Prompt: I need a Leon and Adam moment in TOF. Like maybe Adam and Leon are the only ones home and Lee starts having a panic attack and Adam comforts him
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"What's that?" Adam asked, walking into the kitchen.
"What? Oh, mom made that pasta with cheese and sauce yesterday. This is just the leftovers. Here, I'm not hungry, you can have it," Leon said, pushing the bowls towards the edge of the table. "Did you find what you needed in dad's office?"
Adam sat down, taking Leon's fork and eating the dinner. He was starving, having run errands for his father and his girlfriend all day and not stoping for lunch.
"Yea, it was in the filing cabinet. I filled everything out. Dad just has to sign off on it," Adam said.
Leon nodded, trying to focus on the textbook in front of him. He'd barely slept last night, trying to get through two essays and a few worksheets. He needed to get ahead on his work so he could focus on studying for this test.
If he didn't do well enough, he'd slip too far behind Beckett's grade to ever hope at catching up. He knew by now he'd never beat Beckett's grade, but he wanted to be as close as possible to it. If he couldn't be the top of his class, he had to do as well as he could to please his parents.
Brennan had been getting at him to sleep more, but he just couldn't. This test was so important. This would seriously hurt his grade if he didn't do well.
Adam peeked at the textbook. "I remember that unit. It was easy. You have Mr. Reiley, right? Best teacher for the topic."
Leon felt panic hit him. Easy? He'd been struggling to keep up the entire unit.
Adam eyed Leon's tired form and shook his head. "You're so irresponsible. Do you even try to look out for your own health? If you'd pay more attention in class, you wouldn't have to give up sleep to learn such simple topics, Leon."
"I..." He'd missed a day to look after a Maroon class. Mr. Sudlow had asked him to, worried the Maroons were planning to start trouble. That had probably set him so far behind. But his father had approved the request to miss class.
"Don't make excuses," Adam said before Leon could speak. "Part of being a responsible adult is accepting responsibility for your own actions. You don't have your priorities right. You always do this."
Adam was right. Leon hated it, but he knew his brother was right. Leon could never seem to get his priorities right. He focused too hard on one thing and fell behind in another.
He was so tired. So, so tired. Nothing he read seemed to stick in his head. The textbook in front of him was just meaningless words on paper.
But he had to beat Beckett. Or at least do as well as Beckett. He had to keep his grade up.
He was dating a man, he wasn't top of the class, and he'd betrayed his father. How many more ways could he let his family down?
Right down to his grades, he was failing as a son. Leon gripped the edge of his textbook, feeling that panic in him growing, spreading, crashing over his limbs as they trembled with the force of his composure. He'd been studying for hours but he just kept returning to the beginning of the unit chapter because nothing would stick in his head. He was going to do horribly on this test, and his parents would be so upset with him. He'd never be as good as his silbings. He'd always fail. Always fail. Always-
Leon gasped for a breath as Adam put a hand on his shoulder. Adam watched Leon's eyes widen as his body trembled viciously, his breath a wheeze. Those obvious signs of panic attacks.
"Leon," Adam said, keeping his voice calm. Leon had suffered from panic attacks ever since he was a child. Their parents had taught Adam and Caroline what to do if Leon had one and no one else was home to help. "Lee, look at me."
Leon looked up at his brother, reaching out and grabbing at Adam's arm. Adam pulled the dice out from Leon's pocket and pressed it into his free hand.
Leon rolled it around, but his breathing was still uneven. Adam moved closer to him and put a hand on his back, rubbing it in a soothing motion.
"Hey, breathe," Adam said. "In and out, nice and slow."
Leon tried to concentrate on his breathing, Adam patiently helping him. Leon bowed his head as he tried to calm down, and Adam kept rubbing his back.
"There's nothing to panic about," Adam said. "I'll teach you the unit."
He really didn't have time to sit here and teach his brother a whole unit, but he'd always hated seeing Leon have panic attacks. He could remember how scared he was the first time he saw his dad comfort Leon through a panic attack.
"I'm sorry," Leon whispered, body still trembling. "I'm sorry, Adam."
"Quit apologizing," Adam said. He knew Leon couldn't control it. "Focus on your breathing."
He sat with Leon until the trembling gradually faded off and Leon's breathing returned to normal. Leon didn't pick his head up, so Adam kept rubbing his back.
"Thank you," Leon said at last, his voice quiet. "I didn't mean to..."
"I know." Adam spun the textbook a little so it faced him. "What part are you having trouble with?"
"I think I need to review the basics so I can build on it to understand the rest," Leon said, rubbing his thumb over the dice.
Adam checked the time. He'd told his girlfriend he'd be home by now. But if he left now, Leon would be home alone, and he was clearly struggling as it was. He could always call their mother and ask her to come home, but he didn't want Leon to feel guilty about pulling her away from her busy schedule.
He'd just have to pull an all-nighter to catch up on his work. Unlike Leon, Adam knew he could get his sleeping schedule back to normal after a late night of work.
"Okay, so let's start here," Adam said, and Leon attentively listened as he began to explain.
They might not always get along. Adam knew he and Leon had very different mentalities. But Leon was still his little brother. He wasn't going to leave him struggling alone.