Work Text:
A million things ran through Harper's head as she saw Chook drive by.
Ca$h had lied. Chook was near her home. He knew where she lived. Ca$h had lied. She wouldn't be safe here. What if it happened again? Ca$h had lied. Someone she was about to be living with had lied.
Anthony set a hand on her shoulder, but this only caused her to flinch away. He was a bit at a loss on what to do. He wasn't gonna lie and say he hadn't done a bit of research about her disorder. He figured, if he was gonna be her friend now, he might as well not be completely ignorant on the subject since it was something she now had to live with.
He wasn't sure how to handle this, though. No, she was panicking, and his research had pretty much ended at the base concept of what Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder even was.
But he had to try.
"Hey, Harper, it's okay" he said as she pressed herself against the fence. Her breathing was rapid and her eyes were darting every which way. She definitely wasn't in her right state of mind- A panic attack? Flashback? The different terms bounced around in his head, but he wasn't quite bright enough to remember the difference.
"Um, uh" he stammered about, trying to figure out what to do. Touch was right out. What could he do? "Can you tell me where you are?" he asked, almost desperately. He tried not to panic too much, like when Quinni had gotten bit by that damned snake. Panicking wouldn't help the situation. He had to just be there for her. "Please?"
"'M at the h-housewarming- Fuck!" she turned away and retched, alcohol and anxiety culminating in her throat. She vomited onto the asphalt, her whole body trembling as she did so.
Anthony was quietly glad that her hair was still fairly short. He didn't want to hold her hair back when she was in this state and potentially freak her out more.
"It's okay" he repeated over and over again like a broken record. He wasn't sure what else he could say or do but, eventually, mercifully, she began to calm down.
She still seemed terrified, but she thanked Anthony for helping her, took a deep breath, and began the trek back into her new house, leaving the boy to contemplate what had just happened.
He took a mental note to do better research into her disorder (and, more importantly, how to help with that) and followed her inside.