The Fall of Forever {A MyStreet FF}

{25} Fight, Flight, Freeze, and Fawn

TW: Panic attacks & Anxiety

The next day rolled around with such anxiety filling Garte, Zack, and Derek, enough that each could hardly wait to just get the process over with.

Garte had spent the night deathly terrified of what was to become of his son. He found himself fighting to not stare at Garroth during supper, analyzing his every movement. Though he tried to remain stoic, the only image running through his head was of the little boy who once did not have the strength to open his eyes long enough to say hello to the brothers he so adored.

Derek paced his office that night, running through every scenario in his mind. This entire conspiracy, even if it saved his best friend's son, would not end well. He had no evidence, not a shred of data to back this up. But he knew, deep down. There would be long and difficult consequences.

Zack spent the night at the lab. He contacted Elizabeth immediately following reading the test results. He sat alone in the darkness for a while, until she came and they were able to work together. No surprise, they ended up becoming intimate with each other. To both of them, this event felt over before it even began.

Bright and early the next morning, Garte pulled up to the testing place at the same time as Derek. To Garte's complete surprise, Derek ended up bringing his son with him.

"Hi, Aaron," Garte said gently. "You joining your dad today?"

Aaron, shy and sheltered, nodded as he stepped back. Derek put a hand on his son's back and led him inside. Garte did the same, with Garroth keeping a tight grip on his own father's hand.

Zack greeted the four of them with a smile, and was equally as surprised as Garte to see that Derek had brought Aaron along with him. Not only was Derek hard on his son, but he sheltered him heavily.

At least, to Garte and Zack it appeared as sheltering. What they knew so little of was the isolation Derek was putting his son through.

"Hey, buddy," Zack knelt down to say hi to Garroth. "We're gonna do something a bit different today. You want to follow me to a different room?"

Zack took Garroth's hand gently as Elizabeth turned the corner. Derek signaled for Aaron to go off on his own, away from where the three parents were talking. Elizabeth starting talking to Garte about the testing that was about to be done on Garroth and what he could expect from that point on.

With Garte turned away from the scene, Derek stood to the side. He was hardly listening to the conversation next to him, and was appearing to watch as Zack led Garroth into the room. Apart from Zack, Derek was the only one beginning to see everything unfold.

Right as Zack and Garroth approached the doorway, Garroth's hand dropped from Zack's. Though Derek could not see Garroth's face, he could see the little one's hands begin to shake. His shoulders tensed and he was shaking his head.

"Come on, buddy," Zack tried to coax Garroth into the room. "You have nothing to be afraid of."

Garroth was not responding with words, but with body language. He hugged his arms around himself as he began to breathe heavily. His breaths were treacherous, as though he was fighting to take air in and let it out.

Even if he was able to speak at that moment, no words would be able to describe what he was feeling. It was as though a mysterious switch turned on in his brain. He couldn't remember why, or how, but something in his instincts reminded him that the specific room he was about to be led into was to be signaled dangerous.

Zack attempted to grab Garroth's hand again, having little patience for him. His efforts were in vain, though, as Garroth pulled away from Zack's hand. The little one turned around slowly. As Derek stepped forward to intervene, Garroth ran to him with tears running down his face. Derek picked up and held Garroth gently, trying to gauge what exactly was happening.