The Ghost Town

Chapter Seven

TW: Panic attack, mentions of addiction, potentially upsetting content.
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When Veronica awoke the next morning, she could tell something was wrong. Dreadfully wrong. She knew something was going on but she couldn't tell what it was. She just hoped that everyone was safe, whatever what was going on. She sighed quietly.

She had grown close with Tia. The younger and taller of the two had also seemingly grown attached to Veronica. She wouldn't lie when she told you that it was a bit nice to have someone care about her. Veronica was usually the one caring about others, but Tia cared about her too.

She was close with Joe and Lozza. She almost always fought with Aurora. She wasn't sure about her relationship with Tayce and Bimini and Ellie. But she did not have a good relationship with Pip and it honestly shouldn't be that hard to see why. No one had a good relationship with Pip.

She could hear footsteps padding over to the door. It was at this time that she realized that Tia wasn't in her bed. Tia never got up before Veronica. Mainly because Veronica was always up at obscene hours of the morning every single day.

"V-Veronica?" A quiet voice whimpered. So quiet that Veronica thought she was imagining it. She looked out the window. It was bright out. She must've overslept. That's a lie. She never gets to sleep. She's always awake thinking about her housemates and wondering and hoping that they're all safe.

"What's up, Ti Ti?" Veronica muttered as she rose from her bed. She climbed out of her bunk and approached Tia. She bit her lip, Tia wasn't looking like she felt very well. She hoped that she was okay. She couldn't bear seeing Tia upset. She didn't like it.

"You okay? Is everything alright?" Veronica muttered quietly. She knew that everything wasn't alright. That much was obvious. But she wanted to make sure that Tia was okay, or to help if she was able to help in any way. She didn't want Tia to cry, she hated watching her cry.

Tia's face was red. Her eyes were even redder. They were bloodshot and glassy. Her hair was frizzy and she had tear streaks staining her face. She was clutching her stomach as if she hadn't eaten. Her lips were trembling and she was hiccuping with every breath. Veronica tilted her head.

Veronica asked what the problem was. The two stood in silence for a minute before Tia just held her arms out and began to sob uncontrollably. Veronica immediately started to worry. She didn't want Tia to be upset, it hurt her heart. She immediately went to comfort the taller girl.

"Hey, hey, what's the problem? Come here." Veronica spoke, pulling Tia into a tight hug. She wordlessly pulled Tia down onto her lap, allowing the younger girl to curl up into a ball and lay her head against Veronica's chest. Tia listened closely for the sound of her heartbeat.

"R-Ronnie..." Tia felt pathetic. She could only get out Veronica's nickname. She needed to say more. She needed to tell Veronica what was wrong but she couldn't do that if she couldn't talk. She wanted to talk. To make herself clear and to get things off her chest.

"I'm right here. You can tell me what's wrong." Veronica soothed. She needed to be calm. She wasn't going to scare Tia. She couldn't do that. Especially now that she was so close with the younger girl. Tia looked up, sniveling and hiccuping, and gazed into Veronica's icy blue eyes.

"Ronnie..." Tia just repeated Veronica's nickname. Her words were all jumbled up in her throat and she couldn't get them unstuck. She didn't like that. She needed to talk about what happened. She needed to tell Veronica what was bugging her so much. Veronica sighed a barely audible sigh.

She knew that it wasn't easy for Tia to talk about things that upset her. It was just her nature. She didn't want to be a burden. She didn't want to bug other people with her problems. So she naturally just bottled it all up until she couldn't anymore.