"He looked at her, paint and blood stained fingertips holding her face gently. Just looking, as if she was the entire world. As if he looked away, she would disappear.
Maybe he had a right to think that.
But still, he held her. Against everything...
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TW- Panic attack mentioned in this chapter, read at your own risk.
After giving Wednesday her gift (a few classical vinyls Aria knew she'd enjoy), she slipped away from her dorm, knowing Enid and her need to speak. She decided she was going to visit Eugene in the hospital, even though he wasn't awake yet.
She brought flowers that she picked from her dorm, deciding on petunia's since they symbolize healing. When she entered his hospital room, she felt her heart drop to the floor.
Eugene was younger than Aria, and she felt terrible knowing it should've been her.
He was a small boy, but he was brave, and had an even bigger heart. He was the last person who deserved this.
Aria watched his heart monitor, afraid that if she looked away it would stop.
She put the bouquet on a table by his bed, pulling up a chair next to him. She didn't know him as well as Wednesday, but she still felt obligated to be there. To apologize.
"I'm so sorry." Aria whispered, exiting the room a few minutes later.
She got away from the hospital as quickly as she could, unable to stand the numbness it made her feel.
She only stopped when she got to the forest of Nevermore, sliding down a tree until she sat on the ground. Aria put her head in her hands, flashes of emotions running through her.
She saw the gate she saw from the vision yesterday, she saw her mother's face the last time she saw her, she saw Rowan, she saw Eugene, she saw every stressor in her life as she gripped her hair tightly, feeling herself fall apart.
Aria started to hyperventilate, shaking as she desperately tried to fill her lungs with oxygen. Her throat started to dry from the cold air.
She recognized that she was having a panic attack, but wasn't able to calm herself down for about twenty minutes. It was only when she was laid on the ground, ripping out grass from the dirt that she started to come to her senses.
Then, she realized she was somewhere familiar. Aria was in the wooded area right by Xavier's shed.
Slowly, she got to her feet, making her way to the shed as she wiped her eyes. Aria hadn't even realized she was crying.
She hugged herself as she walked, trying to calm herself down. She could hear music playing from the inside of the shed, and she almost smiled when she heard her playlist on Xavier's speaker.
Not wanting to be rude, she knocked loudly so he could hear it over the music. The door was opened quickly, Xavier's smile dropping when he saw the black mascara running slightly under Aria's eyes.
He ushered her in, placing his hand on her back to lead her into the shed. Immediately, she embraced how much warmer it was in there compared to outside. She sat on one of the spinning stools, crossing her legs over each other.
