Prompt: Panic attack

Author Note: I realize I've been neglecting my loyal fans, and I'm sorry. I'm incredibly busy writing a four-part fiction project, and my life has been revolving around that. I can't have a huge fanfiction project right now, but I figured you guys could go for a one-shot.

Disclaimer: I don't own Vampire Knight. Period. I make absolutely no profit from this.

"Rima, you look like hell." Senri looked at me with eyes gone wide and somewhat scared. I hadn't seen him like that before, at least not looking at me.

"It's been a bad week." I threw my suitcase on the floor and took a step towards him. In the process, I got a good look in a nearby mirror. My hair was down, I had dark circles under my eyes, and my bottom lip was cracked and coated in dried blood where I had bitten it open. Repeatedly. In short, I looked like death on toast.

"What the hell happened to you on that job?" Senri pulled me against his chest, and I quickly became aware of exactly how frail I felt, both physically and emotionally. I had lost weight on that modeling job, and unshed tears had built up somewhere in my chest cavity.

"Two of our girls kept fighting on the job... and the whole thing was just downhill from there." I didn't – I couldn't – elaborate, not at the moment.

Luckily Senri didn't push for more information. He pulled me against him, held me close and whispered; "You don't have to model anymore if you don't want to, Rima..."

"They expect me to." I felt the tears press at me, a tide that heightened with every night. "I don't want to disappoint them... but I can't do it anymore..." The sobs caught in my throat, but I choked them back down. I was not a crier; I hadn't been since I was a little kid. I refused to let the tears fall yet. "I can't do this anymore, Senri... I just can't... it's gotten to the point where everything is just too much... I just..." The sob clawed it's way out of my throat and I dissolved into a teary mess. Pain struck me in the chest and I fell to the floor, accidentally pulling my boyfriend with me as well.

"No one should expect you to do something that you can't handle anymore." Senri pulled me onto his lap, squeezing me just hard enough that I had to relax into his grip. The pain in my chest was making it hard to breathe, but when I let my body flop into relaxing against him, it almost disappeared.

"My parents... you don't understand my parents." I pressed my face into his shirt; he smelled of Downy and AXE body spray. The very combination reminded me of exactly how safe I was here. "I was the golden child... they'll think less of me... if... if I stop modeling..."

"Then their opinion doesn't count does it?" He moved so his back was against the baseboard of the bed and I was closer to him. "They should always want you to be happy, you're their daughter, not their pawn. If you can't handle the modeling anymore, if you want to stop, then it's your choice. They shouldn't want you to do something that's destroying you like this. You should be happy, Rima, whatever it takes. Happy."

"I'm scared... of what will happen when I tell them." I forced myself not to bite down on my own words. I hated being vulnerable, and I could barely be around Senri, even though he was the person I was closest to in the whole world.

"I'll be with you." Senri rubbed his face against mine, the way a cat might. "I'll always be with you, I promise."

"Thank you..." I murmured and tucked my face back against his chest.

That was how I got up the courage to tell my parents I was quitting modeling.

Author Note: I guess I thought this was short but I have really pudgy paragraphs in this one. There's going to be one more of these over here tonight, and I'll try to do a Rukain for you guys, but I have to start the third part of my fiction project too. On a quick note, I'm trying to learn to call the Vampire Knight guys by their first names, that's why she called him Senri. Thank you for reading, and leave a comment if you can; I love opinions on my stories.