Al felt himself drifting away. He glanced downwards towards his figure, deranged and distorted. Like the caricature one sees in a funhouse mirror. Surrounded by a pitiful darkness, he felt constricted, like he was enclosed in a small space. Allen hated this feeling. A threatening force hit him, and he felt the black walls caving in. All oxygen fled from his lungs. He couldn't breathe, he couldn't breathe! Why couldn't he move? He tried to flicker his fingers, hoping to regain some control. However, his body gave no leeway, and that's when panic really set in. Moments later he swore he could hear whispers from far away, frantic, demanding. He found himself feeling very, very afraid.
Oliver was lying down and staring off into nothingness, when a small whimper coming from the other end of the couch caught his attention. He immediately shot up to investigate to find his American brother, tense and still.
He leaned over and whispered his name, hoping that he wouldn't startle the boy in doing so. Soft shaking of his arms and legs did not awaken the boy with the shrinking frame.
Oliver almost decided he shouldn't bother trying to wake him, and turned his form towards the sleeping Canadian and French man. Francis was leaning on the corner of the wall with a blanket and two pillows behind him. Matt, Oliver noticed, had his head resting gently upon the older's legs. A smile graced Oliver's face. He looked back to Al.
But this time, the scene was different. In just a few seconds, the initial tenseness has escalated into heavy breathing, and even fear…?
Oliver choked up a bit. "Allen?"
The boy's breathing became much heavier. He heard a small pleading gasp.
Oliver sprung into action. "Oh God, Oh God. Al. Allen?"
He took the boy's hand and squeezed it. No response. "Lovely, you need to wake up for me please!" He shook his shoulders lightly. Allen let out a small cry, a reaction from whatever terrible world he was currently in.
Oliver himself started shaking in fear. He stumbled over to his other brothers, his family, and woke them. "It's Al!" He croaked. The other two quickly became aware of the situation.
"Hey, bro! Bro!" Matt put his hand over the American's head. It was warm, too warm. Francis looked over with concern, bitterly cursing in French. "What do we do?" Matt bit out. Oliver took a deep breath before picking Allen up and squeezing him tight.
Wrong move, he realized. The boy started screaming, then kicking, until he fell off the couch and his eyes snapped open. "No no no no no."
"Allen, Allen, Allen!" Oliver was a broken record.
Matt sat criss cross, staring at his lap. He wished he knew what was wrong with his brother. This had never happened before recently. Why wouldn't Al tell him what was going on. It didn't make sense.
He growled softly to himself. And how come he didn't know himself? He and Al knew nearly everything there was to know about each other. Sure, their relationship was a bit strained as of late. But he still liked to think he knew what was on Allen's mind.
Oliver was pacing. Francis had decided to take Al outside, declaring that he probably needed fresh air. Matt sighed into his hands. When the two stepped back in, Al's face was still tear stained and red, but he was slightly more collected than he had been. He signaled his twin to come to him, and he hesitantly did so. Soon Matt was gently leaning upon him, and Al flinched. He almost moved off of him out of concern, but Al shook his head and held him there. Al needed him there with him, even if the touch scared him.
Matt slowly took his hand, and he attempted to voice what he had been thinking about for the past half hour.
"Bro, I want you to be okay, but I don't know what's wrong. How can I help?"
"I don't know." Al whispered.
"You...Al…"
"I really don't know. I feel terrible for acting like this, but I don't know what to say."
"O...Okay." The Canadian accepted the answer. "Will you let me, er, us help you? Help you figure this out?"
"I...yeah. Thank you…"
I'm sorry that this chapter isn't very long, but it actually took a lot out of me to write it! I've been pretty dizzy recently, so writing has been a challenge. I made a promise long ago however, that I will never stop writing a fic until it is complete. I'm already working on the next part, so hang in there!
