Can life get worse? (Leo Valdez )

it's hard to breathe

TW: Panic attack

At the ball, Leo was thirdwheeling. He didn't really know what to do except being there, so he decided to leave the couple alone and go to get some water. Leo was good with social interactions, but that didn't mean he share his emotions. He joked around to hide his pain. That didn't help that much, as no one even listened to him. After his interactions with others, he normally would pass out in his bed, for hours, since he got exhausted from talking to people. It was tiredsome keeping up a facade.

Everyone that he told about his mental state, pitied him, telling him it would get better. When in reality, It wouldn't. And he knew it. They would say it would get better, pretending they knew how it was, when they had no idea how it was to feel like a day is a chore. How you're so exhausted you can't even stand in the shower.

That was the reason he didn't feel like he had someone to talk to. Because no one listened to him. Sometimes he felt like he was neglected.
You don't know someone's pain 'till you feel it yourself, his mother had said. He didn't know what she meant at that time, but now he knew.

He never had someone to look up to ever since his mother died. Since Ensperanza Valdez passed away.
He remembered how his Tia Rosa blamed him, saying he'd killed his own mother.

Leo felt his breath shorten, his heart beating faster and faster. He tried to breathe. It was nearly impossible. Flashes of Theresa made their way to his mind. Her psychotic smile as she struck him with the belt. He sprinted toward his dorm, and locked himself inside. It got harder and harder to breathe every second. Leo knew what it was. Leo Valdez was once again experiencing a panic attack.