Juniper stood with Annabeth like this for a few solid minutes, just breathing and holding onto her shoulders. She wasn’t hyperventilating anymore, which was good; she did not want her friend -her best friend- to black out, especially out in the hallway. But she didn’t let her go. Not yet. If Anna tried to sleep now, she’d only wake up again a few minutes later, just as shaken and out of sorts as she was now. No, Juniper had to get her mind off of that night. Only then would she be able to get some shut eye.
“Come on, Anna, let’s get back inside.” Juniper placed an arm around her waist to steady her, and then began taking the first few, slow steps back into the dorm. And as she did, she silently wished that Anna would seek some kind of help. She didn’t know why she hadn’t yet; maybe it was money troubles, lack of insurance, or maybe she just simply didn’t want to. It wasn’t her place to know. But Juniper was starting to realize that she could only do so much for her friend. She could comfort her, help her relax, and sit up with her at night– but she couldn’t make her better. All this, the flashbacks, the night terrors– Annabeth didn’t deserve any of it.
Once they were back in the room, Juniper eased the blonde onto her bed. She draped a quilt over her shoulders and knelt on the floor in front of her. “What do you need, sweet pea?” Using a pet name, another thing she’d never do with anyone else. “I can make you some hot cocoa, we can watch TV. What can I do to help?”
she kept a soft but prominent grip on her friend, the one and only thing she knew to currently be real and not an illusion by the continuous hours of activity, the prolonging of her restlessness. her voice floated through her ears like an overhead announcer, and she just nodded, letting her friend--- her best friend, lead her.
she hated being this way; helpless, out of control, but she knew only one person has ever seen it at it’s worst, and that was juniper. she had seen her at her lowest lows, screaming for help on the balcony as she ripped her hair out, flashing back to that one little night, and her highest highs, the one night in the past month where she slept a full eight hours. which just so happened to be two nights before the news of his attempted escape spread across campus.
she climbed weakly into her bed, and the second she hit the material, it’s like her body went into shut down mode. she was stuck to the bed, her body falling weak. she shook her head, hoarse vocal chords stretching as she whispered, ‘ just lay with me.. we can both rest. ‘
