Darkness in the Neon Lights (H2OVanoss)

Chapter 26

Don't cry! Don't cry! Don't cry! Don't cry! Don't cry!

"Evan!"

Don't cry! Don't cry! Don't cry! Don't cry!

"Evan! Please calm down! Listen to me! Please!"

Don't cry! Don't cry! Don't cry!

"Stop shaking him! You're not helping him!"

Don't cry! Don't cry!

"Evan, you need to listen to me. I need you to take deep breaths."

Don't cry!

"Evan, come on! Listen to me! I need you to listen to me. Breathe in... and out... Breathe in...  and out..."

... I start listening to the voice, however, it sounds muttered under the sound of my heart pounding in my chest and, seemly into my head. Slowly, I take a deep breath in and out. The more I do it, the more relaxed I feel. My lungs slowly feel like the pressure is no long weighing down my rib cage. My heart starts to slow down to a regular speed, and the pounding start to die down with it. After a minute, or maybe more, of deep breathing, I look up and see Ze kneeling down in front of me. His eyes are locked onto me, as if he is studying me like a textbook the day before finals.

That look he is giving me... It's so serious... The vibe he's giving off... It's so different...

Once I look up to him, he let's out a sigh of relief and pats my shoulder. "You scared us for a bit there. I didn't know you had panic attacks."

I shake my head as I push myself up, holding onto the bar for balance. "What happened?"

Ze stands up in front of me and has me walk over to a chair on the floor. He then makes me sit down before he calmly explains, "While we were closing up the club and kicking out the last of the customers, Panda rushed in, freaking out over something. Next thing we knew, Brock was freaking out in the back, screaming and breaking down into tears. When we looked over to you, you were on the floor, tears running down your face, shaking, you looked like you wanted to rip out your hair, and you were gasping for air. I've known a few people who have had panic attacks, so I knew that was what you were having."

Mini and Tyler walk over, and I can see a few tears still sliding down the sides of Mini's face. When he sees me, he rushes over and hugs me tightly. "Thank god you're okay."

"Do you have any idea what triggered his panic attack," Ze asks to both Mini and Tyler.

Tyler sighs and leans up against the table. "I definitely know what caused it. Though, it's up to Evan on if you should know about it too."

Mini pulls away and looks at me, also curious since I never told him about my past either. I take a deep breath and look down at my hands. I don't want to give away too much about my past now. I don't know how much Mike knows about what had happened to me before I ran away, meaning I don't know how much Ze knows.

"Before I left my family's home, I was abused by my parents. My mom was extremely neglectful and would sometimes not even know if I was home or not. And my dad... he would physically abuse me. Choke me out, beat me, and... sometimes he would either drag me to my room or chase me to it, and if I locked my door, he would pound on it so hard..." I pause and hold back my tears as I try to fight back certain memories of him doing this. His screaming, his words, the walls shaking.

"The walls would shake," I continue through, my voice starting to shake as tears build up again.

"That's enough, Evan," Ze quickly says.