," I sneered.

"He looks just like you," she smiled.

"Thank god for that." I don't have super bad anxiety, but I definitely felt the brunt of it right now. After both Alex and my mother abandoned me, I thought it was all my fault, which undoubtedly damaged my overall self-confidence.

I paid for the food and rushed out of the restaurant. I could feel my chest getting tighter and tighter. I tried to walk again, but I suddenly felt dizzy and stumbled back a step, my hands coming up to rub my temples.

"Hey Daniel, what's going on? Are you okay?" He asked, already knowing the answer. In a matter of seconds, he was with me, holding on to my face, trying to get me to look at him. He was one of the only people that could calm me down when I was like this.

"I...I..." I stuttered, trying to force the words out of my mouth.

"It's okay..." Luke scanned around and then smiled.

"Come on." He led me over to the truck.

"Now, take deep breaths, copy me." I tried to do what he told me and felt myself starting to calm down.

"Good," he whispered with a small smile, taking both of my hands in his, occasionally rubbing his thumb over my knuckles' length. I hated it when he had to take care of me like this. It was my job to take care of him, not the other way around.

"Lu, you didn't have to-"

"Yes, I did," he interrupted with a straight face before a colossal grin overwashed his face.

"You're my big brother, stupid!" He laughed, squeezing my hand.

"Just tell me when you're ready." I nodded. Every time I'd have an anxiety attack like this when I was younger, I'd go for a run. I gave Luke the keys to the truck, grabbed my bag, gave Ozzy a kiss, and decided that I'd run the rest of the way to the studio. This was one of the last rehearsals before prelims started next week. As soon as I got there, Kirsten wrapped me up in a hug. Luke texted her and told her about what happened earlier. I really love my little brother. The crews were performing for each other in order of youngest to oldest. Bubblegum and Sorority went first, and then it was time for Varsity.

"You guys ready," I smiled at them.

"Hell yeah," Sean shouted, and everyone laughed. Sean and his twin sister Lexa were like my little prodigies. These two were insanely talented. All the kids are, don't get me wrong, but these two have something special.

"Let's show em what you got," I smirked, and they all got into formation. Honestly, these kids were killing it, the routine was seven minutes long, and they didn't look tired at all by the end. Everyone was cheering, and Parris applauded me.

"That was amazing, guys and props to you, Danny, that was one of the best routines that RFV has ever had," Parris smiled and gave me a pat on the back.

"Thank you," I laughed. We finished off the day's rehearsal with The Royal Family, and everything went smoothly from thereon.