Sisters

The one with the loneliness

Only 5 chapters left

-August 6, 2013-

"Come on, Kait, there's no need for tears, honey, breathe," Andrea begged her younger daughter.

"Kait, come on, follow my breathing," Taylor said before taking deep breaths, hoping to help her younger sister out of yet another panic attack.

When Kaitlyn was young, she suffered from panic disorder due to her anxiety, resulting in multiple panic attacks when she cried so hard she could no longer breathe. After everything that happened with Austin, her panic attacks had come back in full swing. Between the sadness of the breakup and the anxiety for what people would say about them, the panic attacks occurred almost three times a day.

"Better?" Taylor asked Kaitlyn as the younger sister's breathing slowed back to normal.

"I hate this," Kaitlyn said, wiping her eyes.

"I know, honey, you just need to stop worrying about what other people are going to say and just focus on the truth, what we know happened," Andrea said, rubbing her daughter's knees as she crouched in front of the girl.

"I can't help it," Kaitlyn said defeatedly, dropping her head in her hands.

"We know, Kait, we know," Taylor said, rubbing her sister's back comfortingly.

"What time is it? Shouldn't you be heading over to the arena soon?" Kaitlyn asked her sister, picking her head up.

"Yeah, we should head over now," Taylor replied.

"Is it okay if I stay here tonight? I'm not really in the mood to leave," Kaitlyn asked.

"Of course, honey, do you want me to stay here with you?" Andrea asked her daughter.

"No, you should go, I'm just going to relax and watch TV," Kaitlyn said, shaking her head.

"Are you sure?" Andrea double checked.

"Yeah," Kaitlyn nodded.

"Okay, I love you and remember to breathe," Andrea said, kissing Kaitlyn on the head before heading to the door.

"Love you, Kait!" Taylor yelled out as they left.

Kaitlyn sighed as the door shut. Now she was even more alone. She decided to go take a shower as she hasn't taken one in at least 36 hours. She wandered into the bathroom and turned on the shower, stripping her clothes off of her body. Kaitlyn stepped into the warm water and let it burn onto her back. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes, letting the water calm her.

'I think we need to take a break.'

The sound of Austin's heartbreaking words rang in Kaitlyn's ears as she slowly came to a sitting position in the shower. She pulled her knees to her chest and slowly rocked back and forth as she cried. She stayed like this for the next 15 minutes until her back was numb from the heat of the water. She then turned the water off and stepped out of the shower. Kaitlyn changed into a pair of athletic shorts and one of her long-sleeved soccer shirts.

Kaitlyn walked out into the bedroom and laid down, turning the TV on so she could watch Grey's Anatomy. She cuddled into the comfort of the empty bed as the show started.

Six episodes/hours later, Kaitlyn was still awake and sobbing as they killed off one of her favorite characters, but she knew deep down that that wasn't the only reason for her tears.

Taylor and Andrea gave each other a sad look as they walked through the hotel room door and heard Kaitlyn's loud sobs.

"Kait?" Taylor said, poking her head into the bedroom.