midnight | j.w.

1 0 . z i n n i a

The second time was a similar event although Jace didn't have to wake her up, he found her sitting up, her arms wrapped around her shins and her knees tucked to her chest. He recognized the position as the one she went to when she was either in the middle of a panic attack or trying to prevent one.

"J-J-Jace," she mumbled quietly upon seeing him, stumbling upon her words and gasping for breath, "C-Can you p-pass m-m-me my ph-phone?"

"Dahlia, you need to breathe," he said softly, kneeling at her bedside but not getting too close to her, "You're having a panic attack, you need to breathe."

"I-I-I can't," she cried out, arms tightening around her shins and gasping for breath, "I-I can't b-b-breathe."

"I'm fine," she managed, "I'm fine, I'm not g-gonna have a p-panic attack."

"Okay." Jace nodded. "Just give it a minute."

"Please, Jace," she mumbled, "My phone."

He reached over to her bedside table and grabbed her phone, placing it in her hand. She shifted and let go of her legs and rested her chin on her knees, flipping her phone open while wiping her eyes with her sleeves.

Jace heard the sound of the phone dialing and she put the phone up to her ear.

"Magnus," she whispered quietly into the phone, "I-I didn't disturb you, did I?"

"You—You told me to call you if it got bad again." Jace watched as a tear escaped her eye but she reached up and caught it before it could fall. "It's really bad."

"No!" She sat up straight suddenly. "I don't want to bother you, I don't want you to come back because of me I just—I just wanted to tell you because I haven't been—well, I just wanted to be honest with you."

"I can't—" She sucked in a deep breath. "It hurts so much."

"I know," she whispered, "I—yeah." She chuckled quietly. "Bye, Magnus."

Dahlia flipped her phone shut and placed it on her bedside table.

"Everything alright?" Jace asked, his voice tearing through the silence.

She looked up at him and managed a small smile, it was all she could muster up at the moment. "Yeah, it's—it's fine."

"Are you okay?" He asked finally, reaching his hand out to take hers.

"I—No, not really." She looked down at their joined hands. "I'm kind of a mess right now."

"You should rest," Jace suggested, giving her hand a slight squeeze, "You need the sleep."

Dahlia nodded slightly, lifting her chin to look at him. When he made a move to leave, she grabbed his hand and looked up at him with big, violet eyes. "Please don't leave me," she muttered quietly, her grip on him loose.

"I won't," he replied, sitting down on her bed.

She shifted up and pulled him down next to her, her arms wrapping around him tightly as she tried her hardest not to break down again.