"Trouble? Trouble! Andrea!" My mom exclaimed as she walked in my room, wincing at the sight of used tissues and the complete disarray of my normally clean room.
"Oh, dear. What happened?" I tried to explain but my anxiety woudn't let me, deciding to block my throat with sobs for the time being.
I continued to blindly motion with one hand as I used the other to grip my childhood teddy bear. He used to be the cure for anxiety attacks, but unfortunately it didn't seem to work anymore.
"Oh, honey. It's an attack isn't it?"
I nodded as she wrapped her arms around me, trying to calm me down. My sobs slowly receded, causing me to gasp for air as my mom slowly loosened her hold on me before I was able to sit up on my own, an occasional hiccup stumbling out of my mouth.
"Do you know what brought it on? Was it you and Tori?" My mom slowly questioned, not wanting to push me.
"I'm not sure," I paused, slowly testing my voice. "I thought it finally went away, you know? I'm not sure if it was Red or my dad or if it was anyone at all. I just-I'm not sure what to do" I ran my hands down my face, as if hoping to wipe away all my worries.
"Do you want to take off school today?" She quietly asked, to which I responded with a slight nod, exhausted from my attack.
"Do you want me to take off work?" She asked, slipping a piece of blue-and-brown hair back behind my ear from where it had fallen out of my messy bun.
"I don't want you to get in trouble." I mumbled, burying my face in her shoulder.
"One day won't hurt. How about this, we both stay home today and have a mommy-daughter day, we haven't had one of those in a while." She smiled down at me as I slowly lifted my head, a light lipped smile replacing the frown from moments earlier.
"If you're sure..." I trailed off as she stood up, offering me her hand as she pulled me downstairs and into the living room.
"Mom, I don't care what you say. Michael is way more attractive than Tatum." I continued our silly argument as I rinsed out ice cream bowls in the sink.
"Think what you will," She responded, a grin overtaking her face.
"Why are you so smiley?"
"It's nice to hang out with you today, just the two of us. With my job and school for you we barely have enough time for a decent conversation. I wish it had occured under better situations," she paused as I winced at her subtle mention of my anxiety. "But, nonetheless, I'll take it."
"I love you, Mommy." I whispered as I wrapped my arms around her, content with the familiar family feeling.
"I love you too, sweetie. Now go answer your phone, that marimba tone is damn annoying." I laughed as she swore before going over to my phone, finding Luke's contact on the screen.
"Hello?" I call into the phone, hearing a jumble of noise until it's shut off with the slam of something; a door, maybe.
"Andy Pandy? Where are you?" Luke's concerned voice flooded through the phone, making me smile.
:I'm at home. I-um, I had a little incident this morning." I cautiously stated, implying I didn't want to talk about it right now.
"Okay, but you're fine now, right?"
"I am, I promise. My mom's taking good care of me and just relaxing for the time being."
"Can I come over later? I just need to see you myself, make sure everything's alright, you know?" Luke quickly spoke into the phone, almost as if he was afraid her was going to be rejected.
"Of course you can, Luke." I smiled as I heard him sigh in relief.
"Okay, good. I need to go now, lunch id=s ending. Love you, bye!"
"Love you, too!" I managed to call out before he hung up.
"Ooh la la," my mom whispered as she joined me on the couch, making me jump in surprise.
"Mom! I-um, I didn't know you where right here." I sheepishly rubbed my neck as my face burned a flaming red once again, of course, Red.
"So, you love Luke?" Her smile widened as I hesitantly nodded, waiting for her reaction.
"About time you admitted it, it was obvious from the start."
"Mom!" I groaned, burying my face in my hands as she continued to poke fun at me.
"Hello?" I sleepily call out from the couch as my front door opens and closes, footsteps sounding quickly after.
"Hey babe, I missed you today." Luke bent down in front of the couch as he placed a small kiss on my head before picking me up and laying down himself.
"Hey! That's not fair!" I exclaimed as he put me back down, this time on top of him.
"Life isn't always fair." He responded, his attention diverting to the lock of hair that had come out of my bun once again.
I giggled as he continued to play with the strand, his attention on the braid he was trying to complete.
"Aha! I knew I could do it!" He grinned down as I slipped between him and the side of the couch to snuggle for a bit.
"I'm so proud of you." I sarcastically respond, giggling once again as he poked my stomach.
"You should be." His minty breath fanned around my face as he spoke, causing shivers to run down my spine and goosebumps to erupt all over.
He smirked as he caught sight of the goosebumps, opening his mouth to say something before I caught him off guard and stopped him with a kiss.
"You were saying?" I giggled once again as he stayed still, a dumbfound look present on his face.
"I... I'm not sure." He frowned trying to regain his train of thought as I fell into hysterical laughter, glad my mom had to run to the store for a bit.
"Why can't you remember?" I taunted him as he blushed, mumbling something under his breath.
"What was that?"
"I said," He paused sighing, "I'm sorry it's hard to think when there's a girl as beautiful as you around." I quietly awwed as I pulled him into an embrace, nuzzling my face into his neck.
"I feel the same, it's hard to think with someone as devastatingly handsome as you around." I sighed into his collarbone.
"I love you." he quietly whispered after a few moments.
"I love you, too." I responded, a smile mirroring mine appearing on his face as those three little words rolled off my tongue.
"I love you more."
"I love you most." I argued.
"I love you more than the sun and the stars. After all, you're the one who brings light into my life."
I wrap my arms around him again, pulling his lips to mine after teasing him for a moment.
"You win." I say as we break apart, our arms still wrapped around each other, his around my shoulders and mine round his waist as I hid in his jumper.
"I knew I would. It was so cheesy, I was about to vomit."
"I feel the same, but cheesy isn't always terrible. Like, if you have a pizza, you definitely want it to be cheesy." I explain, my lack of sleep filtering into my words.
"Have you slept lately?" Luke cautiously asks, a small smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.
"Before you came in a got a few minutes. Other than that, not really." I shrugged, resuming my position in his pullover.
"Get some sleep." He whispered, placing a kiss to my forehead as my eyes drooped once again.
~~~
"Trouble, you need to wake up." Luke whispered, gently shaking my shoulder.
"Wow, first you tell me to sleep then you tell me to get up," I yawned. "If you ask me there's just no way to please you, Mr. Cartway."
"You know how you can please me?" I grimaced at how bad it sounded but nodded anyway, playing along.
"How?"
"You can... Make me food!" He exclaimed, running to the adjoining kitchen.
I chased after him, laughing as I ran. We stood across from each other, the counter being the only thing to separate us. It was as if we were little kids again, laughing and chasing each other around the house.
"I win!" I yell in delight as I tackle Luke on his way back to the living room.
"Andy, I love you and all but I'm suffocating with my face in the carpet." His muffled voice rang out as I giggled, finally removing myself as he rolled over and breathed an overreacted sigh of relief.
"Oh come on, you big baby. Want me to kiss it better?" I remark sarcastically as he pouts, nodding his head at my words. "Fine, what hurts?"
"My cheek." He responds lifting a finger to point at his slightly grazed cheek.
"And my nose." He points to this, too.
Luke continues to name areas on and around his face, pointing as he went. I made sure to kiss each spot, giggling every time Luke sighed in content.
"Anything else?" I ask once again, thinking I had gotten everything.
"One more. I think you missed a spot right here." He points to his lips, dragging out the i in right as I leaned down and pressed my lips to his once more.
"Hey, Trouble I'm ba-" The airy voice belonging to my mother rang around the room as she walked in on Luke and I.
"Hello, Ms. DeLonge." Luke hesitantly called out, a faint blush still visible on his cheeks.
"Hello, Luke. How are you doing? And I swear if you say anything about my daughter and doing something I will have you de-balled." She deadpanned, laughing at a mortified Luke. "I'm not being serious, gosh. I was your age once, just do't get her pregnant and I'm fine." She quickly left the room, leaving Luke's mouth agape as well.
"That went well." I quietly laughed to myself, cleaning up the small bowls of chips we still had sat on the small table that inhabited the room.
"I-I don't know what to say." Luke stuttered, obviously thinking my Mom's threats were real.
"Don't worry about it." I reply, laughing as I turn to see him the the exact same spot I had left him. "But I'd probably close my mouth if I were you, you resemble a bit of a fish when you do that." As expected Luke's jaw immediately shot up.
"Really? A fish?" Luke whined at my words.
"At least you're a cute fish." I respond, kissing him on his nose as I walk past him, laughing at his face as he scrunched it up.
"Ah, anything cute is good when it comes to you." He responds, placing a kiss on my forehead as he stands up to join me in my walk to the door where there had just been an array of knocks.
"Hel-oh." I cut myself off as I take in the image of her standing there, bloody and bruised.
"W-What happened?" Luke tentatively asked.
"I think I should probably explain things to you." She tripped over her words, pulling her sweater closer to her body on the unusually cool day.
"I guess." I respond, opening the door wider for her to enter.
"Thanks." Red smiled, her battered face pulled up in the semblance of a smile.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Sorry for the wait, I've been really busy lately. The part in the beginning with Trouble and the anxiety attack, well I wrote that in because I had one tonight. You probably don't care but it helped me to write. If any of you reading this are struggling with anxiety or anything else I'm always here to talk. I care and I'm always here to listen if you need anything.
Much Love,
Emily {IrwinArmy}