Chapter Text
Heather didn't know what was going on. Some stupid freshmen had been whispering to each other about Chris and when threatened confronted about it they had caved and told her about seeing Chris run away and covering up her face. She had made them tell her where she had gone and as soon as she had found out about where they had seen her she was off. She was seen coming out of the girl's locker room on the second floor and rushed to the stairs. The intel was vague and she was definitely going to remember their names for later. All they told her was that she wasn't on that level but knowing Chris she hadn't left the building. No, if she truly didn't want to be noticed she wouldn't dare enter any of the other ones and what other places would she have to go to? She was popular at the school (they both were) but the same couldn't be said for the outside of the walls of Saint Mary's School For Pristine Girls. All of the classrooms were either locked or filled with students and Chris would never go to a public place like that if she wasn't feeling on top of the world. She eventually found her in the second locker room on the fourth floor, the one that was mostly only used by the cheerleading squad. Chris was pacing back and forward and fuck if the sight wasn't terrifying. The girl looked close to tears and like she was breathing way too quickly.
"Chris?" she said, trying to get the other's attention. She went with the same tone of voice she always used on her mother. It didn't always work but it was the most effective one she had. "Are you okay?" Bad question, really bad question. It was apparently enough to send her into a sobbing state. She could see her cover her face with her hands and she had to physically press her feet down onto the floor to keep herself from running away. Heather almost sent herself into a panic attack of her own. She couldn't help another person. Her mother was too much- she couldn't handle another person relying on her, couldn't be the one to keep even more people alive. Chris wasn't even reacting like her mother would've. Her mother cried and yelled around her and never around others and Chris manipulated and insulted others but never her. She'd never witnessed Chris cry before, God the two of them even cried differently. The woman cried, just cried until she ran out of it or fell asleep. It had been painful to watch at first but over time she had gotten used to it but this? What she was witnessing now? The anguished wailing? The stops in-between them that both sounded and looked like she was choking on air? They were unbearable and all she could do was stand by and watch. She had gone from having to force herself to stay to being frozen in place. And as she stood perfectly still she proceeded to up her walking rhythm.
"I can't... I can't- why did she-?" was all she could hear. Most of Chris' words were drowned out by her own pain but they snapped Heather out of her own internal ramblings and worry. She was filled with curiosity about what had happened, so much so that she started seeing it from an outside experience. As if the fellow cheerleader was a lab rat and she was a scientist observing it. Logically she could be talking about anything. She didn't think she had ever witnessed the other hang out with anyone that wasn't a girl. "How could she do this to me." Her sobs came to an abrupt stop. She started crying again a few minutes later but it was practically soundless, not counting the sniffles that accompanied it. It was over. It was all over. Heather let out a relieved breath. No more people to take care of. She was free. The school had freed her and now she had been saved once more. She grinned and even laughed. No more. No more! No- no, no, no. No more. She could hear a whimper and then another and then the sight of the one closest to her falling to the ground.
"Chris!" She leaped out of the spot she had been visiting and threw herself over to her. "Chris?" The girl was on her hands and knees, crying like it was a matter of life and death. "Talk to me, please!" She looked at her with Bambi eyes, praying for her to open up. When she started hiccuping, she knew it had gone too far. She was going to make herself sick. "Chris, come on." She started rubbing her back, desperately to elevate any of the hurt she was feeling. Chris finally looked up from the floor and Heather almost broke out in tears herself. "It's okay. It's gonna be okay. Trust me." She placed her leftover hand on one of her hands. "Come on." She dragged her off her hands and into a sitting position and when she showed no signs of stopping and instead swallowed hard as if trying to keep something down Heather put one hand on hand on the back of her neck and one on her back and settled her on her across her chest. "Shhh. It's okay." It's okay mom. "You are not alone."
"She ruined everything. I can't..." She could feel her shirt stain from the tears and only hugged her tighter. "I'm just so tired."
"No one else is here. You can sleep."
“Please…Please just stay.”
“Shhh. It’s okay, just close your eyes. I’ll stay until you fall asleep.”