TW: Potentially upsetting content
Veronica's POV:
Tia's curled up in a ball with a blanket draped over her. She's laying in my lap. I get a text from Ellie. That's odd. Ellie hasn't texted me recently. I decide to check the text and see what Ellie wants. I enter my passcode.
"Hey, where are you? Didn't we have plans for today? You were supposed to go to the movies with me and Lawrence," the text reads. I was supposed to go with them. I look at the sleeping Tia, who is squeezing my leg. She looks so peaceful right now.
I text Ellie back everything that happened. I put my phone down and run my hand through Tia's hair. I hear her whimper, she must be having a bad dream. She suddenly bolts up and clings onto me like a scared koala. She looks horrified. I tilt my head, but before she can speak, the doorbell rings.
Tia keeps her arms wrapped tightly around me. I stand and she wraps her legs around my waist, laying her head on my shoulder. I sigh quietly. She's being awfully cuddly today. I guess I don't really mind. It's honestly kind of endearing.
I open up the door and see a worried Ellie and confused Lawrence staring at me. Tia welcomes them in after getting off of me. Lawrence looks so confused and Ellie asks to talk to Tia in private. Tia agrees and I'm left with Lawrence. I look at them.
"V, what is going on? Is everything alright with Tia?" Lawrence asked with their head tilted. I sigh and rub my arm. I don't know how to answer. It's hard because Tia won't tell me what's wrong. I want to know what's wrong so I can help her. Before I can speak, Ellie runs downstairs.
"Guys, I need help! Tia's having a panic attack and I can't calm her down. She's asking for you, Veronica." Ellie rambles, her breathing is quick and heavy. I run up the stairs and hear muffled cries from Tia's room. I open the door slowly and quietly.
"Ronnie-" Tia's cut off by a gut wrenching sob. She reaches for me and I rush to her side, I hear Lawrence gasp and Ellie starts to cry as well, but I'm too focused on calming Tia down. I hold her and look for one of her comfort items.
Finally I find it. Ziggy. Her beloved stuffed zebra. I grab it and place it in Tia's hand. She opens her teary eyes and tilts her head, hugging it gently. I need to get her calm. She chokes on her breath and tries to calm herself down. I hug her.
"Shhh, it's okay, you're safe." I tell her. She shakes her head. I don't know what happened to her and I want to know what happened and why she's deteriorated so much. I don't know what could've caused her mental health to decline so much like this. I sigh quietly.
"Ronnie?" Tia mutters. She looks scared that I'd disappear if she let go. I assure her that she's safe and that I'm not going to leave. She lays her head against my chest. I rub her back and sigh quietly. She suddenly starts spewing out apologies and starts crying all over again.
"Hey, hey, it's okay, why are you apologizing?" I immediately try to comfort her. She simply says "I'm sorry for being such a burden." And I'm left completely shocked. She thought she was a burden? I feel my heart snap in two. My own eyes start to water.
"You are not a burden, Ti Ti." I say as I hug her as tight as I possibly can. Lawrence and Ellie are probably so confused. I don't care. They can be confused. Tia is my main priority right now. She's clinging tightly onto me and I'm clinging even tighter to her.
"Promise?" She finally looks up at me. I hold her on my lap and lock my pinkie finger with hers. "Pinky promise." And that seems to calm her down a little. She looks exhausted. I know when she has a panic attack, she gets extremely tired after it.
"Go to sleep," I tell her as gently as I can. She hugs Ziggy close to her chest and gets off my lap and lays her head on her pillow. I rub her back until I hear her start snoring. I get up and go over to Lawrence and Ellie.
"Anyways, what were we talking about again?" I breathe, rubbing my own eyes to dry my own tears. Ellie and Lawrence exchange glances, as if to say "who's gonna tell her?" without actually asking. Lawrence sighs dramatically and looks up at me, and after a few minutes, they start speaking.
"What happened to Tia?" Lawrence asked. I lead them downstairs so we can talk without waking up Tia. Then I turn to them. I'm not sure where to start, there's a lot that's happened, but I'm not exactly sure of the whole story and why Tia's mental health has deteriorated.
"Well, I've stayed with her the past couple of days. She texted me and told me to come over, saying that she needed me. I saw her panic and we both ended up crying and just holding each other for a while and I just haven't left." I quickly ramble.
"Okay, but why did she ask you to come over without telling you what's wrong?" Ellie asked with her head cocked. I shrug my shoulders. I'm just as confused as they are if I'm totally honest. I want to know why too. But I don't, I guess that it's ok.
We all end up talking to each other but I honestly can't pay attention to them cause I'm already pondering what's gonna happen to Tia when I eventually have to go back to my own home. I sigh. I don't wanna think about that right now.
I'm not leaving her.
YOU ARE READING
Underneath The Smile
Fanfiction"I'm just falling apart. I don't like this.." "It'll be okay. You'll be okay," "You don't sound very convinced," "I am. You're going to be okay. But you need to stop hiding underneath the smile,"
