Chapter Thirteen #2
Lee Holmes was no stranger to panic attacks.
It was the loss of control that scared her most, as if her body had betrayed her by taking away all of her autonomy and replacing it with fear.
And yet her girlfriend had a way of extinguishing the terror inside of her, reigniting it with pleasing colorful sparks.
Watching her help Sienna ignited something deep within Lee's inner-core.
It couldn't wash away everything that had happened between them, but it quelled the desire to do so, at least for now.
Placing a hand back on Sienna's arm now, Lee watched a once fiercely animated girl steady her breathing in gradual increments, until being met by a steady rhythm.
After a few minutes she exhaled with force, as if expelling the fear.
“Thank you,” she offered, looking at Morgan first. “All of you,” she continued, looking around at the rest of the group.
Kat squeezed her shoulder supportively whilst sporting a rather concerned look upon her face at the same time, her eyebrows furrowed, and her lips pursed. “Would you like to talk about it? Only if you're comfortable, of course.”
Sienna sighed theatrically, half smiling in Kat’s direction as she shrugged, despite it not meeting her eyes.
“I don't know. It's difficult to talk about.
I'm relatively certain by now that I don't even need to say what the issue consists of out loud for you all to know what, or who,” she emphasized, “it concerns.”
For the first time within the conversation outside, Natalie made her presence known with a groan followed by a “fucking Dylan.”
If looks could kill, Morgan would have likely killed Natalie with hers. Fortunately for Natalie, they could not, and so, instead, Morgan interjected. “Whether this concerns your boyfriend or not, it's up to you as to whether you would like to get it off your chest.”
Feeling much like a spare part, Lee chimed in simultaneously. “If it does concern Dylan, you are more than welcome to stay with Morgan and I until you both figure it out. Our couch is all yours.”
“Or Natalie’s or Kat's. Their space is bigger so you might feel more comfortable. That's all,” Morgan commented, seconds after Lee had finished speaking.
Lee Holmes was rather taken aback by the comment. After calming Sienna down, her deferral to both Kat and Natalie seemed mismatched alongside her previous actions. She decided, however, to shelve the thought for now and focus on her friend instead.
“He hit me,” Sienna blurted, the entire group becoming laser focused on Sienna now. “Has been hitting me,” she continued. “I've been trying to calm him down over these last few weeks and for a couple of days I thought it might be working. Turns out…” she huffed. “I was being naive.”
Kat's eyes turned to glass as she pulled Sienna in for a hug.
She held onto her tight, gripping her with her thin tatted arms. “It's going to be okay,” she whispered, raising one arm now to stroke the back of her long black hair.
“Thank you for telling us. Now that we know, we know how to help you better.”
Lee Holmes could see her girlfriend, Morgan, grinding her teeth as she clenched her jaw, her gaze darkening underneath the fluorescent lights outside Physik.
Now, however, was not the time to focus on Morgan, but rather, her close friend, Sienna, who had just revealed a truth darker than all of Morgan’s gazes put together.
“Oh sweetheart,” Lee said, placing a hand on Sienna’s back when she retracted her body from Kat’s.
“You are the farthest thing from naive. You put your trust in someone who betrayed it. And despite him being undeserving of your love, you gave it to him anyway. Trying to see the good in people doesn’t make you naive. ”
Natalie chimed in again, this time offering a far more sensible comment than her previous one. “I know now might not be the right time, but I just want to ensure your safety. Does he know where you are right now? Is he waiting for you at home?”
Sienna offered another half-smile directed towards the group, one which didn’t quite meet her tear-filled eyes, just like before.
“He knows I’m out clubbing but he doesn’t know specifically where, despite him asking me a dozen times.
He’s waiting for me at the house now. He texted me just before I went outside a moment ago telling me to come home immediately.
He assumes I’m cheating on him with somebody else simply because I wouldn’t tell him the name of the fucking nightclub. ”
Kat nodded, hooked on every word, taking it all in as she assessed the situation.
Whilst they were no longer hugging, she remained clutched onto one of Sienna’s arms. “How would you feel about coming to stay with me tonight? My sister is about your size; we can borrow some clothes from her room. She’s backpacking in Europe with her boyfriend at the moment.
She wouldn’t mind. You could sleep in her bed whilst she’s away. ”
For the first time since they had stepped outside, Sienna had stopped crying, and her smile felt genuine and unforced. “I think I’d like that.”
Before Sienna could change her mind, Lee booked a taxi on her phone.
“Shit,” she said seconds after requesting the ride.
“I forgot to change my default settings, so we’ve got a regular sized taxi coming.
Unless someone wants to climb into the trunk, we won’t all fit.
I’m so sorry, I wasn’t thinking,” she huffed, her frustration only escalating as she attempted to exit out of the app in order to cancel the ride.
“Morgan and I will call another taxi. Let’s just focus on getting you somewhere safe first, Sienna. ”
Morgan interjected by holding up her hand and shaking her head.
“There’s no need to cancel it,” she said.
In doing so, Lee, in turn, placed her phone at her side now in defeat.
“Go with Sienna, Lee. Get her settled in at Kat’s.
I can call my own ride home.” She retrieved her phone from her pocket and held it up theatrically, just as she had done with her hand seconds before.
“Are you sure?” Lee said, taking a step back from Sienna for just a moment in order to place a hand on Morgan’s arm instead. “It would be nice to spend a little extra time with Sienna, if you wouldn’t mind.”
Morgan Finch placed a kiss on Lee’s cheek and waved her off before either of them had even moved as the taxi pulled into the parking lot, the sound of the radio blasting over the muffled music from inside the club.
“Positive. I can get home by myself. Now get in your taxi. We wouldn’t want you to get a one-star rating, would we? ” she smirked.
Doing as instructed, the group, minus Morgan, stepped into the vehicle with Natalie in the front, the remaining three getting into the back.
As they drove away, Lee Holmes watched her girlfriend’s figure get smaller and smaller as Morgan blew a final kiss towards her before she was out of sight entirely.