So a few years back, (I think in 2021) my little brother asked me if I could go with him to meet some influencer who had arranged a Meet&Greet. For context: we live in Austria, like a 20min train ride away from Vienna, where the M&G was. My brother was like 11 (I was 18), and my mom didn't want my brother to go to the city alone, so he begged me to bring him. And I have realized long ago that there is really nothing my sibling could ask of me that I wouldn't do for them, so naturally I said yes.
The M&G was taking place in front of a mall (quite close to my high school, actually) and my brother told me that I didn't need to stay with him for the whole thing bc a friend and his mom were gonna come as well and he could stay with them. And I was like 'Great. I can take a walk around the block, find some GeoCaches nearby'. So I waited until we met up with his friend and mom and waited an extra few minutes for the influencer to arrive, after which I left for my walk.
As a general rule with both my siblings, whenever I bring them to a friend's house or to a party, I always tell them to call me if anything happens or they wanna leave. I don't care when, I don't care where, just call me. That time, I didn't actually expect a call.
I was on my way back and I had planned to take the bus bc I was feeling lazy and the bus takes a really roundabout way back to the mall and I still had time to kill. For further context: I could see the mall from the bus stop, I was just on the other end of a really long street. While I'm waiting, my brother calls me. And I'm thinking 'Cool, he must already be done'. Haha, nope. He calls me to tell me that the influencer was attacked at the M&G, had eggs and trash and whatnot thrown at him. And I could hear the commotion over the phone. I shit not, I felt my blood freeze. I turned towards the mall and saw the police sirens, I could hear them. I didn't even wait to cancel the phone call, I started running. Mind you, it wasn't a long distance, only like 600m, but it felt like a mile in my panic. Normally, the distance would take a 8min walk, I made it there in two.
When I arrived, things seemed to have cooled down, the police had it under control. I found my brother on the edges of the crowd, I was totally out of breath. I was checking him for signs of distress, touching him all over (which I realize was more to reassure myself than him). That little shit, cool as a fucking cucumber, had the audacity to ask me 'Why did you run? I was fine.' I felt like strangling and smothering him in hugs simultaneously.