Summary: When a tragedy strikes Bayley's family unexpectedly, her friends are there to pick up the pieces.
Disclaimer: I don't own these characters.
Dead.
Her brother was dead.
Bayley stared at the phone in her hands, unsure of what to do with it. Her brother was dead.
She had to go home.
Her mind raced with what to do, how to get there, how quickly could she get there. They had shows all this week on a European Tour. She was thousands and thousands of miles from home. She wasn't even scheduled to fly back for another four days. She could look for a flight, but there was no guarentee that she'd get back within the next 24 or even 48 hours….
Her face began to crumble. Her breathing began to quicken. She needed to get out of here. She needed to get home. She didn't have time to fall apart. Falling apart would only delay her getting to her family where she needed to be, to see her brother, to….
To say goodbye.
"Bayley?"
There was a voice coming from somewhere, she wasn't quite sure where. Where was she?
She had been coming into the hotel when her mother called, she had walked into the lobby...was she still there? Was the lobby of some hotel really where she had just heard the news?
"Bay? Are you okay?"
There was another voice. It was closer. She still couldn't tell where it was though. She tried to blink, to refocus, to figure out what was going on. Was she dreaming? Was this all just a horrible, terrible, dream?
"Bayley? What is it? What's wrong?
There were hands touching her now. Someone was trying to talk to her. Who?
Bayley gazed at the blurry figures in front of her. Why were they blurry? Wet. There was something wet on her face. Tears. There were tears. She was crying. When had she started crying?
"Hey, what is it? What's wrong?"
There was a flash of purple in front of her, touching the wetness on her cheek. Sasha. One of the voices was Sasha.
"Hey, let's go upstairs. Let's get out of the lobby, sweetie."
Charlotte was there too. And Becky. They were all there. She was meeting them there. Or, she was supposed to. They were going to have a girls night at the hotel. Or, they were supposed to.
Bayley followed numbly as they guided her towards the elevators, not really sure what was happening. Her brother was dead and she was 100,000 miles away. She wasn't there. She needed to be there.
She heard the noises around her; the elevator buttons, the door opening, Sasha whispering that it was going to be okay. She didn't even know what had happened.
Her face was still wet. She was still crying. Her breathing was sporadic. She wasn't even consciously doing it.
"We're almost there, honey. Just hang on for a second longer," whispered Becky, her thick accent that Bayley loved ringing through her ears.
The elevator rang again. The door opened onto their floor, the girls guiding Bayley down the hall. Was she even walking? Why wasn't anything registering with her?
Someone swiped a key. The door clicked, and then opened. They had adjoining rooms. Bayley had forgotten about that. Sasha guided her towards one of the beds, gently easing her onto it.
Would she have to talk now?
"It's okay, you're here now. We're in our room, Bay. What's going on?" whispered Sasha, her hands gently stroking back Bayley's hair which was still down.
Bayley drew her legs up to her chest, burying her face into her legs. She didn't want to talk. She wanted to go home. Within moments the tears turned into sobs, the usually perky brunette sobbing mercilessly into her drawn legs. She rocked herself back and forth, not caring that her three best friends were still in the room with her.
Her sobs took over her body, every inch of her losing control. She could feel herself shaking, her lungs choking for air. She gasped in a breath in between sobs, choking it back out.
"Oh, Bay, what is it? What happened?" muttered Charlotte, sitting down beside her, wrapping her arms around her tiny frame. "Come on honey, just tell us."
"I….he…."
She couldn't get the words out, choking on them through her sobs. Charlotte rubbed her back in a soothing motion. Sasha still kneeling in front of her.
"It's okay, Bayley. You're okay. Take your time," whispered Sasha, rubbing her friend's leg.
"My….my brother….." moaned Bayley, still sobbing into her legs, trying to keep her grasp on them, but failing.
"What about him, Bay?" asked Becky, kneeling down on the other side of Bayley.
"He died!" cried Bayley, screaming out another sob as the words escaped her lips for the first time. Her body shook with every sob, her hands turning into fists as she felt herself release out every emotion that was beginning to overwhelm her.
"He's gone! And I'm here and I….I want to go home, but I'm so far away and I….."
She unraveled her arms from her legs, shoving her friends hands away as they tried to reach for her, but they did not relent.
"Oh, Bayley….Oh, honey…."
Charlotte had tears in her own eyes. She knew what Bayley was feeling. She knew it all too well.
"No, no, no! Get away from me! I….have…..to…..go….home!" she cried, her fists barely hitting Sasha, who had managed to reach for Bayley, grabbing her and holding her as tight as she could. Bayley screamed, fighting to get out of Sasha's grasp, giving up after only a few seconds before collapsing onto Sasha's chest.
"I have to go home. I have to be with him," she cried, Sasha closing her eyes, trying not to cry as she held Bayley.
"Just let it out, honey. Just let it out. We're here. We aren't going anywhere," whispered Sasha, rocking Bayley in her arms as she cried.
Everything hurt.
Bayley had cried all that she could cry. She had sobbed and screamed and sobbed some more. Now her heart felt numb, her head heavy from all the crying. She felt paralyzed, fearful to move, wanting to just wake up and realize it was only a nightmare; a sick and twisted nightmare.
A small whimper escaped her lips as she realized all that had happened, a hand gently stroking back her hair as soon as she made a noise.
"Shh, I'm right here. We're all still here," whispered a voice, Charlotte. Bayley recognized it instantly. It was Charlotte that Bayley was currently laying on, her head laying on her friend's stomach.
She tried to lift her head, a wave of dizziness preventing it.
"Hey, don't move too fast, okay? You've been pretty still for a few hours now," said Charlotte, Bayley sighing as she sunk back into Charlotte, her fingers tracing the patterns on the blanket.
"You want to talk about it?" asked Charlotte, her sad gaze never leaving Bayley. She didn't have to imagine what her friend was going through. She remembered the pain of losing her own brother, of not getting a chance to say goodbye, all too well.
Bayley tried to speak, a coughing fit escaping her lips instead. Charlotte instantly reached for the cup of water sitting on the nightstand, holding it up to her friend's lips as she eagerly drank.
"I'm afraid to start crying again," whispered Bayley, her voice hoarse from the hours she had already spent crying.
"Well, if you do, you want to cry on one of our laps, so Charlotte can go to the bathroom. Otherwise, that bed's going to be wet from more than just your tears." quipped Becky, coming in from the adjoining room.
Charlotte shot Becky a look, but both girls noticed the small smile that appeared, only for a split second, on Bayley's face.
"I can...I can get up," said Bayley, pushing herself off of Charlotte; a move she instantly regretted. Becky reached out, grabbing Bayley as she struggled to stand, the dizziness hitting her full force.
"Careful. Slow and steady," muttered Becky, trying to steady the younger girl, gently easing Bayley into a sitting position on the other bed in the room, offering her another smile, gently caressing Bayley's cheek.
"What are you feeling?" asked Becky, watching as Bayley shrugged, gazing downwards once again as she felt the tears pricking her eyes.
"Like I just...it doesn't even feel real but it hurts…..it hurts so bad," she whispered, ducking her head.
"I need to get home. I need to start looking for a flight home," said Bayley, her breathing beginning to quicken as her mind started to race again.
"Hey, hey, hey. Take a breath. It's okay. Sasha and I already found a flight for you. It leaves late tomorrow night and you'll be home within 24 hours, okay? You don't have to worry about that," said Becky, stroking her friend's hair. "Just focus on you, okay?"
Bayley nodded, leaning in to hug Becky. "Thank you."
"Hey, it's getting late. Why don't you try and get some sleep," said Becky, Bayley nodding softly, slowly getting off the bed.
"Okay. I'm just gonna go take a shower or something. I just need a few minutes alone," she said and both Becky and Charlotte nodded, watching as Bayley grabbed a few of her things and headed towards the bathroom.
"You want me to stay in here with her tonight and you and Sasha can have the other room?" asked Charlotte and Becky nodded, still eyeing the bathroom door.
"Yeah, somehow I don't think this is going to be an easy night for her. Are you okay with all of this? I know it has to be bringing up some painful memories…" said Becky and Charlotte nodded.
"It is, but my brother died years ago. Her's just died today. Right now she needs us and I can do that for her."
She woke up to the sound of crying.
The sound was faint at first, and it took Charlotte a second to orient herself before she realized what was going on.
Bayley was crying.
Charlotte swore quietly under her breath, quickly untangling herself from the covers before heading over to her friend's side of the room, kneeling down in front of where Bayley was turned.
"Hey, baby girl," whispered Charlotte, not wanting to startle her. Her heart broke at the sight of the tears streaming down her friend's face. "Oh, Bay, come here, it's okay," said Charlotte, positioning herself on Bayley's bed as she allowed Bayley to crawl into her arms.
"It's okay. Just let it out," she whispered, rubbing her hand down her arms and her back.
"It hurts so much!" she cried, a small sob escaping her lips. Charlotte nodded, placing a kiss to her friend's hair.
"I know. It's going to hurt for a long while, Bay," she whispered, rocking the younger girl back and forth.
"I didn't even get to say goodbye. I didn't even get to see him," she cried, her sobs now coming quicker and quicker, her breaths coming out in short gasps in between sobs.
Charlotte closed her eyes, continuing to rock Bayley, trying any way she could to soothe her. But Charlotte knew from experience that nothing could really soothe her right now. So instead she settled herself onto the bed, pulling her friend closer to her as she cradled the crying brunette into her arms.
"I miss him, Charlotte. I loved him so much," she muttered and Charlotte nodded, knowing the feeling.
"I know, honey. And it's gonna hurt this way for a very long time. But he knew how much you loved him. He knew and he loved you too," she said, hoping that would bring her friend even a sliver of comfort.
The two were silent after that, Bayley's tears tapering off after an hour or so. Charlotte continued to hold her, knowing it was the only thing she could do, and even that could only bring so much comfort.
Charlotte sighed as she felt Bayley's breathing even out after an hour or so. She knew it would be a long, hard road for her friend. She could only hope that she and Sasha and Becky could help her through it.