Red ~ WayHaught

Prologue

~Nicole POV~

"Calm down, baby." I rush over to help my girlfriend before she drops the majority of my clothes. "We've got plenty of time. You don't have to grab everything at once."

I take a box from her and place it in the back of her Jeep. She's been like this all morning; packing up last minute stuff, trying to carry way to much at one time, running frantically around the homestead looking for shit that she honestly hasn't seen in years. I've never seen her so nervous and it's starting to give me a panic attack. No, not starting to. I am actually, in this exact moment, having an anxiety attack.

"You okay, Nicole?" Waverly puts a hand on my shoulder which I immediately slap away. I can't have anyone touching me when I get like this. "Hey, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you panic. Just breathe, go to your happy place."

I try to, but now I'm just overwhelmed. I start to think about my safe place, that day in the car with Waverly, when we skipped the second day of school, but the memory starts to collapse. I can't hold onto it right now. My head is spinning and I can feel my hands starting to go numb. The triangle of pain forms just above my left eye and I'm fighting. With everything I have, I am fighting this.

"Nicole," Waverly steps closer to me, not to close, but enough so she can catch me if I collapse. This has become an almost everyday routine for us. "Don't try to fight it, just try to sit down."

I sit down on the sidewalk like she told me, but I'm still fighting. I can't just stop fighting. This is my body, my mind, I need to get control of it. But I know she's right. Deep down, I know that fighting the panic just intensifies it. And yet, I try it anyways.

"It's okay, sweetie. I've got you." She holds out her arms to ask if it's okay to hold me. I nod, needing the comfort, and she pulls me into her lap. "If you need to have a seizure, just do it. Don't try to fight it off, it'll just make you tired. Just let your mind go for a second."

She pulls out her phone and calls Wynonna. I hear her asking her sister to bring my Lorazepam outside and as soon as she puts her phone down, I let go.

It feels the same as always. I can feel my body shaking violently. I feel Waverly's arms as she rolls me over onto my side and keeps my head as steady as possible. I feel my legs beating again the sidewalk. I can hear Wynonna rushing out to my side to help Waverly hold me. I can hear the sounds that Waverly's clothes make when my head rubs on the fabric. I can taste the blood in my mouth as I involuntary chew on my cheeks. And I can feel it when everything calms down after what must have been only 15 seconds.

My heart is racing and I'm tired. I can hear the Earp sisters encouraging me to wake up, but as always, I can't respond. It takes somewhere between two and three minutes before my eyes flutter open and I'm met with the blinding light of the 12 o'clock sun. Waverly pulls my cap back over my head to block out some of the light and I slowly sit back up.

"How," I swallow hard to try and clear some of the dryness in my throat. "How-how long?"

"Five minutes." Wynonna hands me a pill and some water. I take the pill and roll my eyes at myself. I'm supposed to start driving to college with my girlfriend in three hours.

I can't fucking do this.

~~~~

Hey!! Not the first chapter yet, Sorry! I'm still planning on Halloween for chapter one, so it'll be here soon!!
Enjoy this prologue for now!!

I love you, Cheetahs!!

~ Jordan