Zimon gasped as he sat bolt upright, clawing, scratching at his skin. His breath came in gasps and he sobbed, trying to gain some kind of control. Black spots danced in his vision and his stomach heaved. He wrapped his arms around himself, shaking, trembling feeling as if he was falling apart. His skin felt as if he was on fire, he was burning, each breath singeing his lungs. Zimon groped for the glass of water on the nightstand, fumbling until his fingers closed around it. As he managed to sip at the lukewarm, day-old water, he slowly calmed.

He forced himself to uncurl and place his feet on the cold tile of the floor, he drank in the feel of it, the cold soothing his pain. He furiously scrubbed tears off of his cheeks, angry at his mind for betraying him and his body for reacting so violently. He forced himself to go about his normal morning routine, even managing to choke down a piece of dry bread. Forcing a smile on his face, Zimon walked out the door. Not trusting himself to drive, his hands were still shaking too badly, so he chose to walk to the bus stop. He tapped out a message to Kai letting him know before letting his mind wander. Before long he reached the bus stop. Zimon then checked the time and saw he still had a half hour or so before the bus would arrive. He sat exhaustedly and closed his eyes, he was too tense and keyed up to truly rest but he still tried.

Letting his mind drift, Zimon lost track of time. His eyes flew open and he jumped, startled, sometime later.

“Kai?!” He exclaimed, his breath coming in sharp gasps.

“Breathe Zimon, breathe.”

“I am.” Zimon gasped.

Kai rolled his eyes, “Breathe in a way that doesn’t sound like you’re dying, your stress is making me stressed and that’s really annoying.”

Zimon laughed tiredly, “Sorry.”

Kai leaned back, “You okay now.”

“I think so.” Zimon shrugged.

Kai slung an arm around Zimon’s shoulders, “Let’s go get food.”

“But we were going to…” Zimon began.

“You’re clearly not up for a big party with everyone, let’s just go chill.”

Zimon nodded weakly, grateful for Kai's understanding.

The two decided to eat at a small diner in the center of town. They say down to order and Zimon slowly started to relax. He chatted with Kai and felt generously lighter.

Suddenly, everything happened at once. The chef burned something in the adjacent kitchen, a child tried to drink hot tea, and a car alarm started blaring.

Zimon began scratching the skin of his forearm, pain flared against his skin, and beads of bright red blood dotted his arms.

“What are you doing?” Kai exclaimed.

“H-have to make it stop,” Zimon gasped, “It hurts, it hurts so bad.”

“Zimon, please stop,” Kai begged.

Zimons faintly noted that he was being led somewhere. Bright light hit his eyes and he squeezed them shut, sobbing.

“Make it stop, I'm sorry, please just make it stop.”

Zimon shook violently, legs giving out. His whole body was on fire, where were his sisters, he couldn't leave the them. “W-where are they?”

“Zimon please, you’re here with me, we're outside the cafe.” Kai wrapped his arms around Zimon, “You’re safe.”

Zimon slowly returned to himself, feeling wrung our and exhausted.

Kai blinked at him with worried blue eyes, “What happened Zimon?”

“The noise, the smell.” Zimon’s stomach heaved and he pressed a hand to his mouth.

“Zimon?”

“G-gonna be sick.”

Kai placed a hand on Zimon’s back, “Shh, you’re okay. You’re safe, I’m here, you’re going to be okay.”

Zimon finally calmed leaning against Kai in exhaustion.

“I’m sorry.” He whispered.

Kai shook his head, “No apology’s, you went through something horrible, no one expects you to be perfectly fine.”

“I didn’t realize how much it still affected me, I mean there were the nightmares, and the panic attacks but I didn’t think it was affecting my everyday life.”

Kai narrowed his eyes, “You didn’t tell me about the nightmares.”

“I didn’t want you to know,” Zimon sighed, “I felt weak.”

“Pain isn’t weakness.”

“I think,” Zimon began softly, “I need help.”

Kai nodded, “I understand. I’ll be right here if you need me.”

Zimon stood slowly, “I’m scared.”

Kai stood also, “It’s okay to feel scared, but I’m proud of you. Asking for help isn’t easy.”