Disclaimer: I do not own House of Anubis.

Written because Pason hurts me in unimaginable ways.

"And I have to find her, Mr. Winkler, you don't understand! Joy's my best friend-"

Jason sighs before placing his hands on her shoulders. He doesn't even think it might be wrong until Patricia jolts up as if she was just electrocuted- right, she's his student. To some degree, Jason considered her an equal and often times, he had to remind himself he was a great deal older. She had needed comforting, so he had tried to comfort her without thinking.

"Patricia," he says firmly, taking his hands off her shoulders and stuffing them in his suit pockets. "You need to calm down."

"Calm down?" she echoes, and it's in that moment he knows exactly why he considers her an equal. During class, she might be his polite student, but after, she's a waterfall of emotion that occasionally yells and screams at him in times like this. In a way, they both seem to have forgotten their position in society when they talk of Joy's disappearance. "I can't calm down! Joy's missing, and I don't know where she is, and no one will give me a straight answer, and nobody even believes me!"

"I believe you," Jason offers before guiding her over to one of the desks. He sits next to her for a moment and waits for her breathing to slow down, waits for her to relax. And then: "Tell me about your day, Patricia."

"What?"

"Your day," he replies calmly. The way Jason sees it, Patricia needs to focus on something simple. She needs to take her mind off of Joy, and sometimes the best way to do it is to engage in small talk. Something that doesn't overwork the brain. "I want to hear about your day."

"Why?" she asks warily.

"I'll tell you about my day, first, if that helps," Jason says. "I graded twenty-six tests today and only two of them had 'A's'."

"Mr. Winkler, I don't quite understand-"

"For one minute, Patricia," their eyes lock and Jason's voice drops in the quiet classroom. "For one minute, don't think about what's wrong right now. Just think about something easy…tell me something I don't know about you."

"I didn't study for the test you gave us earlier," Patricia offers, looking nervous, as if there's a right or wrong answer.

Jason chuckles, "I know, your grade's a C."

"This morning, I had pancakes for breakfast and Jerome and Alfie started a food fight."

"Did you participate in the food fight?"

"A little bit. Trudy came in and made us stop, though."

"And how are your classes going?"

She's visibly slouching, relaxing. Jason's made it a point to not ask anything too personal or provoking, and he can tell that the questions seem to be helping. Talking like this is like a break from real life, a trip away from the complicated mind.

"Alright, I guess," she shrugs.

Jason nods before asking another question, and then another, then another. And with each question, she stops eyeing him as if he's a maniac. She cracks a laugh at one point and even though she's his student, it's like talking to a friend.

And maybe he's being daring as they stand up ten minutes later and Patricia mutters an embarrassed thank you. Maybe he shouldn't do it, because she's a student and if this leaks out, it won't be pretty for him. Not that it's a romantic gesture of any sort, really, but others may perceive it that way. Patricia might perceive it that way.

Nevertheless, he rips out a small piece of paper and scribbles down his mobile number.

"Call me if you need to talk to someone, Patricia," he says earnestly, and Patricia looks up at him with worried eyes and then back at the scrap of paper. "Don't hesitate, okay?"

Wordlessly, she nods, taking the paper and pocketing it before heading out of the room. He's not sure what she thinks- her face has remained emotionless all the while.

It's only the next day when he gets home does he realize his phone is buzzing. Patricia.

And so Jason picks it up, and he listens to her talk on and on, and he listens because no one else does, and she sounds so full of worry that he becomes full of worry, spending ages trying to remind her not to do anything rash. Because he's come to know Patricia Williamson, and many things she does without thinking. Many of her actions come back to hurt her more than anybody else.

"Thank you for calling me, Patricia; I'm glad we had this discussion."

"…me too, Mr. Winkler."

A choked sob escapes her throat as she leans against her door. A sick feeling churns inside her as her mind goes into overdrive, thoughts and emotions stirring until she's not even sure about anything.

Humiliation.

Was Patricia just Eddie's little toy of sorts, a distraction, perhaps? In America, he had told her he loved her- she had never said it back, but he had seemed so earnest when he said it, and to get with someone else while dating her…ouch. That one hurt worse than anything else- and she had to find out from his laptop, not even him.

How could he do that though? Eddie might have been a bit of a player his first week at Anubis House, but some part of Patricia had thought she changed that. Maybe she had been hopeful enough to think that this relationship was getting serious, that the pieces were finally falling into place, that she was finally ready for it to get serious.

It obviously wasn't though- the other girl, whoever she was, had captivated his attention in more ways than one.

Eddie had lied to her.

And suddenly she's crying harder, faster, until she's down on her knees in her room, pressed up against the door as if someone might actually come in at this time of day. Everything's muddled and complicated and everything's simply wrong, worse than she could ever imagine. Patricia's head hurts, until she can't even decipher what's fact and what's feeling. And the crying was making her cough uncontrollably, and her nose was feeling stuffed-

For one minute, don't think about what's wrong right now. Just think about something easy…tell me something I don't know about you.

Tell me something I don't know about you. Think easy.

Call me if you need to talk to someone, Patricia.

Don't hesitate, Patricia.

And with shaking fingers and a tearstained face, she reaches towards her phone and down her contacts list to 'Winkler,' a name she hasn't touched in two years. Did the offer even still stand or was she just desperate for someone to talk to? Sharing feelings had never been on her list of priorities at times like this, but Jason…two years ago, he had listened. When every friend she had ever made at this place, a good five years of memories with these people, hadn't taken the time to listen to her, Jason had. The new teacher, who had known her for the entirety of one week, had decided to believe her. And so she had come to him with the search for Joy, and slowly, all of her problems. How everyone thought she was crazy. How nobody talked to her for fear she'd start about a conspiracy. How Jerome and Alfie cracked jokes at her expense, but they were meaner this time because they were discussing something serious. In return, Jason had shared some of his problems too. In a way, they had kept each other in check. When somebody made a wise crack in class about the search for Joy, Mr. Winkler would tell them off and discreetly send Patricia a look. And when Patricia found out that Ms. Robinson looked almost painfully like Jason's ex-girlfriend, she sent him sympathetic looks. It wasn't much, but it was something. Somebody cared.

And that's what Patricia needed right now- for somebody to care. Anybody.

Don't hesitate, Patricia.

She presses the phone to her ear and listens to the rings pass…one…then two…then a third…and then-

"Hello?"

"Jason?"

I could make this into a two shot if there's a demand. Tell me what you thought; I love hearing feedback!