AJR-Panic Attacks

Winter- 7 Part 2 (Bullies)

"Ok, Winter, I've gotcha." I state, making sure he knows I'm here for him. He continues crying hysterically, burying his face in my shirt. He fully tenses up around me, his anxiety level goes up an insane amount, probably more than this morning. I rub his back slowly, trying to make him feel as safe as possible.

"Winter, bud, I promise they won't hurt you." I attempt to settle him, but it didn't work.

"Hey Ry, can you come here?" I hear Cat from the doorway of the apartment. I try to decide what to do. If I leave, Winter's gonna get worse. If I stay, I'm not helping Cat. I'm not even 100% sure who is at the door, so I decide to go out. I stand up holding Winter, him freaking out a bit more, as he probably knows what I'm doing. I meet with Cat and set Winter down, kneeling down with him as I know he won't move from my shoulder. It's not like I could move anyway, his grasp is way too tight. I look up at the door, and see three kids and what I assume to be their mother. The mother has a very stern face, you wouldn't want to mess with her. The kids look defeated though.

"Hello," the mother starts. "I'm so sorry to bother you, but I was informed by the school that my children beat up yours, and we've come to apologize." Winters grip around me somehow tightened, he's clearly freaking out. I turn to whisper,

"It's ok Winter, I've got ya."

"So, Larry, Jerry and Barry have been expelled from school and will not be coming back, and we want you to know that they are so very sorry for what they did."

"I'm sorry Winter. We didn't mean to hurt you." The tallest of the kids says. Winter isn't calming down one bit. I turn to him again to whisper,

"Winter, do you remember what I told you? Home is safe. I won't let them do anything to you, I promise."

"Yeah Winter. I'm sorry." The middle kid says.

"I'm sorry Winter." The shortest one mumbles.

"Very good then boys. I better get you back and start packing you up for boarding school." The mother announces. The kids look mortified. They messed up bad, and they were going to pay. "I'm so sorry again, I wish you all the best. Come along now boys." They leave down the hall as Cat closes the door behind them. I move to sit cross legged and pull Winter into my lap. I hug him tight, whispering,

"They're all gone bud. I've gotcha. I'm right here." Cat comes over and sits beside us, giving Winter his baby blanket that he left near the door before the park. His grasp on one hand lets go of my shirt to grab his blanket and he holds it tight.

"Baby, mommy and daddy are right here. You are safe." Cat adds on, trying to help him in any way. Since it worked so well earlier, I start singing his song again. I'll do anything to get him to settle down. As I sing, Shay realizes what is going on and jumps down from the couch to help us. She paws at Winters back, wanting him to turn around so she could give him kisses. I try to adjust him, but he isn't having it. He clings on to me, as if he just needed to be near me to feel safe. By the first chorus of the song, Winter just starts to calm down. Cat's rubbing his back like earlier, adding in that extra comfort. By the end of the song, Winter finally relaxed a bit from his almost 20-minute anxiety attack. He allowed me to adjust him so that Shay can start licking his face. He holds onto his blanket tight as he rearranged it to be by his face, against my now tear-soaked shirt. I didn't care. Winter calms down as he cuddles with both me and Shay, gaining his breathing back with every passing moment.

"See bud? You are safe. Nothing bad happened." I remind him.

"I'm sorry they're so scary." Both Cat and I's hearts break.

"Do not be sorry for that bud." I start. "They were absolutely awful to you. That is not ok. They're allowed to be scary. You're allowed to be scared of them. However, they're all gone. You never have to see them again. They won't hurt you ever again."

"O-ok.." Winter sniffles.

"You're allowed to be scared of them as long as you want. But it's not gonna help you." I say. "You have a very valid reason to be scared of them, and you know that. But now that they're gone, and you never have to see them, it's not gonna help you to be scared of everything else, ok?" He nods, taking in all that I'm saying.

"Thanks dad." He mumbles.

"Awww, of course bud!" I squeeze him in a hug. "I love you Winter."

"I love you too."

"I love you too!" Cat adds. Winter smiles.

"And I love you too Shay!" He giggles, petting her head.
Another knock is heard at the door, Cat standing up to open it. It's Jack and Alba, here to pick up Shay.

"Hey guys! How's it going?" Jack asks.

"Better now." I say, still sitting on the floor with Winter on my lap.

"Something tells me that something happened?" Jack questions, trying to be as vague as possible if I don't want to answer.

"Yeah. Tell 'em Winter!" I nudge.

"Tell them what?" Winter questions. I whisper the answer in his ear.

"Oh yeah! The bullies are going to boarding school!" He smiles.

"What! That's cool! That means you don't have to see them again, huh?" Jack smirks. Winter nods.

"How was Shay?" Alba asks.

"Great! She's the best." Winter grins.

"Helped calm him down again too." I mumble to Jack.

"That's awesome. Are you ready for her to go back home?" Jack asks.

"Not yet." Winter says.

"Well, do you guys wanna stay to play a game or something in the meantime?" Cat suggests. We all agree. We stand up and head into the living room, Cat pulling out Apples to Apples. Winter hasn't let go of his blanket, but that was ok. Shay sat beside him on the floor as we played through a few rounds, Jack crushing all of us. Jack and Alba eventually leave with Shay, Winter coming over to me on the couch to give me some less stressful cuddles. Cat ends up piling on top of us, and I think we all fell asleep, as one little happy family.

A/N- is that a better ending then yesterday's? Shoutout to
@twoocat and @heycamila18 for the funny comments on yesterday's cliffhanger. Y'all are great.