ocd || knj

chapter eighteen: nezza pov

"Bro, where..." I mutter, turning the corner back further into the airport. How do you lose a fully grown adult woman in a barely occupied airport at six am on a Tuesday morning. I look around, before finally seeing a small form on the floor behind a wall. I let myself take a breath before walking over quickly, "Hey, hey, hey, Dani? Dani, what is it?" She has her knees pulled up to her chest and her hands over her ears, a few fingers pulling some of her hair out of her messy bun,

"I can't- No, don't touch me," She shakes her head as I move my hand to rub her arm but I keep doing it, trying to get her to look at me,

"Daniella, Daniella, what is it?" She shakes her head, before looking up at me. I feel my heart drop in my chest as I see her teary eyes, and the pure fear in them,

"Someone saw me, I know it, they were staring at me, Nezza, and- and I just, I can't and then I turned and I just reacted, and I thought they would follow and I can't, I need to go back," She cries, her voice speeding up as she keeps going, "I need to not be in LA, they're gonna hurt me Nezza, what if that girl was like the one is my dream... I-I c-can't handle this, this fear oh my god," I watch her spiral right in front of me, seeing her shake visibly as she does. I shake my head, speaking as softly as I can with my heart still beating like crazy,

"I know you're scared Dani, but nothing is going to happen, okay? No one is trying to hurt you," I try to get her to look me in the eye, but she shakes her head vehemently and I bite my lip.

"Hey, hey, hey, Nezza?" I sigh in relief as I realize the voice calling from behind me is just Brian, not a fan. He runs up next to me, glancing at Dani before turning his head to look at me, confused, as he crouches down, "What happened? JC asked me to go wait with you guys while they waited, and then you weren't there and I just didn't- What happened?" Dani's eyes shoot up at the last question, distracting me from answering. I watch something shift, her shoulders lowering themselves at the same time as she moves one of her hands, grabbing her sleeve in her hand, to wipe the tears from her face, eyes, and neck, and even though I can still see a certain tensity in her body and her eyes, she looks up at Brian calmly,

"I just overreacted, got a little anxious," She visibly forces a smile onto her face and stands, "Nothing to worry about... I, um, I think I'm going to go use the bathroom before we drive for a bit, y'know," She shakes her head minimally, stepping around and then behind me to walk away. I just stare at the spot in front of me where she was sitting, trying to process,

"What just..." I look at Brian, who is looking just as alarmed as I am confused before he sits, holding either side of his head, "Brian? Are you okay?" He laughs a bit at my concern as I touch his shoulder, speaking as he looks at me,

"What happened just then, like, why was she on the floor?" I blink, shaking my head,

"Umm, she- she said she thought a girl she saw... was going to kill her. That she shouldn't have come here, and wants to go back. She said she couldn't handle being afraid like this. What does that mean Brian, why is this so bad?" He shakes his head,

"Because she's off medication she needs Nezza, because she's sick," He stands up, holding out his hand. I take it and he looks me in the eye, clearly seeing how shaken up I am. Dani is my friend, even if shes a bit younger. This is so... different than how I remember her. "So we're gonna help her, right?" I don't hesitate, nodding, and so does he, "Come on, we gotta find JC," I follow him, his hand pulling mine back through the airport a little bit away from where I was originally left with Dani. I see Crawford and JC standing there, her bag with them, looking at us confused,

"Yo, where is my sister? Nezza, I leave for two se-"

"Ey, ey, let her speak, JC," Crawford hods his hand out, before looking at me seriously,

"Nezza, baby, where the hell is Dani?" I hear the humor in his voice but I know he's just as worried as JC looks,

"She um," I look at Brian who clenches his teeth and breathes through them, scratching behind his neck, "She had a minor issue when someone looked at her," I mumble, not really knowing how to explain it. JC closes his eyes, turning around to take a deep breath. Crawford clears his throat, clicking his tongue,

"Um, what does that mean, exactly? Concerning specifically her coming back... here?" I open my mouth to answer, nervous as JC turns back towards me but the voice that comes from behind me softens his face and helps the tension in my body,

"I'm here," Sher walks up beside me, hugging herself, "Are, um, are we going now, or..." She glances around, noticeably shuffling closer to JC as Brian, Crawford, and I all make eye contact with eachother. JC looks her over, nervously looking at her darting eyes,

"Are you okay, Dani?" She swallows, glancing over his shoulder before letting her gaze rest on just JC for just a few seconds,

"Yeah, um, yeah, yeah, yeah, I'm good. I just, um, this is a lot of people, I guess, and I just don't..." She shakes her head, forcing a goofy smile onto her face. JC nods slowly, clearly nervous still, but he doesn't say anything else about it, nodding,

"Okay, yeah, we're leaving," He checks his phone, "I don't... know if... Nope, I'm wrong, he's here," I feel Crawford slip his arm around my waist as Brian walks forward, him and JC leading Dani out and carrying the bags,

"Are you okay?" He whispers in my ear, putting emphasis on 'you'. I shrug, nodding,

"I think..." I hesitate, "I just was scared for a minute. When I saw her on the ground, she looked like a wounded animal. But she seems okay," I shrug again, "I think I just need some sleep," He nods, laughing a bit as my head lays sideways on his shoulder,

"I think we're all at the point where we coul-" He's cut off as we leave the airport doors, hearing JC as he leans into a car parked at the curb, turning away from the driver and looking towards me and Crawf. He bites his lip before smiling at a nervous looking Dani, shaking his head, probably telling her everything is fine and to get in the car judging by how she quickly follows Brian in. He walks the few steps to us, messing with his hair,

"What's up man, what's-" He interrupts Crawford,

"Oscar his pissed and Kian is at the house, he just got there, and everyone is stressed. Everything is just..." We let him breathe before he continues, "Will is driving because he just told me that Oscar flew off the handle and locked himself in his room, Ryan and Chelsea and Franny have all been texting me about Kian, because he's pissed, and I can't say anything because I've lied by omission to him and technically actually lied to Dani," As he rants I lean further into Crawford, studying his face as I see JC's exhaustion peak through the stress. Once he finishes I stand up straight to look at him and place a hand on his shoulder,

"JC, you've been up for hours, running on pure adrenaline, in two time zones, and you need to take a breath okay?" He looks at me for a second blankly before sighing with a nod, but before he can respond Crawford speaks up,

"Yeah man, come on. You got her here, y'know? We're all impressed okay," He wraps his arm behind my back before stepping forward to put his other arm around JC's shoulder and lead us forward, "You said it best, we gotta take this day by day, and honestly right now, hour by hour or minute by minute isn't sounding too bad either," JC nods and as we get up to the car, Crawford sighs, saying firmly, "We will all get back, get Dani somewhere with whoever wants to say hi, and you and I can talk to Kian together alright? We'll get this sorted out, together," He smirks now, "And then we can all go to sleep, sound sweet?" JC looks between the both of us, and I cock my head, smiling softly at the older man that looks so lost all of a sudden even as he nods again, walking around the other side to sit in the passenger seat next to Will.

"Well this long day doesn't seem like it's gonna end for a while more, does it?" I say, phrasing it like a question even though it isn't as Crawford laughs and kisses my forehead, not answering except opening the side door and pushing me into the car towards the far backseat where we're sitting again.

-

i hope this longer one is better!

let me know what you think!

dani might start to unravel a bit, it'll be okay though eventually :)