Closed Panic

[Twila Whitlock]

Twila's life had changed in the blink of an eye. One day, she was forging ahead, independent and alone and making the most out of her life. And then, out of nowhere, all of her siblings were living with her. She'd held herself together in front of them, but she was too anxious now to sleep. With everyone that now resided in her house asleep and the moon in the sky, she crawled out of her bedroom window in her pajamas and crawled from her roof over onto Patricks, moving quietly and without being spotted until she reached her window. It wasn't the first time she'd slipped in this way, after he'd shown her where he was. Needing to have his reassurance to calm her down, she reached a shaky hand out, tapping on his window. "Ricky!" She whisper yelled, knowing she was shaking. She could only imagine what she looked like. "Ricky, let me in!"

 

[Patrick Vernier]

Patrick had only recently finished his Auror training. He was a little behind with the small break he had, however he felt a bit of pressure come off his shoulders after stepping up. It was still hard work, there was no doubt about it, but he was where he wanted to be now, and he just had to continue to do his best. He enjoyed the nights however where he could just sleep and try and forget about all of his stresses. He was sleeping soundly that night until he was awoken by some tapping on his window. He recognised the voice instantly and quickly looked up to find Twila looking quite distressed. He rubbed his eyes a little to make sure he wasn't dreaming, before jumping up and opening the window for her to get in before anyone else in the house had awoken. "Hey, hey! What's wrong?" he asked her in a whisper before giving her a small embrace to try and cheer her up.

 

[Twila Whitlock]

Twila clambered in as he opened the window, trying to be quiet. She fell in against him, trembling and gasping as she tried to keep it together, tears in her eyes. It took her way too long to be able to say anything, just clinging to him. Eventually, she pulled back, shaking her head and walking away a bit, wringing her hands. "I- I'm the oldest of seven. Me, Tessa, Tullia, Tanith, the twins Turlough and Tiernan, and the new baby Tate." She took a deep breath, running a hand over her hair before twisting her ponytail between both hands. "17, 8, 5, 2..." She bit her lip, drawing in another breath. "Our parents- they left- took off- abandoned the others. Tessa- Tessa just showed up, with all the kids- they lost the house, nowhere else," She dropped onto the floor, rocking as a bit of panic started to set in. "Here, all here, how am I- it's so much," She whimpered, pulling her knees up to her chest and rocking back and forth.

 

[Patrick Vernier]

As Twila began to speak, Patrick kept quiet, giving her time to let it all out. He knew she came from a big family like himself, but had no idea that there was so much drama involved. Twila was now left with a lot, and part of him suddenly hated her sister for that, but he knew whatever the situation was, it was most likely really tough for her to have to dump herself on Twila. It was a mess, but Patrick wanted Twila to know he was there for her. He sat down next to her on the floor and gently lifted her head up with his fingers, looking into her teary eyes. "Twila, we will get through this together." he told her simply. "I will help you set up the house for them. How many kids does she have? We can make rooms for them. I promise you - we can do this." He held her hand in his. Seeing her so upset made his heart sink a little, but he knew he had to be strong for her in this moment.

 

[Twila Whitlock]

Twila bit her lip as her eyes met his. She shuddered a little bit, squeezing his hand in hers, and tried to think about what to do. She let out a shaky breath. "It's- seven of us, altogether. I can make my bedroom my office, put Tullia and Tanith into a room, the twins into a room, and Tessa could have a room... but I only have the three bedrooms, where would I put the baby? I can't just- tell Tessa to keep the baby in her room... I could keep Tate with me, maybe?" She offered, unsure but trying to calm down. "Tessa and I both know how to feed them... I can still do my school at night after the kids are in bed, but- we need to get them into schools," She leaned heavily into him, trying to draw on his warmth.

 

[Patrick Vernier]

Patrick let Twila rant. He knew more than anyone that sometimes it was best to just let everything out first before trying anything. The man just nodded at her words and paused a moment before replying. "We can make a room for Tate, don't worry." he told her reassuringly, putting an arm around her. "I'm not an Auror for nothing - I'm good at charms and it won't take very long at all." At the mention of a school, Patrick thought for a moment. He knew that changing schools could be daunting for the children and was happy to try and make the transition as comfortable as possible for them. "They recently opened up a new child care place in Obsidian Harbour. We can look more into that a little later, but I think now we should focus on getting some sleep, don't you think?" He looked into her eyes, knowing that surely she must be tired as she wouldn't have got any sleep with all of this worrying. He climbed into his bed, gesturing for her to join him. "How about we sleep now and we can figure everything out in the morning?"

 

[Twila Whitlock]

Twila didn't realize how exhausted she was until Patrick mentioned it. She felt her shoulders slump, felt like she was crumbling in on herself. She looked over to him, knowing she must have the most pitiful look on her face. Her lower lip trembled as he gestured for her to join him. "Ricky," She sighed, and walked over to him, crawling into his bed and practically collapsing against him. "I love you," She murmured, trying to burrow in close in search of his warmth.

 

[Patrick Vernier]

Patrick frowned a little as he could tell how tired Twila was. He watched as she made her way over to him and smiled a little as she then lay next to him. He stayed close to her, resting his head on hers. As she told him she loved him, Patrick paused for a moment, not quite ready to say it back yet. He knew she was tired, and he was as well, so figured it wouldn't be the best moment to say it back anyway. He simply brought his hand up to her head and began stroking her hair, hoping this would help her fall asleep.

 

[Twila Whitlock]

Twila was quick to fall asleep, comforted by Patricks embrace. He was just so warm. Still, she woke early the next morning- a quick check made it at about six am. She felt a lot calmer with Patrick by her side. She smiled warmly, and a thought occured to her. She stretched out and sat up, a little reluctant to be out of his arms, but she had to get going. She shook him gently, trying to wake him up. "Hey, Ricky," She whispered, smiling easily. "Wake up,"

 

[Patrick Vernier]

Patrick fell asleep rather quickly, especially with Twila by his side. He was then woken up quickly, moaning a little as he was shaken awake by her. He thought 6am starts didn't exist on days off, but apparently Twila had better ideas. "W-what's up?" he stuttered in between a yawn, rubbing his eyes. Twila looked so beautiful with the morning light shining on her, but Patrick was far too shy to mention it.

 

[Twila Whitlock]

Twila smiled, shifting out of bed and trying to pull him up gently. "Come on- little kids hardly ever sleep in, if we want to surprise them with that big breakfast we have to get over there," She prompted. "I'm going to go throw on some fresh clothes, I'll meet you in the kitchen in fifteen, okay?" She tried to give him a kiss before moving across the room to duck back out his window again.