𝐋𝐎𝐕𝐄 𝐋𝐄𝐒𝐒𝐎𝐍𝐒 • 𝐉𝐄𝐍𝐙𝐈𝐄

0.20

» True compassion means not only feeling anothers pain but also being moved enough to help relieve it. «

「 Lesson #3: Compassion is key 」

Dedicated to: blombelle , ximewrites & ilyjenzie  for your lovely comments <3

A/N ~ Thank you so much for all the love and kindness you have all been showing me over these last couple of chapters, it means more to me than you know, I love you allllll xo

I will post again when this reaches 115  votes and comments, so hit the lil star my dudes & leave a couple comments ;)

POV: Mackenzie Ziegler

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Johnny was white with shock. Not the ordinary kind, where you would be a little pale, and have a surprised look on your face– he was terribly white-coloured and had a sick, ghost like pallor. His face was so void of any other emotion he looked like he was either going to faint or be violently sick. He grabbed onto the hand rail of our front steps and swayed on his feet, looking away, seemingly incapable of conjuring up words.

A violent anxiousness swept through me like a tidal wave, like a punch in the throat, and my heart went out to him. In a span of two minutes, I had tipped his life upside down, shook it up, and spun it around again. Guilt brewed in the pit of my stomach.

I let go of Brea's hand, and wiped my clammy hands on each side of my dress. I bent down to both of them, my babies, and whispered that as a special treat they could go watch some TV. Their faces lit up with excited surprise, (TV time was limited in our house) and I shooed Hayden off to go turn it on without sparing him a second glance. He really wasn't helping this situation– this was delicate, and I had to be careful.

I had enough compassion and empathy for Johnny that I knew we would need to talk for a long time. Dinner could wait; Johnny deserved my time at the moment. Hopefully I could cushion the blow with kindness. He would always be welcome here, however unnerving having him so close was.

And so, with a deep breath and my head held high, I gently untangled his fingers from the railing. His eyes swam into focus a little more, but he still let me guide him to our backyard. I sat us down in the grass, and we both crossed our legs and sat opposite to each other. We were close, but not touching.

"Are you okay?" I finally asked, biting my lip.

"I- I've been better." He sucked in a deep breath.

I nodded sympathetically, wanting more than I ever had to lace our hands together and squeeze, so he knew that this was upsetting for me too. I didn't. I couldn't. It would have been inappropriate. So instead, I let my hands pool in my lap limply and waited for him to come to. I forced myself to draw deep breaths even though the sadness of the situation made me feel like I was drowning.

It took a few minutes, and a couple attempts at speech, before he came around. "How long– when did you know? How long had I been gone?"