AJR-Panic Attacks

Winter- 2 (Beach with Dad)

Ryans POV

"Hey Winter how was school?" Cat asks.
"Fine." He replies. He walks into his room and closes the door.
"He doesn't seem like himself." I say.
"Yeah. Something must be going on at school." Cat says. I nod.
"Maybe I should take him out for some father son time. He always loves that." I say.
"Yeah sure! You should take him down to the beach by the river, he always loves it there." Cat says.
"Good idea. I'll take some of my art stuff and we can sit on the beach and talk for a bit. I'll take him after dinner." I say.
"Sounds good." Cat replies.
"Do I tell him now? Or wait until after dinner?" I ask.
"Tell him now. He'll be more excited that way." Cat says. I nod and start walking to Winters room. I knock on the door and he says,
"Come in." I walk in and say,
"So, me and your mom were thinking you would want to go down to the beach with me tonight after dinner. Are you ok with that?"
"Just you?" He asks.
"Uh huh." I say. Winter smiles.
"Yes please." He says.
"Alright. Dinners gonna be ready in about an hour or so, then we'll leave. Ok?" He nods, smiling.
"Thanks Dad." He says.
"Anytime Winter." I say. I walk back out and tell Cat the plan.

After dinner, I clean up the dishes and then grab a blanket and some art stuff and put it in my backpack. Winter put on a hoodie and grabbed a book. I also put on a hoodie and we said goodbye to Cat and headed out. We started walking down the block to the park short cut to get to the beach. Winter was holding my hand in his left hand, the book is his right. We finally made it down to the beach and found a nice quiet spot where no one else was. We set up the blanket and I took out my art stuff and started drawing the scenery. Winter laid down on his right side, facing me, and opened his book and started reading. I didn't want to distract him from his book, so we didn't talk.

WINTERS POV-
Dad took me down to the beach today. It's my favourite spot with my favourite person. I had a really bad day at school today. The guys in my class won't stop bullying me about my name. But I like my name. Dad picked it out, and wrote a song about it before he found mom. It always makes me smile when he plays it. I was reading my book, when my eyes stop wandering down the page, and the thoughts take over my head. The bullies are right. I do have a terrible name. No I don't. Yes I do. No I don't. My mind kept battling with itself and I start tensing up a lot and I crumple up into a ball and start hyperventilating. I think Dad asked me a question or something but I couldn't focus on what he was saying.
"Winter, are you ok?" I actually hear him say. I couldn't answer. My body was too tense.
"Winter?" Dad asks again. He puts down his pencil and scoots over to me. I don't think he realized I was hyperventilating. Once he sees me, he says,
"Winter, hey, are you ok?" Dad put a hand on my side to try to get me to focus on him, but it's not working. I can't breathe. He pulls me up and lets me rest on his chest. He wraps his arms around me and rubs my back as I start shaking. I was super tense around Dad, but I couldn't help it. Dad keeps rubbing my back, then I hear my favourite tune. Dad started singing my song. I started to get a little less tense, and I stopped shaking. I was still hyperventilating a lot, but once the song was done, I was almost breathing normally again. Dad didn't say anything after the song. He just kept rubbing my back, making me feel calm again. After a while I take a deep breath as I finally calm down.
"What's wrong Winter?" Dad finally asks. "You don't have to tell me, but I'm here to listen if you do." He says. I decide I'm gonna answer.
"The... the guys at school bully me. And I can't stop thinking wha-what they said is true."
"Winter.." Dad says. He gives me a big hug. I hug him back.
"Don't let them get into your head. They are wrong and you know that. Right?" Dad asks.
"Yeah. But sometimes I can't help it."
"I know Winter. Just try, ok?" I nod. Dad kept hugging me and rubbing my back for a while until he knew I was calmed down. I finally pull away from him, and he rests his hands on my sides.
"I love you Winter, you know that, right?" Dad says.
"Yes. And I love you too." I say back.
"I'm sorry they bully you. I'll talk to your teacher and I'll get them to stop, ok?" I nod again.
"Thanks Dad." I say.
"Anytime Winter." I give him another big hug.
"Alright, we should get back soon, Mom might get worried." Dad says. I laugh. We pack up our stuff and we fold up the blanket and we head back home. I held Dads hand the entire way back. We got back up and I give Mom a hug.
"How was it?" Mom asks Dad.
"Can I tell her?" Dad asks me. I look up at him and nod.
"Winter had a panic attack because the guys at school bully him." I looked away, not wanting to see Moms reaction.
"Winter.. Why do they bully you?" Mom says, wrapping me in a hug.
"My name. They think it's girly." I say quietly.
"Winter.. I love your name, your Dad loves your name, you're uncles love your name-"
"And I love my name." I interject.
"And that's all that matters." Mom said.
"I know. But sometimes I can't help it." I say.
"I know bud. Try not to let them get to you, ok?" I nod and smile.
"That's what Dad said too." I say. Mom laughs.
"Great minds think alike I guess." Dad says. I nod.
"Thanks Dad." I say looking up at him.
"Anytime Winter. I love you." Dad says. He kneels down and we give each other the biggest hug ever. I nestled my head in his neck as he hugged me tight. Mom joins in, hugging the two of us together. After a minute or so, we pull away from each other.
"So, who wants dessert?" Mom asks.
"Me!" Dad and I say at the same time making us laugh.
"Alright go sit down, I'll bring it out." Mom says.
"Race ya!" Dad says running away, making me laugh.
"Hey that's not fair!" I say laughing. We sit down and eat our dessert and Dad asks if I wanted to watch a movie. I said yes. I ran to my room to get my pyjamas on and grab a bunch of blankets. Dad turns on the movie and we all sit down on the couch, me in between Mom and Dad. I put the blankets on all of us and I snuggle close to Dad. He puts his arm around me and Mom and we watched the movie. I fell asleep about half way through, and Mom did too. Dad eventually did too, and we slept in the next morning. It was a Saturday so it was ok for us to sleep in. We woke up and Mom made my favourite breakfast. Mom woke up earlier then me and Dad so she had breakfast ready when we fully woke up. Once I was awake, I snuggled into Dad and he half woke up and hugged me back. We eventually woke up all the way and got up to have breakfast.

The End