Breathe.

Chapter 1

COLD....

Breathe.

It's cold...

Breathe.

I can't bare the pain!

Breathe.

Mommy! Please. Help me. I feel so cold!!

Breathe.

Please mommy! It's really cold....

Breathe.

Vixen sat up in her bed, panting hard, holding herself and rocking back and forth, she hears her mother's voice....

' breathe... Sweetheart just breathe'

Closing her eyes focusing on her breathing, trying to calm her heart rate, 'breathe just breathe' She repeats to herself. Inhaling deeply, she exhales for the last time, her breathing and heart rate becomes calm, 'that damn nightmare' she thought to herself bitterly. She rolls out bed and walks to her dresser, pulling open the top drawer, she takes out the two prescribed medication bottles and takes one pill each; she swallows them and stares blankly at her reflection.

Walking back to her bed she picks up her phone and checks the time "6:30 am, one hour till i have to go work.... Might as well get a head start, I'm awake anyway," she says to herself. She walks to her bathroom and turns on the shower, taking off her pyjamas she steps into the cold water, letting the water run down from the roots of her blue hair to the tips of her toes. Once finished, she stepped out of the shower and out of the bathroom, a towel wrapped tightly around her body and another towel she used to dry her hair. She pulled out a pair of black ripped jeans and a plain white long sleeved tshirt, after getting dressed, she blowdried her hair and tied it up in a messy ponytail; Vixen grabbed her grey bag and phone and walked to the front door of her apartment, She grabbed her house keys and her red leather jacket and walked out and locked her doors.

Exiting the building, she walked the three blocks that separates her apartment and her workplace. Vixen's phone rang, vibrating the bag it was kept in, she pulled it out and looked at the caller ID
' Nats😘 '

Vixen answered the call,
"Hey Natasha, what's up?"

N: "Hey vix! Where are you right now?"

V: "on my way to work, why? What's wrong?"

N: This early?! Damn you need something better to do..

V: shut up, i had another nightmare so i woke up early... Had nothing better to do so I'm heading to work.

N: Thats exactly what i mean! You need some entertainment in your life! So I'm here to help! There's a guy who is one of our regulars who wants to take you out on a date, he's going to ask you today! You should try to date again vix! Forget about your Ex now!

Vixen stops in her tracks, her heart rate increasing, her breathing becoming fast, she starts shaking, hearing her heartbeat in her ears; she can faintly hear Natasha calling her name through the phone call. Her legs give out and she drops to the ground, holding herself she tries to breathe, then hands are on her shoulders and arms, many pairs of arms, she shakes and hits them all away.
' they're cold hands! Leave me alone! Don't touch me!' she tried to say but her mouth wouldn't move, the hands kept coming over and over again, but then they disappeared, one pair of arms held her;

'they're warm' she thought, then she heard a gentle voice,

"breathe.... It's okay, you're okay now, no one is going to hurt you, listen to my voice and breathe okay?"

Her vision cleared and her breathing started to calm, she could hear clearer now, and she heard that gentle voice speak again

"there you go.... That's good, keep breathing,"

Once her breathing had settled and her heart rate brought back to normal, she looked at the boy who owned those warm arms. Her eyes grew wide and she jumped out of his hold, it was Zaiden Maxis, the towns most well known playboy, and he had just helped her through her anxiety attack. She took a few seconds to recollect herself and then spoke, "thank you for helping me Zaiden," he looked shocked that she knew his name, but her recovered from the shock,

'of course she knew who i was, i have never hated my title of 'well know playboy' more till now.' He sighed and smiled gently at her, "sure no problem.. Miss?"

"oh uh.. Vixen Hayes," vixen answered.

"vixen.... Cool name," zaiden complimented,

"Thanks," vixen said wearily,

" Don't mention it... No actually you know what... Do mention it, and you can thank me by going out for dinner with me tonight," he said smugly.

Vixen was shocked, he had gone from the nice boy who comforted her in a time of weakness, to a narcissistic asshole in a matter of seconds. Vixen was disgusted that people like him exist in the world.

"should've figured.... If all you're looking for is a good sex, then don't come asking me. I'm not into desperate bastards." she stood up dusted off her jeans and picked up her things.

"Now is that any way to treat your hero sweetheart?" Zaiden said smirking,

"trust me.... To bastards like you, even a thank you is a a lot to you." she said irritatedly and walked away. She was pissed off, he's no better than her ex, they're all the same. She thought as she angrily stalked to 'the sweet sherbet' thankful that work would distract her from the lingering feeling of his arms around her.

Zaiden stood there for a minute, registering what vixen had said, he smiled to himself, 'i do love a challenge, and she is one delicious snack that's worth the effort,' he thought to himself running his hands through his brown locks, then slowly he followed her to 'the sweet sherbet' ' huh...she must have needed a coffee,' he then saw the oceanic blue of her wavy hair behind the counter, and he smiled to himself, 'she works here... perfect,' he thought.