DyingofFeels: Yay for fluff! But now the fluff is over, haha.

Nevquariel: Good, I'm glad you liked it and it was what you wanted!

Alright, guys, it's time to get back on board the angst train for the next few weeks. We're getting into the Inferno's Edge related oneshots now, though at least one more fluffy request will happen eventually (more than one if someone sends me more!). Today we have the panic attack on Meli's birthday from Riku's perspective. Nevquariel requested this one, as well, though it was already on my list to write.

Chapter 10 Remix

(Runs parallel to chapter 10)

Riku's perspective

"Anyway, I hope you like it. Or, will like it, once it's finished. I promise I'll finish it really soon."

I was well aware that my nervousness over this bike had been making me ramble for the past few minutes, but I still didn't stop until Meli's arms were around my neck. "I love it," she declared. "Even in pieces. Though I think it'll be a little easier to ride once it has two wheels."

Relief relaxed my shoulders, and I smiled as I snagged her by the waist. "Really? You really do?"

"Of course!" She raised up on her toes to kiss my lips. "How could I not like such a sweet, thoughtful gift? I've almost got the hang of the whole riding thing, too, so now I'll be ready to roll with you guys."

Her enthusiasm seemed honest, and I relaxed even more. "Yeah! Then we can all ride to school together, or to the beach, or wherever. Come on, I'll show you what I still have to do." Grabbing her by the hand, I tugged her over toward the unfinished purple bike, then stooped down next to it.

"I had to take this wheel off because the rim was bent. That's one thing that ended up taking a while, trying to straighten that out. I think I've almost got it, so that I won't have to buy a whole new one, but I need to replace a few of the spokes, too. The other thing –"

I was interrupted by Meli doubling over forward with a sound that was somewhere between a grunt and a groan. Immediately I got up on my knees and reached out toward her, but before I could even ask what was wrong she tumbled to the ground, my hand barely catching her head in time to keep it from smacking into the concrete full force. She writhed, arms still clutching her stomach, and cried out in a way that made my blood freeze. It sounded far too much like that awful moment in the Castle That Never Was. I had never wanted to hear her in that much pain again.

"Meli! Meli, what is it, what's wrong?" My hands hovered above her, not sure whether I should touch, not wanting to hurt her even more. "Talk to me, baby, what hurts?"

"No. No, please...don't..."

I swallowed hard. "Don't what? What is –?"

Her eyes flew open, staring straight up at the ceiling, and her mouth gaped wide though her breath seemed to only be coming in short gasps. Tears were pouring down her cheeks.

"Hey, hey, you need to breathe, it's okay..." I tried to card my fingers through her hair like I had so many times before, but this time she jerked away like she had been burned. My hand retracted quickly, and I stared in growing fear. Something is very wrong. What is happening?

That's when I noticed the glazed look of panic in her eyes. I had been focused on pain, but I was suddenly struck with the realization that her mind was somewhere far away from here. A flashback, some random corner of my brain supplied. I didn't know for sure if that was the right term or not, but it was almost like she was having a waking nightmare.

"Meli, it's okay, you're safe." I laid my hand on her arm, but she reacted just as violently as with the hair, curling herself into a ball and covering her head with both of her arms. She had not yet made another verbal sound since her weak plea, but her hyperventilating breaths were growing louder and more desperate, almost like sobs.

I didn't know what to do. As many nightmares as I had dealt with myself, I had never seen anything like this before, and I had no idea how to help her. For a moment I just sat, watching her with wide, watery eyes, complete helplessness and horror keeping me in place. What do I do? What do I do? I couldn't stand seeing her like this. Maybe I should go get help. But from whom? My mom was the only one nearby, and I didn't see her knowing how to deal with this, either. Besides, there was no way I could leave Meli alone like this.

Finally, in an act of pure desperation, I jumped over her prone figure and laid down on the cold, hard floor behind her, and proceeded to wrap her up as tightly as I could in as many places as I could. She needs to know I'm here. That's all I could think of to do, let her know that I was there and she was safe. "I'm here, Meli. I'm here. It's me, Grim. You're safe."

She flailed as hard as she could, trying to get away, and I almost reconsidered and pulled back. Instead, I curled even further over her, my forehead pressing into the top of her head and my legs folded over hers, trying to keep her from hurting herself.

"It's okay, you're okay!" I kept repeating the same few phrases over and over again in whatever random order they happened to spill out, pleading inwardly with her to come back to me. Still she struggled against me, panting so rapidly that I was afraid she would end up passing out.

"Meli! Meli, I'm here! It's me, it's Grim. Listen to me. You're alright. I'm here."

Suddenly she stopped. I could feel her trembling all over beneath me, but the kicking and pushing came to a halt, and her breathing quieted ever so slightly. I almost stopped, too, not wanting to jinx the progress, but forced myself to keep up my mantra at a whisper. "It's alright. You're safe. You're right here with me."

Her muscles were still completely tense, but it felt like we had maybe gotten through the worst of it, especially as her breaths seemed to slow bit by bit over the next few minutes. Then I glanced down and saw her picking furiously at the skin around one of her fingernails with her teeth, leaving traces of blood behind.

"Hey, stop that, you'll hurt yourself." I clutched her fingers and gently, despite her resistance, pulled her hand back down.

She shook me off, but didn't go back to biting. Instead, a moment later, she was grabbing onto my wrist and shoving it backwards away from her waist, mumbling something that I mostly couldn't understand but that ended in "sick".

I let her go, realizing that she was trying to get up, but scrambled quickly to my feet after her and followed her closely as she just barely managed to make it out the door before bringing up her lunch. Using both hands, I brushed her hair back out of her face, and this time she didn't seem to mind.

"You're okay. It's gonna be okay."

She retched for quite some time, but eventually straightened with effort and stumbled back into my arms, weak and exhausted. Leading her away from the sick, I pulled her against me and slid down the wall of the shed where we could both rest.

"Are you cold?" She still hadn't stopped trembling, but she shook her head no to answer.

"'m sorry..." Her voice was so quiet that I could barely even hear, but I could tell that she was trying to apologize, as usual.

"Shh, don't." There were so many things I wanted to ask, so much that needed to be talked about, but she was clearly not in the right physical or mental state to do so right now. I laid my hand on the side of her face and tucked her head underneath my chin, as if I could shelter her from everything that was troubling her. "Just rest. We'll talk later."

Please let me know what you thought in a review, and if you have any special requests, shoot them my way! Ideas for scenes can be as vague or specific as you want. I'll try my best to do whatever I receive!