The morning after the meeting with Mr. Brown was not the best one. Lin and Pippa were both grateful that it was a Saturday morning, and that they didn't have to face anyone after all they had withstood the previous day.
It started with Pippa and Lin waking up separately. Something that hadn't happened since they were yelling at each other in her room all that time ago. While Lin still stayed at her dorm, well, the dorm he had begun to call his, the overwhelming anxiety and stress of the whole thing just pushed them apart for the night. They just needed some air for one night.
Lin would admit at the drop of a hat that it was hard sleeping on her sofa, not literally, but emotionally. It was hard for him to know that Pippa was in her room, probably working on those freaking assignments, still panicked over having to see Matt and hear him speak, and it just hurt him to know that if he walked in there, she'd push him right out.
Now, Pippa wouldn't admit it to anyone, but she didn't even touch her homework. Even with the words of Mr. Brown breathing down her neck, she didn't even look at her laptop. She ended up crying for so long that she fell asleep in her clothes from the school day. She woke up in the middle of the night with the nightmares she always had, courtesy of Matt's treatment of her. In those moments, she needed Lin, heck, she even considered turning the corner and waking him up, but she knew that he needed space, that he wouldn't want to deal with her in that moment. Except, he would've. He would've done anything for her. And that's why it hurt for her to never admit what happened that night.
Now the morning, the morning was something totally different. The next morning, Pippa woke up and the weight and realization of the whole thing fell onto her shoulders. From this moment on, she was going to work on any and all assignments until they were perfect, whether it kills her or not. Right after that realization, she also realized her phone and the amount of texts she was recieving. All from her friends, one stuck out in particular from a friend of hers that went by the name of Jasmine.
Jazzy: Who's this Matt I keep hearing about, and why are you involved in these conversations as well?
Pippa just broke down at that. Her entire life, career at Julliard was ruined by whoever picked up that Matt was expelled and what he was expelled for. It would be virtually impossible to trace it back to who started it, all Pippa knew was that it was out there, and now everyone knew everything. Even with tears now just streaming down her cheeks, she knew she had to get her work done, and she knew she'd have a headache after all of this. That being said, Pippa shakily went to the bathroom right by her bedroom and dug around for some Advil to curb the pending migraine. She got to the right cabinet and was getting out a Dixie cup for water to obviously take the Advil, but she found her hands to be too shaky from all her crying, and soon found herself just sitting on the bathroom tile, trying to keep herself together when her life was falling apart. She couldn't exactly tell you what happened in the next few moments; it's all a bit of a haze of hyperventilations, crying, and shaking.
Lin came rushing in at the sound of all of this, and right as he did, he found Pippa pressing her knees into the tile, and throwing up what little food she had in her system. Lin knew this was going to happen, he knew she would stress herself sick eventually, and today was that day. "Pip, you're okay." Lin rubbed her back as she continued to dry heave. "Take deep breaths." He reminded her, knowing that her current syncopated breaths weren't helping the matter at all. Pippa slowly sat up, and Lin draped her hair back over her shoulder; he had been holding it as a makeshift ponytail for Pippa only moments ago.
"E-Everybody k-knows now!" She broke out in sobs once more and fell onto Lin's shoulder.
"Pippa, please don't cry, I don't want you getting sick again. It'll be alright, I promise you that it will be." Lin rubbed her back once again. Pippa sat back on her knees and rubbed her eyes. "Why don't you go and get that gross taste out of your mouth, and I'll get you some water, sound okay?" Lin gently stroked her flushed cheek. Pippa nodded, and Lin stood her up. He made sure she was okay before he ran around the corner. He came back moments later with a glass of water and a couple of Saltines. "I also brought you some crackers. I think it'd be best for you to at least try to eat a little something."
Pippa turned around after setting her toothbrush and toothpaste back where it belonged. "You're literally the sweetest thing ever. Thank you so much."
"Of course." Lin smiled. "Now, come sit with me for a minute. I just want to relax. Just a minute. Admit it, we've had a rough night."
"We have." Pippa responded quietly.
"Get on my back." Lin told Pippa.
"Do what?" Pippa needed clarification on that one.
"You got sick like not even five minutes ago, so I'm going to give you a piggyback ride." Lin smiled.
"You're giving me a piggyback ride to my couch because I cried so much that I threw up?"
"Precisely."
"How could I say no to that?" Pippa lightly chuckled and Lin did indeed give her a piggyback ride to the living area of the dorm. Naturally, he set her down before sitting beside her. "Thank you for everything."
"Please don't thank me. Now, I just want to talk about everything real fast."
"Okay." Pippa reached for her glass and took a few more small sips.
"If you need any help ever getting any work done or anything, I'm here."
"I know."
"And besides that, about everyone figuring out what he did." Lin sighed at this one. "He's gone, and that's what matters. You have a story to tell now. Babe, you walked through Hell, and came out still an angel. You understand that, right?" Pippa anxiously bit her lip. Just that body language was all Lin needed to see. "I can see why you don't right now, and that's okay, but know I'm not lying when I say that. Even though you don't see it yourself, you're an angel, My Love."
~~~~~
A/N: A little sugary sweetness until it gets a little less sugary sweet...
Either way, hope you enjoyed! Xx. ❤
