Lullaby

A month had flown by since that night and Scarlett's fear became a reality, the two best friends had grown distant. A few calls and texts were exchanged between them here and there, but they didn't speak half as much they used to. Scarlett couldn't even recall the last time she had spent time with Josh. Granted, it was the end of May and final exams were looming over Scarlett's head. Her nose was in a book more often than not and the only people she surrounded herself with were her friends from college during study sessions. Josh and the guys were busy getting ready to travel back to the U.S. to play on Warped Tour that summer. There wasn't much time for them to see each other. Scarlett couldn't help but think that their night together was part of the reason for their aloof behavior. This wasn't the time to get sad and depressed over losing her best friend though. To distract herself, she buried herself in work and school.

Scarlett paced back and forth in her room as she quizzed herself, holding about a hundred index cards that were filled with vocabulary words. In about eight hours, she was due in class to take her last final of the semester. Each time she said the wrong definition, which was usually the case, she became more frustrated with herself. After an hour of studying, her heart was racing and jumping out the window sounded like a better plan than taking the final exam. She had taken a Xanax earlier that day, but it obviously wasn't working at the moment. She was on the verge of tears.

A low buzzing sound came from on top of her bed. Scarlett grumbled to herself as she walked over to her cellphone. It had to be the tenth time her cellphone had rang that night and she ignored it up until now. Clearly, no one understood that unanswered calls meant that she didn't want to be bothered.

"What?!" Scarlett spat to the person on the other line after she tapped the answer button on the screen, not bothering to see who was calling her. She threw the index cards towards her bed. Unfortunately, most of them ended up on the ground. "Shit!"

"Well, hello to you, too, Scar," a familiar husky voice sang through the phone. The corners of her mouth instantly formed a small smile. It had been days since she had heard from Josh and weeks since he sounded happy to speak with her at all. "Sounds like you're having a fantastic night."

Scarlett glared down at the hundreds of index cards sprinkled across the hardwood floor. Tears were pooling in her eyes once again. "Yeah? Well, I'm not," she replied, her voice cracking. "I have an exam in like eight hours. I'm pretty certain I'm going to fail it seeing as I know nothing on the subject apparently. My brain feels like it's going pour out of my ears I've been studying so much. I hate textbooks. And college. And work. And life. And I just dropped all of my index cards, so I hate those, too." By the end of her rant, salty tears were falling down her cheeks, her stomach felt queasy, and breathing was becoming more and more difficult.

Without hesitation, Josh informed her to hang in there and that he would be right over, then ended the call. By the time he arrived, Scarlett was sitting on the ground, shaking, surrounded by multicolored index cards, with her knees drawn up to her chest and her back against her bed. Her eyes were swollen and red with tears streaming down her face. "Sweetheart," he cooed as he joined her on the floor and curled his arm around her shoulders, pulling her close to him. "Shhh, it's okay. It's okay." He softly caressed her arm. She rested her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes, listening to him whisper reassuring words to her.

Little by little, Scarlett's anxiety floated away. It was easier to breathe and she no longer felt sick to her stomach. When her body stopped trembling, Josh took her hand in his and led her up to her bed. She nestled underneath the covers. Studying was no longer on her list of things to do that night. All she wanted to do, or could do for that matter, was rest. After removing his jacket, Josh joined her under the covers. Her face nuzzled up to his chest, letting his rhythmic heartbeat ease the rest of her nerves. He draped his arm around her small waist and placed his hand on the small of her back, drawing small circles on her skin.

"I've missed you, Josh," Scarlett muttered into his chest. For the first time that week, she felt so relaxed and content and it was all because of him. She didn't understand just how lost she was without her best friend until she felt so delighted being with him.

Josh sighed happily. "You have no clue how much I've missed you."

Scarlett shifted in her bed and looked up at the boy next to her. "Will you do me a favor despite the fact that I've been a shithead to you?"

"You could put hot sauce in my coffee and I would still do anything for you." The corners of his lips curved upwards into a smile.

She shot him a wily smile in return. "That's excellent to know," she said, arching an eyebrow.

Josh rolled his eyes at her and laughed. "Hey! Don't get any ideas or out the window you'll go."

Her facial expression softened, her crafty smile was replaced with a hopeful one. "Sing to me?"

Tonight wasn't the first time Josh had to help her recover from an anxiety attack. In the beginning, Scarlett, ashamed of her disorder, conceal her anxiety from everyone. When she felt an attack coming on, she would hide away until she could calm herself down. Then, Josh caught her in the mist of an attack when he walked into her apartment one day unannounced. He had helped her relax faster than herself or any pill could do. He would sing her to her and rub her back until she felt okay again. Slowly, she started to depend on him to calm her down. Being without him this past month had been hell.

"Of course," he answered willingly. Scarlett returned to her previous position, cuddling up to his chest. She could feel the vibrations from his voice as he sang Lullaby by The Spill Canvas. Before dozing off to sleep, she felt a soft kiss being placed on her forehead.