He pulled me down the front steps to the parking lot. We weaved between parked cars and trucks until we reached a light blue car parked at the edge of the lot.

He turned to look at me, laughter lighting up his eyes making the red bags seem almost unnoticeable. It was contagious. I found myself smiling and laughing with him. Only then did I acknowledge his right hand in my left.

It left sparks through my hand as he let go and suddenly my hand became a lot colder.

I tried not to think about my hand as he reached into his bag and pulled out the keys. The headlights on the car flashed as he clicked a button on his key.

We were going in the car. He was going to drive.

Instantly I was taken back to that day. The memories were fuzzy and parts were missing, but I remember the feeling.

I was sat in the back left, behind the driver's seat. Sammy to my right. Mum was in front of Sammy and Dad was driving.

I had a book in my hand Sammy had always hated long car journeys and got really restless. The only thing that would keep him calm was me reading aloud. A Michael Morpurgo book that I had never seen after that day.

Mum's eyes looked back at me from the front seat. Dad's in the rear-view mirror as they listened to me tell the tale. Sammy's eyes staring straight at me, mouth open, fully invested in the tale of the lost cat.

The lights turned green. "Dad, go!" Sammy said pointing to the green light in front of us. Dad hit the gas and we started to move.

I heard the squeal of the tyres on the road as the truck tried to swerve. I saw the flash of blue as something heavy pushed into the side of my head. Right where my ear is.

I heard my mother's scream.

Then nothing. I heard nothing.

Then I was waking up in a hospital bed. The bright white light was hurting my eyes. But the pain in my head was unbearable. Mum was sat to my right, asleep. Her clothes were cover in black dust, she had black smears all down her face. Cuts and scars were dotted over her arms and her left leg was in a cast. Dad and Sammy weren't in the room, and for a moment I was scared I would never see them again.

I tried to talk, but I couldn't hear my voice. The noise of the babbling had woken my mother up.

I was hyperventilating. I could no longer breathe. Tears streamed down my face, which made the pain in my head burn even more. I turned to my mother, expecting her to take me in her arms and hold me until everything was okay again.

But I didn't see my mother. Instead, I saw green eyes. And jet black, shaggy hair.

I was hyperventilating. And not just in my memories.

My mind brought me back to the parking lot. I was huddled on the concrete floor, my knees brought up to my face. My bag and Hunter's jacket were thrown on the ground next to me.

Hunter was in front of me, worry evident on his face. He looked scared. His right hand was placed on my knee and his left had found it's way to my face.

I stared at him, still unable to catch my breath.

"Breathe, Riley. It's okay." His thumb rubbed the tears from my face. I gripped his arm to keep me grounded as I took in deep breaths. I looked down to the floor, determined to count all the grains I could see in the concrete. Anything that would let me focus on something else, other than my breathing.

We stayed like that for a few minutes. He let me hold onto him until my breathing was back to normal. He never tried to move me, or rush me. Instead all he did was breathe in front of me, his left thumb rubbing up and down on my cheek. The routine of it calmed me as I counted. I counted 124 grains.

In all the time it took. He didn't say anything. And I was grateful for that.

When I looked back up at Hunter in front of me, he looked at me, one of those long stares he does that dives deep into your soul. And he says "It's okay. We can walk."

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We walked in silence. Neither one of us knowing what to do or say next.

Hunter had helped me up from the floor and we had started walking. I had no idea where we were going, but we were just walking.

I felt stupid. I had let the accident get the better of me, again.

Normally I can control it. I know when the panic attacks are about to start. I get a strange feeling, as if my heart was fluttering and I can feel my heartbeat racing throughout my body. The thumps of the beats echo through every limb, as if my heart might beat to hard and rip through my body. My head goes woozy, and I have to count.

I either count down from a hundred in threes, or I count something physically in front of me.

I hadn't had an attack that I couldn't control for years.

I felt stupid. I felt drained.

I felt scared. Scared that Hunter might look at me in a different way. Scared he would see me as a vulnerable victim, unable to control her emotions.

I was grateful he was there. But in a way, I wished it could've been someone else.

Would Lucas have reacted the way that Hunter did? I don't know.

Would Lucas just understand like Hunter did, or would he ask questions that I didn't have the answers to?

Would Lucas hold me and let me cry, or would he leave me?

I stopped walking. Hunter stopped a step ahead of me. He turned back to look at me.

My eyes met his. I looked at him as if to say 'thank you'. I expected to see worry in his eyes. Some form of concern or even panic maybe, that the attack was happening again.

But instead, I was met with a small smile, and a little nod.

"It's okay. I know." He said. He offered his arm out to me, and I quickly wrapped myself around him and gave him the biggest hug I could muster.

His arms looped their way around my back, squeezing me tightly as if I would break if he let go.

I felt safe. I felt understood. And for the first time in a long while, and without uttering a single word, I felt heard.

It felt good to hug Hunter. I felt freer somehow.

After the hug, we continued walking down the street. I didn't care that I was missing classes that I definitely needed to learn. I didn't care that Alice hadn't stood up for me, and that it seemed that she wanted nothing more to do with me. And I didn't even care that I was known as the 'silent sister' yet again.

Walking down the streets, in that moment, I didn't care about anything.

Hunter stopped walking next to me. He turned to me. "We don't have to talk about it. But are you okay?" He said, grabbing my hands in his.

I looked down at them. The bruises and scabs on his knuckles contrasted with the gentle nature of his hands. The blue and purple of the bruise highlighted the prominent vein that ran through the back of his left hand.

I felt Hunter wince as I ran my finger over it. I looked up at him, concern showing on my face. I gave him a confused face, as if to ask him 'what happened?'

He seemed to understand me. "It's nothing. It's just something stupid." He said, looking into my eyes.

I raised my eyebrow; telling him to continue the story.

"I... urm... I get panic attacks too. It calms me down when I hit something."

I really looked at him then. His shaggy hair was dishevelled completely where he had been running his fingers through it. The dark rings under his eyes seemed to have gotten deeper as the day went on. His eyes were bloodshot. His clothes were slightly creased. His chain hung around his neck.

I pointed to it, hoping to change the subject. He looked down and pulled the chain out from his shirt with his finger.

Two dog tags hung around his neck. The silver reflected the sunlight as it bounced on his chest. I looked up at his face.

"They were my brother's." He said holding out the tag for me to look at.

The silver had been worn, but it looked like it had been cleaned several times. There were scuff marks on the back of the tags, and dents that showed that it had been through serious circumstances.

On the front of the tag read "Wilson. Daniel J." Underneath it read a blood type and what seemed to be a long number.

As I read the tags, I could see him watching me, analysing my reactions.

"That seems to be all his been reduced to now. A name, a blood type and a damn social security number." He said as he pushed the tags back underneath his shirt.

I looked up at him, grabbed his hand and gave it a squeeze as a way to comfort him. He gave me a small smile in return, and we carried on walking.

"You know, you're the only one that's ever actually asked." He said looking over at me.

He was in pain and nobody ever seemed to notice. They thought him weird, and unsociable, but really he was just trying to cope.

A bit like me.

I looped my arm through his and gave him a smile.

We didn't talk anymore after that. There was nothing more to be said. We both felt at ease as we walked in silence.

It had begun to get late as we walked back to the school. We walked back through as other kids were leaving the gates.

Hunter turned to me. "Well I guess I'll see you around, Riley. Any time you want to ditch again, let me know." He said as he waved goodbye to me and made his way over to his car.

I smiled back at him and waved as I walked over to Sammy, who was waiting for me by the front gates.

"Hey." Sammy said as I reached him. "How was your day?"

I just smiled at him and shook my head. I looked back over to Hunter's car, but it had gone.